Days of work, that is. Indeed, in less than a week Randy and I will be dragging our asses out of bed at some ungodly hour to catch a bus to Kenya. The plan is, roughly: spend a month on the beaches of Lamu eating pineapple and watching donkeys, followed by five days at the World Social Forum in Nairobi. Yes, life is rough.

Sudan was awesome, again. I went with the LWF crew on several different distributions--school supplies, food, health kits, yada yada. And I joined them for a formal meeting with a village chief, in which he agreed to give us land to build them a school. We had great weather and I found time to finish my novel for NaNoWriMo.

Sadly, it looks like fighting in South Sudan is blossoming yet again due to arguments over the implementation of last year's Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Nothing happened in Ikotos, where I was (an hour's drive from the Uganda border), but heavy fighting was reported south of Khartoum. Most of the Sudanese people I talked to are convinced that war is coming all over again. Apparently in Ikotos, they use the old mosque as the pig slaughtering room. Talk about making a statement.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I (or you, or we) can do about it. It's depressing to think about the atrocities of Darfur being once again repeated in South Sudan. The peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA rebels are also in limbo--and there's talk of a "new LRA" being formed, which will carry on the work of Joseph Kony even if he gets taken by the ICC. More child soldiers, more killings, and less development for some of the poorest regions in the world. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes. But: we all have to go on somehow, and I'm hoping that the World Social Forum will offer at least a few practical things to which I can direct my attention in the fight against global chaos.

And despite the pessimism, corruption, war, AIDS, malaria, and rainy seasons, Uganda grew on me. Six months is a long enough time to feel like I've settled in, like I've come to an understanding with the country and, hopefully, some of its people.

I like lists, so here's another "final five" to ponder:

"Top Five Reasons I'll Miss Uganda"
1. Matoke and groundnut sauce. PLEASE COME TO AMERICA, GROUNDNUT SAUCE. I will get you a visa.
2. Incredible Indian food, cheap. India better be next on my list after Africa, because I could get used to this.
3. Co-workers who let me listen to my iPod all day and who share my pain whenever gmail is down.
4. The color green. It's just freaking everywhere.
5. Those nights when I can hear the church choir, mosque chanting, hip-hop from the bars, my night guard's radio, and dogs barking all at once. Dissonance is bliss.

Will check in again from Kenya, land of coconuts and azure water...