I was able to spend a relaxing 3-day weekend in Kampala last weekend due to the Muslim holiday Eid, which celebrates the end of Ramadan. I don’t get to see Lynn all week and she was noticeably bigger than when I last saw her four days earlier. Our little girl is growing quickly, and we were able to feel her move for the first time, which was pretty exciting. Lynn had a tiresome but good week teaching at the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI). She has 16 doctors from Uganda and Tanzania in her class and it sounds like they are very much appreciating Lynn’s knowledge on everything from HIV/AIDS itself to how to effectively locate helpful HIV research through the Internet. She is a natural teacher who possesses a knack for clear explanations of complex ideas, a trait that I wish I possessed more of…you know, being a teacher and all.
Our roommate in Kampala apartment, Peace, is a remarkable example of “Wow, what a small world,” and coincidence. She is a Ugandan woman, about Lynn’s age and also a doctor who grew up in Mbarara just yards from where we lived for 10 months. She is currently receiving her Masters degree in public health from the University of Washington (she is here doing 3 mo. of fieldwork), so she lives 3-hours away from us in Portland. Lynn and I went out to dinner the other night with another doctor that Peace ended up knowing from Mbarara and, finally, we found out at lunch the other day that her and I share a birthday (Amanda, we have another b-day twin)! More importantly, though, is that her and Lynn work in the same building and watch out for each other, so I know that Lynn is safe while I toil out in the village.
The apartment in Kampala is the life of luxury with two TV’s, free internet, a microwave and a toaster, so it was a bit shocking to come back to village life of intermittent electricity, squatter toilets, and cold showers. Actually, I don’t mind the squatter toilets, especially since they are not on a moving Chinese train, and the cold showers are a relief, as Kampala is bloody hot. So I guess I’m not really complaining, but it is nice to spend the weekends in the city.
My first day back at school, the other teachers informed me that they would be having a staff meeting from 12-1pm, but when I returned from lunch at 2pm they were still meeting. My closest colleague, Wilson, asked me to entertain the P5 class while the teachers finished the meeting, which means I did not have time to prepare a my algebra lesson. This was fine, as I always like to set aside time with the kids for casual questions and answers about America and me, and anything for that matter. The questions ranged from, “Who is the governor of your country,” to “What is the biggest lake, tallest mountain, largest forest(?),” and finally ended up with, “How many bones are in the body,” and “Who is your favorite actor?” After an hour or so of that, the teachers were still meeting, so I taught the kids how to play my old favorite word game ‘Hangman.’ The meeting finally ended at 4pm, and I have no idea what the other 500-600 students were doing all that time, but I was mightily impressed that the rooms were relatively quiet for four hours; there is definitely something to be said for discipline.
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