Sometimes - it works

Today presented me with an interesting scenario and I'm mentioning it because it is so completely typical of what occurs here every day for every person trying to get something done.  My organization does really fine work - and as I've mentioned before, it does it in spite of astounding obstacles.  Obstacles that are impossible to even imagine from a first world perspective. 

One of the goals of one of our four programs is to introduce both child and adult learners to  technology.   To accomplish this, there is what called an ICT box:  a giant yellow indestructible box loaded with a laptop computer, camera and camcorder.   Children are introduced to the use of a camera as a way to stimulate interest and engage them in reading, writing their stories, then submitting same to be published in a LABE newspaper that goes to every village involved in the program.  Kids get to see their story, pictures and drawings in print and it's a great  incentive.

The purpose of the computers is ostensibly to help teachers generate computerized lesson plans, improve their technology literacy, share information - etc. 

Here are some issues that first world  doesn't understand, so while they provide part of the solution, the part that makes it work (power, back up batters, spare parts, etc.) fall through the cracks.

First, there is one box for thousands of users.  That means a number of things:

1.  It only goes out when field trips to that area and undertaken and special arrangements are made to either get the box from the center that holds it or coordinate visits  TO that center.

2. There are 4 computers for 46 teachers, spread among 4 schools sometimes as far as 60 km.  They have no transport, so this means riding a bicycle half a day over bad roads and trails to get there. They work from 7AM to 5PM and roads are a death trap after dark (7PM).

3.  There is no electricity at most schools and Home Learning Centers, so that means the devices must be picked up a day or week early for charging, because even in the "city" you may have power for a day or two and about half of that time it won't be where the equipment is...

4. When all of these factors match up and you can actually get the person who has the box to release it to you, IF it is charged, If the cables are with it, IF pictures taken by the previous user have been downloaded you can actually take physical possession of said box and get it to your distant location (if you vehicle is working and has not been stolen overnight, if the roads are passable.....)

5.  If you are traveling via motorcycle, you can either take the box or a passenger - but not both.  When two of you are required in the field, one trip is required to take the box and another to come back and collect the person...

You're beginning to get the idea I trust.

So today, my colleagues were asked to include the box in some training.  They had been the day before to the "keeper of the box," who agreed that they could get the box this morning at 9AM, charged and ready to go.  Colleagues arrived there later and were told that not only had the pictures taken earlier not be downloaded (no there is not a secondary scan disk), the device was not charged because they couldn't locate the cable, etc. adinfinitum and we have been without power during  business hours.  So - no box, no training, no assessment, etc. 

As I said, this is typical.  It's not an indictment, it just IS.  It's the way life unfolds on a daily basis when there is any need to coordinate access, transportation, power, equipment and people.  Each of these variables impacts all of the others all of the time.  When you have one set of variables under control, the others fall out of the box.  It's like herding cats.

And of course the western mind can come up with all manner of solutions: an extra battery, solar chargers, generators, telephones, etc.  Did I mention that there is either no funding, or it's not there when you need it.  Solar panels get stolen, gas runs out, vehicles don't work, plans are delayed by a million different factors.  And it doesn't help to stomp around, or complain, or push.  There is simply so much inertia, so many obstacles, one settles in for the long haul and breathes, finding another work around, another way to use the time...

The young woman PCV who came to visit over the weekend got up at 5AM to catch the early bus to be assured of there BEING a bus and getting here early to make the best use of her time.  She walked in the dark the mile or so to the bus and was told the bus had gotten stuck along the way due to heavy rains the night before (a 4 hour deluge).   The bus finally boarded at 10AM.

But sometimes,  serendipity happens and people and services come together in unexpected ways.  Last week, I met a young man, Dean, in Coffee Hut and discovered he  has been working with a charity that focuses on creating equal access for people with disabilities.    Although the Uganda Education Initiative states equal access and education for all, schools are not required to have ramps, transportation or even bathroom facilities for any level of disability.  Add to this that people can walk for hours to get to school (see mud, puddles, path ways, ruts and imagine someone on crutches or a wheelchair managing this) and the idea of equal opportunity evaporates. 

