Uganda Blog

2004-04-16T10:05:00.000-04:00

Good bye Uganda!

I'd like to put some final thoughts here, but I'm too tired after finishing up my last day here at the lab. So I guess I'll just have to talk to everyone when I get home.

See you then!

2004-04-15T09:29:00.000-04:00

Top Ten Favorite Things about Uganda

10. Gecko-watching at night.

9. Traditional Ugandan music on the radio.

8. Having a park across the street from the Project House.

7. Pinapple, mango, avacado, and passion fruit

6. Playing Ultimate Frisbee every Sunday.

5. Getting to see monkeys in a rainforest.

4. All of the green, leafy tropical plants.

3. Not having to do laundry or cook any meals.

2. Eating samosas and chapatis and drinking tea during breakfast.

1. The weather. Mostly warm and sunny all year long.

2004-04-14T09:43:00.000-04:00

Top Ten list for today: Top Ten Mental Images that I Will Take Away From Uganda

10. Red dust covering everything, indoors and out

9. The shacks lining the roads that sell wooden coffins and seeing coffins in the back of pick-up trucks at the JCRC

8. Looking outside during a power outage and seeing nothing but pitch blackness

7. Dead flying ants completely covering the floor in front of the front door

6. Women walking around in vibrant colored gomesis

5. The views of Lake Victoria and the Nile

4. The streets clogged with endless lines of matatus (small bus sized taxis)

3. School children dressed in their school uniforms assembled in their school yards for the start of the day

2. The white buildings with dark green trim that make up the JCRC

1. The view from the Project House of the downtown high-rises across the airstrip

2004-04-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

I'm going to start wrapping up my blog since I only have a few days to go. My last post will be Friday, as that is the last day that I will have Internet access here.

So I figured that I would take after Kent and put together a few top ten lists. So my list for today is 'Top Ten Things that Most Suprised Me about Uganda'

Before my trip, I had been briefed by many people about what to expect when I arrived here. Those people did a good job because I didn't walk around in a state of shock during my first week. Having a degree in Cultural Anthropology probably helped. None the less, a first visit to a developing country is one of the more eye-opening experience I expect to have.

Anyway, here's the list:

10. How tropical the landscape is. Most people's idea of Africa is open savannah with a few sparse trees. Kampala, however, is lush, tropical, and situated on green rolling hills.

9. The looming American "presence." From the huge, imposing, US embassy to the heavy influence of US culture on the lifestyles of upper-class Ugandans, I've come to realize how dominant the United States has become in the world today. Dominant in every sense. It is a bit unsettling.

8. Ugandans' unfortunate chronic littering habit. There is trash everywhere.

7. How a nation that produces tons of coffee beans chooses to drink only instant coffee.

6. The amount of public urination. Too much. Way too much.

5. There is really not a Ugandan "accent." English is taught in elementary schools, but the teachers often teach incorrect pronunciation and sometimes even teach wrong meanings to words. As a result, the English spoken and written here is a bit hard to decipher. Some Ugandans I can understand perfectly, others sound like they are speaking Chinese for all I can tell.

4. The traffic jams. Much much worse (and more dangerous) than everyday traffic in Cleveland.

3. The amount of missionaries and born-again Christians that are in Kampala.

2. Having armed guards at both my place of work and where I live. The guards have huge guns, like assault rifles. It doesn't make me feel any safer to have them around. Especially when you see empty beer cans strewn about the guard post at the JCRC.

1. How much I would have my "butt kissed" just because I am a white person. It is embarassing at times. There are many times when I wished that I could blend in and not attract so much attention.

2004-04-12T09:30:00.000-04:00

Only one week left for me here! I wrote Kent an email today stating that "in exactly one week's time I will be on an airplane over the Sahara." I'm happy about leaving. I'm ready to go home.

