Winding up of Europe 2010

In 15 days Joss and I will depart on the next adventure. Our time in Sweden has been at times too short and at other times too long, but any way you measure it has been a rewarding experience. We've made some great friends, had some fantastic adventures survived being apart and thrived while being together. It hasn't been our most crazy adventure but it has been a memorable one.

For the next two weeks Joss and I will push forward and wrap up as much as we can order to make the transition to Rwanda. I am working hard to compile as much information as I can for my thesis that is due a year from now. Joss's mum is here visiting just before we hop on the plane. Like usual there is a lot to do and a only days to fit it all in.

We land in Uganda on July 1st and will spend a few weeks traveling. We've booked a room at the Red Chili backpackers and will use it as our base. We're looking forward to many amazing things such as safaris, white water rafting down the Nile and repelling (I might have to push Joss of the cliff, but it will happen). I can't wait. We have our travel book and bird book. East Africa is known for having amazing birds, so we are looking to pick up a pair of binoculars before we head out.

Emily will meet us in Uganda on July 9th and we'll we will make our way to the south west and head towards Rwanda. Once we make it over the boarder we will only be a few hours from Kigali where we will call home for the next 6 months. Right now we are looking for a place to live and we are finding the cost to be more than we had expected. The good news is that we have made contact with a few people living in Kigali and they have been a great help. One of the people we have been emailing is actually a former LUMIDer and she responded to an email I had posted in a group forum. She had no idea that I was in the LUMID program but a few emails back and forth soon revealed a common connection to Lund University.

Last week Joss and I took a quick trip to Prague on our favorite WizzAir. We ended up couch surfing with a family we found online. They were the most generous and fantastic family we could have found. They lived atop of one of Prague's hills, so we got plenty of exercise walking to and from the city each day. Prague is an amazingly beautiful city and every turn reveals an amazing piece of history. We had 3 full days to enjoy the city's parks, pubs, museums, restaurants, street vendors, cafes and sunshine (something that has been disappointingly missing this year in Sweden). We could have easily spent a week in the city and would have loved to have the time to visit some of the towns dotted in the surrounding mountains. We hope there will be a next time!

Joss's Mum arrived in Denmark from the Faroe islands last night. Joss will spend a few days in Copenhagen with her and then she will come as stay with us for a week and a half in Lund. We have a few trips in the region planed and hope the sun will show itself for our last days in Sweden.

A year from now I will graduate from the LUMID program. You are all more than welcome to join me here in Lund to celebrate the accomplishment. So have a look at your calendars and mark a trip to Southern Sweden for early June 2011!