Dean has befriended a young disabled mother with two children.  She manages to support herself and care for her children through her activities as a seamstress, but has nothing to spare.  She does not read or write in any language and desperately wants to do both, in not only Acholi but English as well.  In Uganda, a man who fathers a child with a disabled woman does not have to acknowledge the relationship and therefore does not have to claim the children.    When Dean found out I work with a literacy group that offers localized literacy training for free (i.e. she doesn't have to walk 30 K to get there and ... it's free) we started trying to figure out a way this mother can access the program.  It turns out that LABE has a program in her village and she can take part in all of the training, along with her children.

The other fit has to do with her being a seamstress and being able to help with the Pillow Case Dress project.  Since she already knows how to sew, she can help continue the Project with the community, thereby cementing her involvement there and encouraging that women's group to follow-up with an IGA (Income Generating Activity).  Everybody wins.

That scenario could not have been anticipated, but it bloomed in the process of people coming together and really being committed to making a difference.  Her success will breed other successes and motivate others. And so it goes.   Yes - it's a Clairol ad.

In another such instance, the young man I mentioned in an earlier blog (Isaac who needed school fees) is continuing so far and the young woman who got this going is leaving.  As her parting gift on his 18th birthday, I along with others contributed to the purchase of a bicycle to help him get to a from school, work and home.  So - often against insurmountable odds, stuff works. 

Sometimes, just showing up is what it takes along with the belief that making small differences has impact.  Sometimes - it works, but almost never in the way you expected. 

Of Power and Piglets

Umeme's timing is exquisite.  Umeme is the power company and has such a reputation of predictability (i.e it will NOT "be there" when it is most needed) that it has gained Entity status.  People here talk about Umeme as tho it is a person.  "Ah!  That Umeme  is fickle...."    And indeed it is.    It has yet to be tagged with a gender, but Uganda, in seeking gender equity would be ill advised to label it female as is the case with many other fickle entities. 

And so it is tonight - fickle.  Having been without Umeme, for two days, sweltering in the night because of the unseasonable heat (did I mentioned in the last post about it pegging 117 degrees last week?) we were gifted two days with power.  No doubt because it would be bad form to mark the 50th anniversary of Uganda's independence with noooooo electricity for celebrations.  But - since it IS the big five-0, all of the local area officials are in Kampala at the huge do-das there.  So the date of our parade, etc. is "to be determined."    Still - I have the week off - a totally unexpected vacation.  And wait! There's a flash of light!   OH-MY Umeme is baaaaack.  Whee - I have to go blow out a house full of candles...       I've learned to always keep some sort of tap light or candle and lighter nearby.  When it's dark here it is really dark. 

Monday night, Independence Day eve - Diana Gardens, the club in my front yard, had a big event.  They began tuning up for this around three in the afternoon and my doors and windows were rattling. There is a true obsession with "loud" here.  I don't get it and I especially don't get how people can still hear.  Why is "noise induced hearing loss" not rampant?  People are still engaged in whispered greetings  a 20 paces while walking away from each other.  And they hear it!  Well - not this Muzungu.  After putting wads of toilet paper around every  iron bolt,  in all the doors and windows I foolishly asked if they might turn the volume down just a smidge - you know to maybe an intimate 130 decibels.  No way - they were just getting warmed up.

The party got started in earnest about 9PM after a good rain and continued until 4AM without so much as a pause for breath.   Sleep was not to be had, with or without earplugs.  I practically had to hold on to the bed to keep from being vibrated out - OK a slight exaggeration.  So I finished book #92 somewhere around 3:45AM.

And speaking of vibrations,  we had a little mini-earthquake last Friday night.  The  earth moved - and for all the wrong reasons.  I would have thought it was a train going by - but - oh yeah - I forgot - we don't HAVE trains up here. (Museveni destroyed all the tracks for fear of invasions.)   Lasted about 5 seconds.  I would have dismissed it as imagination had not Jenna texted me from the States that Gulu had an earthquake.   Now how did she know that?  Face Book no doubt - and then it was confirmed by a Ugandan friend.   UFO's, earthquakes - this is feeling like California.

