Uganda - Dec 2024 - January 2025

The Angst Fam made its second trip to Uganda in December 2024 joined by an awesome crew of ND students.

I had to book flights separately from Corey and the kids. While they had a 45-minute layover in Ethiopia, the students and I had 8 hours '_'

Once there, we had dinner and went to bed.

The next morning we visited Fiona's wood carving business. She is a YALI Fellow (Young African Leaders Initiative) who completed a summer program at Notre Dame. She also happens to be a Bugali Princess :)

The drive from the Entebbe Airport to St. Bakhita's takes about 10 hours. We added on a bit of time with one of our vans breaking down. We eventually condensed to 3 vehicles and set off.

Some of the cuties we pass around the Nile crossing along the way (except they jump on the roof of our vans at a point where we have to slow down... and then grab pineapples off our roof!).

Dinner in Gulu along the way, followed by an opportunity to meet a number of Northern Ugandan entrepreneurs...and a dance lesson :)

We did some fabric shopping to take to our talented tailoring students at St. Bakhitas to have skirts, shirts, and bags made, and for our bookstore retail project before continuing onto Kalongo.

Stopping for bio break along the way. These red dirt roads makeup the last 3+ hours of the trip with locals walking along the side - both human (adult and small children) along with cows, goats and dogs - with pot holes that are often a foot deep.

The heart-warming "Welcome Ceremony"

Dinner our first night in the NEW RESTAURANT! This was monumental, as this ND project was completed a few months prior.

Our first morning at St. Bakhita's started with a run, as usual...and sadly a broken phone for me, tripping on a rock while taking a photo while running. You'd think having done this in Uganda one other time I would have learned my lesson '_'

The walk to the school...

Lisbon to Chicago - Day 20, June 23

We awoke to a notice from the airline that our connecting flight from Frankfurt to Chicago was cancelled and did we want to rebook or take a refund?!? So we spent the next couple of hours on the phone trying to work out a plan. Thankfully the airline rebooked us on TAP airline on a direct flight, leaving about 45-minutes later, saving us 6 hours! Miraculous outcome! We decided to keep our same taxi pickup time just in case we had any issues.

We had everything in order by 8 AM, so I decided to make the 1km walk to Mantegaira, our favorite pasteis de nata maker, to pick up some to bring home as gifts. I had a tight window and took one wrong turn that led me up 100 steps, but made it in time to take 3 trips up and down those flights of stairs to bring luggage down to the taxi.

On our way home...

Complete chaos once at the airport. Only 4 of us had tickets! We went through multiple check-in spots, waited in line at help desks while being on hold with the airline, while simultaneously working the chat. After 2-hours of this, and mentally preparing for Corey and Lily to stay behind for the night, we were able to get seats! So grateful for the direct flight!

We sought out a Smash Burger on the way home to indulge in some good greasy American food.

Home by 9 PM and with our sweet Finn.

He had a sad goodbye with his Austrian family - Ruth and Thomas. We promised to try and take him to the beach half as much as they do! And then we took him to pick up a jeep that he will let Caden and Lily use to drive him there.

Lisbon - Day 19, June 22

The tuk-tuk tour of the city gave me a good sense of where to run this morning. This was only morning to run in Lisbon, so I had a lot I wanted to cover. Early mornings are such a great time to take in the city. The streets are quiet and the light is magical.

Caden's spirit animal :)

Dr. Sousa Martins statue, surrounded by plaques from those that believe praying to him (he has been dead since 1897) had provided a cure. Known for his work treating the poor in Lisbon, Dr. Martins died by suicide after realizing he had contracted tuberculosis and would face an imminent and painful death.

Beautiful shadows dancing on the front of the building we are staying in, which I had ample time to notice after realizing when I returned that my key didn't open the main building door :)

After a quick shower, Corey, Caden and I headed to the coffee shop nearby we wanted to check out. A gorgeous setting with many cool products but the coffee was meh.

"If we all wanted it, the world be wonderful"

My cute dates.

The kids wanted a heartier breakfast so headed back to a brunch place they liked in Cascais. I met up with them there. The girls and I headed off to explore and Caden went back to the flat for a bit.

The girls and I waited in line to ride up the Sant Justa elevator. Corey and Caden arrived just in time when we made it to the front of the line. The kids went up and Corey headed off to meet our friend's Idris and Hyet who were also in Portugal for the conference. So great to catch up with them, but sadly I didn't manage to get a photo! 

After they left to catch their flight, we ordered a bottle of wine and chatted a bit. After awhile, the girls joined us for a light lunch. From there, Corey headed off to pick up the finished tiles and the girls and I took off in search of what is claimed to be the worlds best chocolate cake at a shop aptly named, "The Best Chocolate Cake in the World" (link). The quest *may* have been slightly influenced by the bottle of wine and the porto-tonic. Anyway, Ubers are really inexpensive so we decided we would cover the 3km by car rather than foot. What was estimated to be 4 minutes away, ended up taking 30-minutes, so it was quite the journey. 

We decided to walk back, which took less time! Sadly, I did not think to take any photos of this cake, but it was pretty good. We will recreate it at some point. It involves chocolate merengue, chocolate mousse, and chocolate ganache. How could it not be good?

After the cake and a little quiet time, we headed to our farewell dinner.

I was feeling a little off (probably as a result of my "lunch"), but everyone else really enjoyed their meals - Corey especially, which is captured below.

We walked home taking in the hills, steps, some of us even sliding down the railings, and taking in the beauty of Lisbon.

We stopped for gelato by the Dr. Sousa Martin memorial, then headed home and finished packing.