Part 1: Research Workshop

So, part 1 of this conference is over. On Monday and Tuesday we hosted a group of researchers who were part of our global project (see first posting), during which they discussed their work in-depth and prepared key policy messages. Tomorrow, the policy conference starts, during which the researchers will be meeting with the policymakers from project countries whom they have invited to this conference. So, while the first part is over and was pretty successful with a few minor mishaps, Im dreading the second part a bit because of the amount of people that will be here.

I have been surviving on God's grace with minimal sleep and lots of running around. Today I actually overslept, but was still able to be on time at the meeting.Tomorrow we are going on a field trip, which could be quite stressful in terms of organizing, but also quite exciting since we will get a taste of a Ugandan countryside.

One thing that has been sooo refreshing and perhaps kept me smiling while being stressed is the MONKEYS!!! It has been amazing to find out that our hotel is located between a Wild Animal Park and Botanical Gardens. The monkeys, who live in the Gardens, daily migrate to the Zoo in the morning and then back to the Gardens in the afternoon. Monday night, while waiting for transportation to take us to the reception at a neighboring resort, we had a chance to observe tons of monkeys just walking around the hotel parking lot, playing with each other, jumping around, and staring at us. The cutest thing was to see the little baby monkeys who were very curious and not a bit shy (one got pretty close to me as I was trying to take a picture, but then decided against trying to approach me). It is amazing to see the mama monkeys running around with the little babies hanging on to their stomachs. While being sleepy and anxious this morning (since I had to literally jump out of bed once I realized that I had overslept), I was revived by seeing the monkeys on my way to the meeting hall...what a way to start your day!