Mid-service is almost here!  And the Ethiopia trip has been approved except for traveling in the south.  Seems Al Shabab is lurking, having come over the borders of Sudan and Somalia.  Turns out that the oldest physical evidence of a humanoid remains (3.5 Million years old) was discovered there and the Arc of the Covenant is said to still be enshrined in a temple at Axum.  Should make for an interesting trip.  And any country settled in part by the Portuguese and Italians has gotta have good food.   Even tho the Brits got there later, the good food habit was already established.  Can't wait - three weeks of adventure and culinary bliss.

Yin-kitty  (of the Yin/Yang duo) becomes more and more tame, still being trailed by her sole remaining calico kitten.  Somehow, having an almost-pet makes life feel more normal.  On a purely Peace Corps note, a friend whose project is helping to raise pigs in a village that's damn near impossible to get to is playing nursemaid to several baby piglets.  The mama died and the other new mama won't suckle them.  Soooo, she is tasked with finding a bottle to feed said piglets.  But - she ran out of propane and in addition to not being able to cook, she can't HEAT THE MILK for the little oinkers.    Just about the time life becomes mundane, there's another story around the corner.  Stay tuned.

Opera on the Post Bus? Naaah....

So - we were about half way home on the Post Bus ride from Kampala to Gulu.  It had been blessedly uneventful - just what you want on a bus ride considering the alternatives.   I got up early to be able to hit Brod, the bakery, to get my sanity making real croissant for the bus ride.  When I arrived at the PO, I was stunned to discover that they were serving tea, juice and breakfast breads to the passengers in the waiting area outside.  Wait just a minute - who am I-where am I-what is my name?   This is definitely NEW and - it was complimentary.  Things are changing before my eyes in Uganda.  There was a bus drivers' strike last week over safety conditions after a bus (not a Post Bus) of 40 rolled over and all died.  There's actually a suggestion to have armed guards on every bus to keep the DRIVERS in check. Wondering if this "breakfast move" is  focused on attracting customers.  It's known as the only really "safe" bus so they're already ahead of the game.  The road conditions add to the adventure.

OK - back to opera....  There we were, bouncing along and one of the several babies on board started wailing - I mean that shrieking cry that only little babies can manage.  As if in sympathy, the others join the chorus.  Stereo babies....  stereo crying babies.  And then - there OPERA starts vibrating out of the overhead speakers.  Not church music - Opera - something from Madam Butterfly I think.  And it's rather a lot to take in along the terrible road, on a terrible bus ride, in the terrible heat of a terribly long day in the middle of Uganda.  I looked to see if there was something correspondingly incongruous on the TV screen.  I was not disappointed.    The opera was the accompaniment to a scene of a large Ugandan woman dressed as a nun, running through a park - arms akimbo.  She stops in front of a cross - and there is "Jesus" mounted there - but when he sees her an jumps of the cross and starts running.  I'm not making this up.

This is pure comedy and I could not have written a more bizarre script.  I'm nearly convulsed with laughter, babies are wailing and madam Butterfly provides a backdrop to religious sacrilege.    Some days are just perfect in their absurdity.  This was one.

I'm starting a collection of "BUS STORIES."  It'll be the grown-up version of  The Wheels on the Bus.  It will no doubt be X-Rated  - there are some doozies (man peeing in a water bottle and PCV being slapped on the cheek by a flying breast). 

And I am back "home."  The house was left unoccupied, so I was relieved to discover all was well and as it should be.  I instantly dropped my bags and gratefully climbed under a COLD shower and loved every drop of it.    This concerns me.   One year and ten days remaining.  There are a few who can tell you to the minute.

No News is Good News?

This comes to you from the exciting cement confines of a windowless-single-with-a-fan room at the Annex, my home away from home when in Kampala.  I'm here for my second crown (no not the one that comes with jewels) courtesy of Uganda and Peace Corps.  At least this time I was able to get in to the dentist who has the crown machine in his office.  He told me to day that the cost of the machine is more that the total of all of his other office equipment combined.  It's not quite right (the crown) but I'll go back tomorrow. At least this one doesn't come via the "slow boat from China" as did the last one.  

