The newest news from the equator

It's been awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that, I don't know where the time goes but suddenly it is September. Maybe it's the lack of seasons, but time for me has lost all meaning--it could just as easily be January as September in my mind. At any rate, I apologize profusely for being out of touch for so long. But hey, I AM on a different continent.

Important news/information/events:
1. You should all know that I bought a mumu--and that I love it dearly. Seriously. Now, I know mumus really catch a lot criticism in America, but they are whole heartedly accepted (even for professional events) in Uganda. They are unfairly judged in America and I would urge you all to give mumus a chance. It will be a cross-cultural experience!! Eventually I will send a picture of me in my mumu, I'm pretty sure I look incredibly attractive in it.
2. Did you know you can back on a charcoal stove?? I sure didn't until a few months ago, but now, if I do say so myself, I am pretty darn good at it. You create a miniature oven of sorts out of two large pots, placing the dish you are baking inside the pots. Then you place the whole thing on your hot charcoal, wait awhile (the timing is pretty unpredictable because the heat of the coals varies a lot depending on how much coal/wind there is), and viola!!! I've made spice cake, coffee cake, pumpkin bread, and corn bread. Which is actually quite odd, because I never cooked most of those even when I had a fully functional electric oven. I usually give my neighbors (the women who share the building I live in) some of whatever I make because they constantly give me things from their garden: bags of avocados, huge cabbages, papayas, eggplants, potatoes. It's amazing. Anyways, they asked me to teach them how to bake corn bread. I agreed, thinking I'll be teaching a few ladies to bake. Wrong. Somehow this turns into quite an event and before I know what's happening I am teaching 5 or 6 women and at least as many rowdy teenage boys. Thankfully the corn bread turned out excellent, because how embarrassing would that have been?!?!? Anyways, I guarantee anyone who comes over here to visit me fresh baked goods, hot off the charcoal stove.
3. I finally got a tent (thanks Dad and Mom!) and went camping in it for the first time a few weeks back. It was great. I went with 4 friends to Mabira Forest, which is a huge, wonderful, incredibly old, monkey-harboring, bird-filled (you'd love it Mom) rain forest. We camped and hiked, had a camp fire, roasted kabobs, and just generally had a great time. The only issue: seriously angry ants--everywhere. These are the kind of ants that are so big you can see their pinchers, from a few paces away. When they bite you they hang on and you literally have to rip them off. And there are a million of them. The lines they move in are just incredible, it's like a river. Just picture something out of national geographic. We spent a decent portion of our hiking leaping over these ant rivers at a run to try and avoid their vicious attacks. Still a great trip though.

Thank you thank you thank you to those who have emailed (Alison, you are the best/most consistent emailer I LOVE you), and those who wrote me letters/sent packages. I'm sorry if I haven't responded to people personally, but internet time is a serious challenge. Please keep emailing me and I PROMISE to respond to people individually soon. Maybe even later this week (Pete and G your emails were amazing, I will write you soon!). Internet time's up. Later from the equator.....