My (long) weekend was boring and a chore to get through. On Friday night there was a big thunderstorm and I woke up on Saturday morning to find the house filled with dead flying ants. For reasons unknown to me, this happens every morning after a big storm. The ants apparently fly into the windows and doors (on the inside of the house), crash, get their wings knocked off, fall to the floor, and die. I don't know how they get in to the house, why they crash, or why their wings fall off. What the heck did evolution have in mind for these things? All I know is that there were so many of them near the front door that I had to sweep them up first thing or I'd be stepping on dead bugs all weekend. To make matters worse, other species of ants were coming inside to feast upon the dead flying ants. It was not a good way to start the day.

I've seen so many gross bugs here (cockroaches, millipedes, mosquitoes, flies, and millions upon millions of ants) that I've come to appreciate my gecko housemates. In fact, I'm happy now when I spot one in my room. I've got no problem with Hank and the gang eating bugs above my bed.

2004-04-08T10:14:00.000-04:00

Not much to say today, other than I am heading in to a long weekend. Both my house-mate and the cook are leaving Kampala for four days so I will be all on my own. I don't know if I will be at work on Friday or Monday, but at some point this weekend I will have Internet access. I'm going to try to get on the Internet using a lap-top at the House. If that doesn't work, I'll be heading to the computer center at the mall.

There have been some interesting developments in my project lately. I'll post more about that on a later date.

Happy Easter Weekend!

2004-04-07T09:40:00.000-04:00

I didn't post anything yesterday because I forgot. I didn't realize until I was back at the Project House that I hadn't written my daily post.

Not much has happened in the past two days. My project is stalled. Again. I don't think that it will be completed until many months after I leave here. That's how research goes, especially here in Uganda where there are many obstacles.

This weekend is a long one for Ugandans. Both Friday and Monday are official holidays, so it is a four-day break for most people. Uganda seems to have more official holidays than the US. Four days off is exactly what I don't need right now. I'm starting to go a little stir-crazy with boredom when I'm in the Project House. I can't remember a time when I actually dreaded a long weekend. I may end up blowing the rest of my money on books because there isn't much else to do with my free time except read.

2004-04-05T08:18:00.000-04:00

My trip to Jinja was interesting to say the least. I've been writing about all of my experiences here and I'm worried that there won't be any fresh stories to tell when I get home. So, I'm saving this one. I'll tell it when I get back. Just know that there are both good and bad aspects to the story. Overall it was a nice trip though.

I spent a good amount of time at the mall on Saturday. I found a fax machine at the computer center and treated myself to a movie and then a cappucino at the coffee stand. The cappucino was the first real (non-instant) cup of coffee that I have had since London. I've been getting my caffiene fix via Ugandan tea, which, thankfully, is very good.

The rainy season has brought with it a lot of cloudy, cooler days. Cooler meaning about 70 degrees during the day. Some Ugandans find this temperature too cold for their liking so you see a lot of people walking around with sweaters and jackets with the hoods up. Whenever the sun does appear, the temperature rockets back up. Being so close to the Equator means that the sun is quite powerful. I've been careful and lucky enough not to have gotten sun-burned so far.

2004-04-02T08:40:00.000-05:00

Another week comes to a close . . .

This weekend looks promising. Tomorrow I am going to make my first trip downtown by myself. I'm mostly going because I need to find a fax machine, but I also want to do a bit of exploring. I'm feeling much more confidant when out-and-about alone. Plus, I'm tired of being chauffeured around. I need to feel some degree of independence.

Sunday we are taking a lab trip to Jinja, the city at the source of the Nile. It is about an hour's drive east of Kampala. I'm looking forward to it a lot. It will be cool to be able to see the Nile.

This week has been my most productive in the lab yet. I feel now like I am really in control of my project. I like the research, it beats sorting through freezer boxes.

2004-04-01T08:56:00.000-05:00

I've been seeing posters advertising an up-coming beauty pageant in Kampala. The winner is crowned Miss MUBS (I don't know what it stands for). A few weeks ago was the Miss MUK competition (MUK stands for Makerere University Kampala) that was wracked with scandal. Last year the newly crowned Miss Uganda found herself in the center of controversy when it was discovered that her father was not a "real" Ugandan. He was born in Rwanda and even though his daughter was born and educated in Uganda, she too was not considered "Ugandan." They take their beauty pageants very seriously here.