I managed to make it through last weekend without accidentally going into work on Saturday.  So my dignity has been partially restored.  I am free of termites for the time being and Yin, the pitiful white female cat, has redeemed herself by catching a mighty fine rat.    Now days she is trailed by the only one of her remaining kittens, a little calico, and she is again "with kittens."  I fed her some left-over and getting-old (refrigeration off for a few days) tuna and she now deigns to "speak" to me.  In fact she's quite the meow-er and has started rubbing up against my leg.  She no longer runs from me and has - in fact - become quite pushy.  MK - you have competition.  So I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  Tho the last time I fed her she wanted more, which I wouldn't give.  Within a few minutes I saw her out front with a big  squirming rat hanging from her mouth.  Good kitty...

A Ugandan Blessing:  "May your ride on the bus be boring and uneventful."    On Monday I was granted such a blessing.  As is my habit (unwillingly) the night before I have to get up early to catch the bus, I awoke every hour on the hour until 5AM when I finally gave up and got up.  Mercifully the night's rain  had quit and I walked the mile in the dark dodging puddles and mud, but without rain.  Got a decent seat and a decent seat mate.  So all-in-all a good ride if you don't count the ensuing exhaustion.

Absolutely nothing of interest is happening, but considering the things that COULD be interesting, I suppose this is a good thing.   Those of us in the north were visited by our program officer and one of the nurses last week - along with the security officer.  As Fred sat taking notes and the incidents of "the foot, the fire and the burglary" came up he said "And this was all in the last year?"  Yes, Fred. And this is why a boring week can count as a good week.

Our planned trip to Ethiopia has met with some resistance. It turns out that when we submit our travel requests, they are sent through the safety and security officer for that country.  Seems that the areas we want to visit in the south - the tribes that  still do body painting and wear a clay plate in the lower lip (!) are considered "out of bounds."  Well damn!   Still going, but having to regroup yet again.  74 days and counting to departure!!

All manner of turmoil at out office in Gulu:  personnel shuffling, office demolition, relocating. Hard to get things done in such an environment.  Still - things move forward.  Got a nice article published in the Human Rights Focus Quarterly publication and it appears I will be writing more for them.  Kind of a nice surprise I had not anticipated.     In fact, none of this is what I had vaguely anticipated, but then I suppose that's part of the adventure.    Housemate is still in the States.

Once again, my deepest thanks to all of you who have supported me - mind, body and spirit - with comments,  e-mails, calls, goody boxes, help with things at home.     Really, I could not be doing this without your love and support.   One of the sweetest discoveries here has been your presence and generosity of spirit, time and effort.   I am truly overwhelmed.  Knowing you are there is indeed the "wind beneath my wings." 

Confessions of a Addled Brain

It is 9:02 AM on what would appear an ordinary work day.  The day has already had an interesting beginning, but back to that later.  There is not a soul in sight at any office.  This is a clue.  I have missed it.  These are the District Offices - so this does not bode well.  I called my supervisor and apparently wake him up, tho this is unlikely as he as 4 children that I know of.  I start by asking "Why is no-one here."  he answers "How are you?"  Oh - damn, I forgot the lead in - "How are you, I'm fine, how was the night...  it was fine.  How is your home...."  Now WHERE IS EVERYONE?

I've given one of two sets of keys to a Program Officer who should be here, but it looks oddly like a holiday and everyone else knows but me.   Twilight zone music in the background...   Or was today simply cancelled due to lack of interest.   Well that's certainly possible.  But no, I'm not picking up on the clues.  In part of my mind I know that I've missed something, but for the life of me I can't figure it out.  Kind of like forgetting the rules at the last minute of a game you've played all your life...  

