Empire State of Mind

Today was a fabulous day. Flew into JFK. Hopped on a shuttle to 102 St. and Lexington. Reunited with long lost buff Amanda. Took the most amazing nap. Went to lunch at the Shake Shack. Hit up H&M in the Upper East Side. Took a nice long walk through Central Park. Sat on a bench. Looked at the skyline. Picked up Amanda from her cute internship at Jamie Drake. Took the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge. Walked across that bridge to eat at Grimaldi's (first pizza?). Saw one of the most beautiful evening skylines I've ever seen. Walked back across the bridge. Rode the subway home. bought tickets for the Yankee's game tomorrow. Reserved tickets from Battery Park to the Statue of Liberty. Got our free passes to the Met.

Tomorrow is gonna be a jammed packed day. And it's gonna be awesome!

Heart.Broken.

So...remember that one time the one flight out of Uganda was cancelled and I had to stay an extra night and miss my flight to Italy?

And then do you remember how the airlines were stupid and wouldn't help me re-book my flight?

Then remember how the airlines to Italy never wrote anything down and wanted me to pay $800 more, and so I had to cancel my awesome trip to Italy to visit two awesome girls...and I still lost $500 because the first airline wouldn't pay, even though it was their fault?

Remember how I had to travel 37 hours, plus an extra 7 hours in the airport the first time so I could come home....and I kind of don't like it, and would just rather be in Namengo?

Yeah....me too.

Mulalu

This is Eve. Eve is mulalu. Mulalu means crazy. This mulalu was our cook.

A couple weeks I went out to use the back toilet and she told me to have a good trip to Australia. Apparently, the back toilet is named Australia. So I played along and when I walked out I said "I'm back!" which Eve and the other cook Rosette thought was hilarious. And we continued to tease and play around with each other. Eve was wearing two necklaces that night, so I commented on the paper bead one, because I knew she had made it, and I knew that because I helped out at a jewelery place her and some other ladies work at. She took it off and put it around my neck. I started doing goofy model poses for them, and then took the necklace off to give it back to her.

She said, "No, no, no, it is a gift." I asked her if she was serious, she gave me that Eve face of her and said, "Kamillo, I am very serious." I just grabbed her and hugged her. I actually started crying a little, it was so sweet. I love that little crazy lady. I was so touched, and that was when my love for Uganda solidified. Right at that moment, I never wanted to leave Eve. I wanted to babysit her kids, I wanted that baby she is pregnant with to be a little girl, I wanted to stay there and help her with said baby. I wanted her husband to stick around, I wanted her to have a better life. That right there was the moment I had gone to Uganda for. And I am practically depressed to be home, I check like 17 times a day for emails from the people still there, I check all their blogs. But that moment made the six weeks worth it, and I miss it more than I thought possible.

Finally...Some Pictures