There have been some important visitors to the JCRC in the past few days. These people usually are foreigners who are potential money doners. Several times a week, groups of these donors are paraded through the labs and given spiels about the work being done in each. Sometimes we get advance warning that a group is coming through, but that is often not the case. The two groups in the past two days have been some of the most important, so it has been a bit interesting. It is a bit distracting to be working on an experiment when the door opens and ten people walk in to our small lab expecting a short speech. I've been lucky enough to not be alone in a lab when this happens, otherwise I'd have to make something up on the spot.

2004-03-31T08:45:00.000-05:00

We just received a massive shipment of supplies. Eleven boxes! Just like Christmas!

The power has returned to the Project House. Thank goodness.

It is avacado season in Uganda and I have been chowing down on them. I try not to think about how fatty they are. I've been eating goat occassionally. Beef and chicken are common here. Pork is non-existant, but goat is considered normal to eat. Goat seems a bit more dense than beef, but it tastes similar. People graze their livestock all over the city. Every day we drive past countless cattle and goats eating grass. Sometimes I wonder which ones will end up being my lunch. (I think that when we drive past the butcher stands too). I rarely eat beef and pork back home, but here my need for protein overwhelms my distaste for red meat.

2004-03-30T09:39:00.000-05:00

Last night was the first power outage to occur at the Project House during the night-time. Back in January when I was packing at home, I had a flashlight out that I was planning to take along with me. Somehow, the flashlight got misplaced so that it didn't make it with me to Uganda. So I have no flashlight. I was sitting on my bed listening to music when the lights went out. I made my way downstairs where Harriet had a lap-top computer and a lantern to give off light. I tried to read a book by the lantern but Harriet's brother-in-law was visiting and I can't read when there is a conversation going on around me. So I went upstairs and used the light given off by my cell phone to get ready for bed, even though it was only about 8:30. I didn't fall asleep until much later. It was a boring night.

Today was more interesting. My project is really picking up steam and now, finally, there is a lot of lab work for me to do. Too bad that I am only here for two and a half more weeks.

2004-03-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

There was a nice big thunderstorm this afternoon. While we were eating lunch, huge, dark clouds appeared and the wind started to pick up. Despite these signs, people were walking around saying that it wasn't going to rain. I guess that storms can blow through quickly here and clouds don't always mean rain. My instinct turned out to be the right one though, because it poured for over an hour. It has been so humid for the past few days (my hair has been a constant frizz-ball) that I was just waiting for the eventual rain.

My weekend was fine. I went to the mall with my house-mate, got hit in the head twice while playing Ultimate frisbee, and spent a lot of time reading on the patio in the sun. It was one of my more enjoyable weekends here.

I've been experimenting with beverages here. I've tried two brands of Ugandan beer (one bad, one good) and a number of different soft drinks and fruit juices. Most of the them have been tasty. Two kinds of soft drinks, though, had me pouring out most of the bottle. The first, Krest, is a lemon soda that is labeled "bitter lemon." I didn't believe the label before I tried it, but yeah, it turned out to be bitter. People who find other types of soda to be too sweet would probably like this stuff, but I don't. Another type of soda, Stoney, is a ginger beer. It tastes like ginger ale, but 10 times stronger. In fact, it is so strong, that it made me choke and it burned my throat. I've been sticking to Coca-Cola as my soda of choice.

2004-03-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

I ran a new procedure today for my project. It is the trickiest one that I have, so I hope it was successful. I'll probably know the results on Tuesday.

I'm really happy that today is Friday. This week has been stressful at the lab due to miscommunications and disorganization. It is impossible to be a control-freak and be happy in Uganda, especially when it comes to research. I remember the common complaints from workers in my lab back at Case and they seem so minor to me now compared to the working conditions here. Luckily, my project is well-designed so it is working, even in sub-standard lab conditions. All that said, I'm glad that I get a weekend away from the JCRC.

Irritation at the lab has increased my home-sickness. More and more I am thinking about home. Three more weeks here, a week of fun in London, and then I'll be home.