It started last night with my Smurf themed, plastic, zipper front clothing "closet" - perilously leaning,  finally collapsed into a heap on the floor.   Damn Smurfs.   Partying no doubt - or sniffing little vials of blue Smurfette glue.  OK - dug out all clothes and transferred to an extra bed.  Mice.  Nothing of value is left on the floor:  chocolate granola bars, clothes (good nesting material), etc.    Finally onward to bed.  I have finally - after three days of trying everything possible - connected with the help of Trav - to my leasing agent in Austin. This has caused lack of sleep.  Termite warning here (large, hungry infestation in the garage growing fat on LABE's paper goods) prompted me to remember  the lack of follow-up on the inspection I'd requested from my leasing agent for my Austin digs six months ago.   This is synchronicity at work.  Because the warranty had been allowed to lapse.  All ends well I think because the good people at Robert's Pest Control took mercy and and are extending the warranty with the condition that I pay the extra year.  Best possible outcome.   Termites serve as messengers...  that's a new one.

Into the night - the boom boxes in the distance rattle the windows.  In a civilized universe this could also be a clue that it's Friday night, but it's being going all week.   I had a good book and power.  So far, so good, not counting the collapse of the closet.   Into the night...

In my dream world courtesy of Mefloquin methinks,  I am in a hotel with a bunch of realtors and have to get to the second floor and by climbing a rope ladder with circle rings in it while wearing 6-inch heels (which even in my twenties I did not wear).  Once there, after a night of sleep I awake finding my hair (now a dark brown in the dream) all rolled up in fuzzy rollers of yesteryear and covered with not one, but two hair nets.  In the night it appears that someone has not only dyed my hair but set it.   I wander out and - to my great surprise - find that the security office is next door to my room BUT - they are all "in" on the joke.  I awaken relieved that I've not gone mad,  but I liked the pixie cut.

Now - as I sit here on the front steps of LABE and gather information, I discover it's a SATURDAY.  Not only have I failed to leave work early on my half-day Friday, I have somehow lost two days of time here in the Twilight Zone of Peace Corps Uganda.  I said to Geoffrey, my counterpart yesterday - see you tomorrow and he said "yes."  Maybe it was just "hmmmm" which can be yes - or I'm not listening.  Apparently the latter in this case.

Truly, I've fallen into a black hole and need that rope ladder to climb out.   Perhaps the chemicals I was breathing on the day I spent at home dealing with termites fried my brain.   At the very least it appears to have reset my mental clock. Or.... somewhere in the twilight zone in a parallel universe it's Thursday and a a brunette Peace Corps Volunteer is still asleep thinking it's Saturday.

Going home to start the day over... and put a calendar by my bed to mark of days of the week.
I am not a well woman it would appear...   Or I'm just living in a period of no time.  Monday - Friday seems to have no meaning here.  Everyday is the same, except for Sunday.  You know it's Sunday only because of the church music. 

Have a good weekend - because apparently - it's really Saturday - all day.

"Be the Peace..."

Today is the International Day of Peace for those of you who didn't know (I didn't until yesterday) and this year it seems particularly relevant.  Maybe it's because I'm half a world away from the normalcy of my daily life in Austin, where it's easy to think peace is always with us.  Here - not so much.   Here in this country newly at peace, among a host of nations in active conflict,  that nice soft cocoon of peace we take for granted in the States has some holes in it. 

Some of this has been brought home by the fact that we're in a little-bitty country literally surrounded by hot spots:  the Congo, Sudan, Kenya and those are rubbing shoulders with places like Libya, Egypt, Tunisia - all in some degree of deep conflict if not all out war.  Some of those seem constantly in discord, others more recently.  I'm not trying to over dramatize this - it's just fact.  Although I feel absolutely safe in Uganda, and especially so in Gulu, we were just  alerted again about anti-American demonstrations planned for Kampala this weekend.   Jokingly we call Kampala The Forbidden City, because we are "forbidden" to go there without approval and warned to stay away on the weekends.  Well - we don't always - stay away that is, but that's another can of worms.   We do generally avoid crowds - always a sure sign of mischief afoot.  As somewhat of an adrenaline junkie from my police and fire department days, I have to admit that my instincts are always to find out what's going on, but here - well - I'd get the hell out of Dodge if I saw a crowd building.

