Back to Africa

After a 7-month hiatus, I’m finally going to get some Africa back in my life – on Thursday I’m off to Uganda!

While I am there I’ll be meeting with colleagues at our headquarters in Kampala as well as the team from the Grameen Foundation I worked with this summer (who I will continue to work with through Barclays).  I’ll also be spending a few days in an area called Katine to see a community where Barclays has been working (along with a few other partners, including The Guardian newspaper) for the last several years.  Here are some pics:

Catching Up With Katine – in Pictures

This will be a whole new Africa experience for me.  Gone are the days of cheap accommodation, cheap food, walking everywhere and public transportation.  Now I fly business class, stay in luxury hotels and will be driven around in company cars (I was told not to even think about getting on a boda-boda).  I think I can handle this!

Pics will be on the way when I get back next week!

Old Trafford

This weekend I got to go to my first English Premier League game (that’s the top soccer league in England, for all of you Americans) and was fortunate enough to do it at Old Trafford – one of the most famous stadiums in the world and the home to Manchester United, one of the most successful teams in the world.

I couldn’t care less about Manchester United (I support Chelsea) but it was pretty cool to be there, especially because they were playing their bitter rivals and another storied team, Liverpool.  The game was a sell-out and the atmosphere was incredible – definitely a cool experience!

 

The Man U players being introduced…

Opposite Field

This story is exciting…then heartbreaking…but ultimately inspiring.  That’s Africa in a nutshell.

The way the kids responded to this is absolutely incredible:

‘I don’t think they should feel sorry for Africa. I think they should just encourage us.‘

‘Even if we don’t go to America, this is our country.  We can’t give up.’

 

The documentary isn’t finished, but you can see the trailer here (make sure you also see how the story continues…follow the link at the bottom of the post):

 

The story continues: ESPN: Uganda vs Canada – Finally

One more thing from Edinburgh…

Check out the video to hear my classmates and me discussing our summer internships:

Internship Scheme: Student Experiences

 

 

 

 

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Exeter St, London

 

 

20 & 21

I’m running a bit behind here…as most of you probably know, it took a lot of effort to get my passport and visa in time to come back to the U.S. for Christmas, and there were plenty of times over the last couple of months where I didn’t think I would be able to make it.  The process I had to go through to get everything is a bit of a long (and stressful) story, but in the end I was able to pick up my visa yesterday en route to the airport – unless someone ran it to my plane I don’t think it could have been any closer.

But all that matters is I made it here, and this happened: He’s Home for the Holidays

Here are a couple of the days I’ve missed:

 

(20) Notting Hill, London

(21) Marble Arch, London

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(one day behind)

Near the Portabello Road Market, London

 

 

 

Home for Christmas

Today I found out that my visa is going to arrive just in time to go home for Christmas!

It will be the first time I’ve been to the states in a year…can’t wait to see everyone (especially my newest little niece, Avery!)!

 

Seasons Greetings

This little message from the University of Edinburgh just made my day:

http://edincard.heehawdevelopment-2.com/index.html

 

Seasons Greetings to friends and family, old and new – courtesy of the school and city that has meant so much to me this last year.

 

15

When I went to Oslo, Norway last November with some friends, we decided to do things as inexpensively as possible.  We found plane tickets that only cost £20 for the round trip, we stayed at a cheap hostel across the street from people doing crack, and we mostly walked around and did things that were free.  But on one night – one glorious night – we splurged and went to an amazing restaurant that served unbelievable local food.  We bought expensive wine, sat up straight in our chairs, sampled their finest foie gras, and a couple of us – myself included – chose venison (Norwegian Red Deer, to be exact) with Elderberries as a main course.

The Oslo group: pre-Elderberries

It was magic, and we still talk about that night to this day; ever since then I’ve been a major proponent of spending a little extra moola in order to sample nice, local specialties whenever traveling to some place new.  Things that reflect the culture and are delicious and worth savoring (like steak in Florence with blueberry sauce – am I right, April?!) – not things you eat on a dare or ‘just to say I did’, like the putrified shark meat I ate in Iceland (below) or the fish eyeballs I ate in Malawi (not pictured – you’re welcome).

Not surprisingly, putrified shark ('hakarl') is as gross as it sounds

When Steve, Heather and April came to visit a few weeks ago, I was glad to see they were of the same mind.  So, on our last night together, we capped off a great week by visiting one of Jamie Oliver’s more pricey establishments: Fifteen.  Expensive, yes – but oh so worth it.

Fifteen, London