2004-03-25T08:15:00.000-05:00

After a week of cataloging and paperwork, I get to do lab work again tomorrow. I've run into a lot of problems with the samples that I am supposed to use. Disorganization and mislabeling of the samples have caused me many headaches. When the sample collection was taking place, no system of cataloging was used. So now there are over 7000 samples that I have to search through, one by one. Just now, we discovered that many of the samples appear to be missing. Ugh. How do you know for sure if a sample is missing if its presence is not recorded anywhere?

I've been able to talk to Kent on the phone for longer periods of time lately. I found out that the more minutes of airtime that you buy at one time, the cheaper the rate is. So I've been buying the most expensive calling cards that I can find. Phone calls are still ridiculously expensive. But my time here is winding down and I have more than enough money to get me through, so longer phone calls shouldn't set me back too badly.

2004-03-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

There was some excitement today in the lab when sparks started flying out of the main circuit panel for the lab building. Some of the electrical wires were "melting" and filling the building with a horrible smell. Then the sparks started flying and people started running for the doors. I didn't know what was happening until someone started yelling at me to get out of the building.

The power got shut down and we had to unplug everything in the lab. Now there is an electrician working on the panel and he's been pulling charred pieces of rubber wire coating out of the wall. We had to move things around in our freezers to make sure that nothing melted, but now everything seems to be functioning normally.

So much excitement concerning the electricity lately.

I had a conference call yesterday where I got to talk to my two bosses. My project supervisor thinks that I am doing a good job over here. He asked me to continue working on the project when I get back to Cleveland. I'm very happy about this. It makes me feel like my time here is worthwhile.

2004-03-23T08:23:00.000-05:00

The electricity here has been very unreliable lately. We had no power at the Project House on Sunday and Monday mornings. Since the last power outage the electricity has only been at maybe half of the voltage that it should be. As a result the lights in the house are very dim and the television picture is distorted. This all makes for very boring evenings. It is hard to watch tv with a distorted picture and it is hard to read books in such dim light. As a result, I've been going to bed very early due to boredom. The house feels like a cave after the sun sets. I'm hoping that by today the electricity will be better.

I talked to Sylvia (the bride in the Introduction Ceremony) and she said that everyone at the ceremony was talking about the mazungu (white person) in the gomesi (Ugandan dress). I think that I am the first white female wearing a gomesi that most of the people had ever seen. Maybe that explains why they treated me like a celebrity.

I'd also like to mention that I am now completely recovered from my stomach problems of the previous week. After the first cipro, I started to feel much better.

2004-03-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

Fred and Sylvia's Introduction Ceremony this weekend was a very interesting ordeal. I wore my gomesi, which brought much amusement to all of the ceremony guests. I also got to sit at the table of honor with the bride and groom for dinner. That was unexpected.

The ceremony serves to introduce the bride and groom's families to one another. It resembles a wedding in the second half, but the first half is very unique. The groom's family must bargain with the bride's family and then present the dowery to their satisfaction. This is done by a sort of ceremony/skit where there is much bantering back and forth between spokesmen of the two families. I'm sure it was very entertaining, but it was spoken in Lugandan so I had no idea what was going on. Christine translated bits of it for me.

The ceremony started more than two hours late because the cow included in the dowry kept on running away. The whole thing lasted probably around 4 or 5 hours. I had two favorite parts to the ceremony. The first is the presentation of the groom. The bride's aunt, known as the zenga, pretends to search for the groom among the crowd and then when she finds him she identifies him in some manner. In this case, she put a sash around him that read "Fred is my choice." Fred had to wear the sash for the rest of the ceremony. My second favorite part was when the dowry was presented and they dragged a live goat down the aisle. Apparently the goat had some sort of part in the ceremony. The goat was not happy about his part in the ceremony.

Since I didn't understand much of the ceremony, I spent a good deal of time walking around taking pictures. I took some very interesting shots. I'll be emailing them out soon.

2004-03-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

Today I made it my mission to do something about the digestive problems that I have been having for more than a week now. I woke up this morning with the feeling that I wasn't improving, if anything, I was getting worse. So after some reseach in medical textbooks and online, I decided that I had better go ahead and start a course of antibiotics.