The point is, that here, the issue of "peace" is more in your face - and more than a concept.  Although September 21st is the official International Day of Peace,  Uganda for some reason decided it was yesterday - or at least that was the day chosen for the big celebration in Gulu.   I went to work as usual, knowing nothing about it - until a band tuned up outside and I slipped out to investigate. A gathering crowd was awaiting the start of the event.  There were the Cuk Madit (Main Market) Stage Boda Drivers all dressed up in their black T-shirts with Uganda's colors decorating the sleeves - waiting on their motor cycles splendidly decked out with streamers, small Ugandan flags and various and sundry shiny baubles along the handle bars.  Groups from several schools awaited - all gussied up in their school colors of pink and blue, black and white, blue and black - waiting to take their place in a parade through town. A group  that really caught my attention was one of twenty-some-odd young women dressed in hospital green and white all topped off with a tiny nurses cap bobby-pinned into their cropped fuzz.  They all have identical hair, purposely not a shaved head because there would be no place to pin the cap - and absolutely nothing frivolous like braids...  Each group held their banner: the ones in green - from the Gulu School of Nursing.

There was an award given to someone who had dedicated his life to education and specifically education regarding reconciliation, peace building and  non-violent conflict resolution.   Peace is serious stuff in a country ravaged by war for two-plus decades.  Most of the people here have had direct contact with atrocities Americans and those of us from more developed countries only read about - and make movies about - but by now you know this. These folks have lived it and yesterday were celebrating the absence of war, the presence of peace.     As I often am here,   I was humbled to be present at this small, but significant and emotionally powerful event.  As the parade started, everyone fell in line and marched in step as the procession wound around through the city - to finally land at the fair-grounds. The military band played loud, dramatic measures of something that sounded vaguely victorious and drum majorettes strutted their stuff with an earnestness that would put college marching bands to shame.  

Then just a few minutes ago,  something came into my inbox, titled "Be the Peace."   I followed the link (www.BeThePeace.com) to the youtube video of celebrations large and small around the world:  London, Paris, Rome, Chicago, Nepal, Bali and many others including - our very own - Austin, Texas.   I was moved. I am still moved.  Because, even as a child of the 60's I have not seen - or perhaps just not been aware of - such a public and peaceful outpouring and demonstration of the desire for PEACE.  The 60's were about rebellion, changing the status quo and often in  non-peaceful means.    Seldom were Peace Demonstrators received peacefully. These were.

Starting in the 80's there's been a huge focus on the ongoing global shift in consciousness and the accompanying earth changes. The topic has become large enough that is has moved beyond the domain of "New Age"  and is being embraced/addressed by every philosopher, spiritual leader and many prominent hard-scientific researchers of our time.  Those of you who know me know that I'm smack in the middle of it and have taught and lectured on this topic for years.  When I see the events that occurred on this Peace Day it makes me smile and give me hope.

Frog Strangler

Trips out of Gulu are always an adventure, but I am once again reminded of the sailing adage: If you add your most hideous days and your most exquisite and the average is zero, you've had a fabulous trip.  Starting with the walk to the bus, this score came in at a resounding negative whose origins no doubt are in the pits of hell.  A new school term began that week, so all transport is historically packed (translate bodies and mattresses bulging from the windows) at that time of year.  A group had gone the day before and reported upon their arrival at 5:15 the bus was already crammed.   So, smart Muzungos that we are, we got up at 4AM and were greeted by the worst downpour of the season - a real frog strangler.  Now, if this had been the States or even Kampala, we would have called a private hire  (or hopped in our OWN car) and gotten a mile ride in.  But alas, it was not Kampala and I don't have the name of a reliable private hire (one can wait an hour) and we certainly don't have a CAR, so we donned our ponchos, repacked some bags to accommodate an extra pair of shoes and rain gear and headed out to navigate the mud and the rain through the pitch dark streets.  NO one except idiots and Muzungus (is that a redundancy?) venture out in the rain.  But we slogged through raging muddy, ankle deep, sewer tainted waters and reached the bus 4:45-ish and it was all locked up.  It's raining - and NO ONE is going to open until it stops.  We arrived totally drenched.  We'd put our computers in plastic bags and thank goodness, because even though they were in backpacks under our parkas once we boarded the bus and commenced the trip, a shallow river of water deep to soak every piece of clothing I own and fry any electronic gear sloshed forward.

