Some pictures from India

I won't be more ambitious than that for now, but it was a really fascinating and wonderful
Taj Mahal:

Fatehpur Sikri -- a beautiful abandoned palace and mosque complex in Uttar Pradesh, about an hour from the Taj

Pictures from working on our project -- doing customer interviews with mobile money operators and users.  Individuals who used the service were generally migrant workers in delhi who were from other parts of India; they used the system to send money home to their families.  Operators typically ran electronics stores or convenience stores and acted as mini-banks for people who lacked access to financial services.  The partner we were working on the project with managed the technology and infrastructure that allowed these transactions to happen.

 Mumbai - view of Taj Palace Hotel

 Mumbai - Victoria Terminus (biggest train station, built under the British Raj)

 Mumbai - view from a beach club that Gideon's friend Karan brought us and a bunch of other students to.  Karan's family owns a bunch of restaurants in Mumbai, and they fed us very well while we were there!

 Old Delhi - Chandni Chowk - crazy street market in Delhi

 My team at Chandni Chowk

 Spices, Chandni Chowk

 Delhi - Lodi Gardens

 Delhi - Lodi Gardens

More to come from Jodhpur and Udaipur

Forbes Article

Barbara Bush (the daughter - who is the founder of Global Health Corps) quoted me in an article published yesterday in Forbes - pretty cool! http://www.forbes.com/sites/skollworldforum/2013/07/21/a-decade-of-success-in-the-global-fight-against-hiv-and-aids/

pre-Nostalgia

I've started taking photos of silly normal things.

Arrivals gate at Entebbe airport.... I have come through this gate 23 times in the past 2 years!

Entebbe airport... not a great airport, but a beautiful view of Lake Victoria and a sweet humidity in the air that hits me every time I step off the plane.

Naomi, the lady who brings me a box of cut mangoes every morning in the office for ~$2.  Naomi and I started crying when I told her I was leaving (beyond being friends, I am also by far her best mango customer).  

 Nairobi airport.  Worse than Entebbe airport.

 Plate of food in Addis, yum

 The Ministry of Health and CHAI people I work with in Ethiopia

 There will be more I'm sure.

In and near Kampala

Some happy times with friends

 Leah, hike in Mabira forest

 CJ, after we found our way out of Mabira forest

 Weekend on an island in the middle of Lake Victoria for Noorin and Amaan's farewell from Kampala

 Me, Barty, Lindsay, Noorin, Nora, Hugo, Amaan, Justin

Brunch, my porch, today, yummy

Crescent Island

Last week, my team for work had a meeting in Lake Naivasha.  We got to spend an afternoon on Crescent Island in the middle of the lake, and it met the definition of awe-inspiring.  Walking around among giraffes, zebras, impalas, wildebeests and water bucks on a beautiful island was simply beautiful beyond belief.

New home

Well, two new homes really.
1. The gorgeous apartment I moved into a month and a bit ago with Lindsay.  I pinch myself every time I sit on our porch and look out over flowering trees, palm trees, and the beautiful city I have been lucky to call home for the past two years.

2. Cambridge!  One more month until I leave Uganda, wow!

Copenhagen

I took two short trips to Copenhagen - one in mid-January and another in late February - to work with UNICEF's supply division which happens to be headquartered there.  We are working with them on my project on Point-of-Care diagnostics, and our goal while I was there was to read all the proposals suppliers had submitted relating to the project (which cannot be taken off-site) to inform the procurement process and to help understand the new lab diagnostics that are going to be coming to market soon.  

                            

The trips were both very busy with work, but I loved at least being able to see the city - it is really spectacular.  January is definitely not the ideal time to visit - the sun came up around 9am and set around 3:30pm when I was there - so I am hoping I'll get another chance to return in more favorable conditions (and when things like Tivoli Gardens are actually open!).  Pictures from a beautiful nighttime walk (well, it's almost always nighttime in January in Copenhagen, so that's not very descriptive!) around the city... 

 On my last day, we took the train over to Mallmo, Sweden for a couple hours!