Ciao babee

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And that about does it for Italy. I still can't believe we (read: Luke) got this side-trip to work. We've eaten some delicious treats, learned a LOT about fire and just generally gotten the five-star treatment. Tonight we finish off with some non-verbal observation training (meaning a behind the scenes look at the kitchen in a local restaurant).

(Just this little Villa where we've been staying)

Nathaniel has been just an excellent host Between the remedial science lessons (some of us only studied fluffy social sciences in college) and a window into the inner gossip of Tortona, he's kept us entertained at every moment. And take my word, this gossip is racy stuff.

But just like that, we're leaving. And this is where things get a little weird, folks. Among the helpful bits of advice we got from some of the field teams: bring a case of syringes. Hopefully we will write this one up as an abundance of caution, but if something happens and there aren't any clean syringes around, there's a chance they'll just re-use an old one. We're trying to avoid that, clearly.

(Excuse me, this one seems to be a little dirty. Can I get a clean one? Thanks)

The master plan is to arrive in Kampala Wednesday morning. For the rest of the week, we'll just be trying to get our bearings in the big city. We've been telling each other that Italy was only the warm-up, but still we just have no idea what is about to happen. Our big goal for the week is to do some A+ networking at Makerere University Business School, hopefully getting a crash-course in applied microfinance of Uganda. We've read the books, but as to how it actually is on the ground, we're clueless. Needless to say, we're stoked. If it's anything like our combustion education here, we'll be "experts" before you know it.

Then next week, it's off to the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air conference at a resort on the banks of Lake Victoria. In addition to learning about cooking stoves, we will be enjoying the only equestrian center in Uganda and the largest swimming pool in East Africa (Seriously, what? How is this my life?). And of course, more networking.

Oh yeah, we are going to be spending the majority of St. Patrick's Day in Heathrow. Too bad I gave up drinking after college. Maybe I'll have just one, since they named the day after me. They drink Guiness in England, right?

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