The PO guard finally opened up at about 5:45AM and we boarded a dark and empty bus.  No one else arrived until 6:30 and we finally pulled out at 7:20, continuing to pick up people (Ugandans who know better than to walk through water and mud) and arrived at 1:30 or so and were deposited at a police station where there was no place to sit, find food or wait.  We found a private hire and got a roller coaster tour of the innards of  Uganda slums and finally  arrived at a sandwich shop, ate and caught the PC shuttle to Masaka.  By that time I was nursing a horrid upset stomach and 3.5 hours later we finally arrived.  Fifteen hours of travel in all.  As I have said, travel in Uganda is not for the weak of heart or frail of body.  Oh - did I mention that we passed a bus that had turned over in the middle of the road not more that a few hours earlier?  Not confidence inspiring...  

Thank god - I was given a private room, running water, flush toilet.   Food fine, great to see people, but otherwise a total cluster.  We did however, go to Friday night BBQ at a place run by a Danish family and had some of the best food I've had in country.  Not just food that was  good "for Uganda," but great food worth the wait.  There are many countries in Africa where the food is great, but - and I wonder if it is the English colonization influence - but food here has not met salt or seasonings on any kind.  Mean when available is tough and hiding shards of bone.

Back in Kampala.  Sandals broken again - needed to find something here. Miraculously found some Preevos only one size too big (there was only ONE pair and in ONE size).  They clump a little when I walk, but I've become very adaptive.  Found a grand pair of Panama Jacks for basically half of my monthly PC stipend and passed on them.  besides, i would have been murderous the first time I had to submerge them in sewer water and mud...

Since I first drafted this blog, we have been through both the highs and the lows of trying to plan travel to Egypt.  The best news was that we had purchased our airline tickets to Egypt and Ethiopia for our over-Christmas trip.  The plan was to leave on the 17th of  December and return on January the 4th or so.  Coming back through Ethiopia!  We were so excited about being among the pyramids on 12/21/2012.  Not more than three days later all the hubbub erupted in Libya and Egypt and PC is not approving any travel to Egypt!   Tho that MAY change, we are back to the drawing board and are relieved that we can get a refund on our tickets, minus $50.  Since that time, Embassies in Tunis and Khartoum have been closed except for essential personnel.

Got commandeered to work on the Annual Report for PC and spent an intense couple of days doing work around software issues, etc.  Ate too much.   Slept too little courtesy of the night staff at the Annex who persist in cleaning the bathrooms and showers at 4Am turning on all the lights so they blaze like high-noon into the rooms and make enough racket to wake the dead - even through earplugs.

Back in Gulu - enjoying an quiet and empty house.  Came home, got horizontal and fell into the sleep-of-the-dead for three hours at 4PM.  Probably explains why my sleep pattern is out of whack - with my waking at 4AM this morning - this time to the sounds of a train whistle.  And thee re no trains up here.  (Museveni destroyed the tracks for fear they would be used for hostile purposes. ) Housemate is in US for two weeks and the town is relatively quiet, though church music is in full tilt as of this writing.  The new US Ambassador to Uganda is coming to town tonight and a number of us have been invited to the reception.  so that's tonight.

My successes of the week include finding a home for Dingo, a sweet dog left in Kampala by his former family.  Rare to come across a dog in Uganda who has been a pet.  For the most part Ugandan's are "not nice" to dogs and most are so abused by the time you find them that they have to been seriously retrained.  He looks like every other dog you see in Uganda (tan, the size of a small German shephard) and now has a new home in Gulu with a new USAID worker ;-)

Off to do hand laundry.  The only way...