Through some connections (thank you Stanley) I talked to a doctor at the AIDS clinic at the JCRC and she gave me a prescription for cipro. I honestly hope it works because I've been feeling miserable. If it doesn't work, I'll have to have lab tests run to find out what is bothering my digestive tract so much. I haven't eaten anything all that odd, so I don't think I have some exotic parasitic infection. But who knows.

The other excitement of the past 24 hours involved a smoking computer printer. One of the Project House guests, an American, accidentally plugged a nice-looking printer into a socket with the incorrect voltage and fried the poor printer. Smoke was literally pouring out of it and the whole room smelled like burning plastic. I felt bad for her, there was no way she could have known that would have happened. The electricity is highly erratic here. If you don't have a voltage stablizer, then things get fried.

I have an interesting weekend coming up, with Fred's Introduction Ceremony tomorrow. Hopefully, by the end of this weekend, my digestive system will have returned to normal as well.

2004-03-18T08:57:00.000-05:00

It is an uneventful day in the lab today. I spent most of it going through freezer stocks. We have several thousand uncatalogued samples. Among the thousands are about 150 that I need for my project. Before I can find those, though, all of the samples need to be organized and accounted for. I've got days ahead of me spent surrounded by freezer boxes.

The Project House is full of people for the next few days. It is nice to have people around to talk to. Now I don't have to spend my nights alone watching CNN.

2004-03-17T08:36:00.000-05:00

Stanley picked up my gomesi today. It is even uglier than I imagined it to be. Now people are trying to talk me into buying high-heeled shoes to match it. I think that I am going to have to pass on that one.

Today has been irritating because there is no running water at the JCRC. That means no ice can be made (which I need for experiments in my project) and the toilets can't be flushed. I haven't ventured into the bathrooms today. I'm afraid to see what state they are in.

Two more people are coming to stay at the Project House today. They'll only be staying for a few days, but the House will be full for the time being.

2004-03-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

Getting my dress yesterday was an interesting experience. I went with two Ugandans that I work with, Christine and Stanley. They took me on a matatu, a Ugandan taxi, downtown to the marketplace. From there we walked to an alley that housed all of the tailors and dressmakers. At one stall we stopped to pick out fabric for my "gomesi." Now, gomesis are about the ugliest dresses that you can imagine. They have shoulders that stick straight up and are purposely made with very wide hips. Women are supposed to look very fertile with big hips and thus more attractive to men. Since I have very narrow hips normally I think that I will just look ridiculous.

Since gomesis are so unattractive, l decided to go all out and pick a very ugly very shiny fabric. The one that I chose is shimmery bright green and brown. I also bought a rug-like fabric to wrap around my hips under the gomesi to make me seem wider. Then we walked across the alley to the dressmaker with her sewing machine right on the street. The dressmaker took my measurements and promised to have the gomesi ready by today. Fortunately, Stanley offered to pick it up for me. I can't wait to see the finished product.

I ended up paying about $60 for the gomesi, which is a lot more than I was expecting. Since I'm paying too much money for a dress that I will only wear once to a wedding ceremony, I am considering this equivalent to being a bridesmaid.

2004-03-15T07:57:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I was right. I was getting sick. Friday night was one of the most miserable nights I have ever experienced. I won't get in to the gory details. Lets just say that I was fever-striken and running to the bathroom every hour or so. Saturday I spent the vast majority of my day in bed. It was only on Sunday that I felt well enough to get up and leave the house for a bit.

Today I feel mostly back to normal, but my digestive system will take a few more days to fully recover. I've noticed today and yesterday that my clothes are fitting rather loosely all of a sudden. I guess that three days without eating will do that. I've been steadily losing weight here, but my bouts with sickness speed up the process.

I now have a house-mate, Harriet. She is Ugandan but currently lives in Cleveland and attends Case. She's very nice and I'm glad that she is arround. Now the house won't seem so lonely at night. She also brought me a bag of junk food sent from my lab. I'm happy about the chocolate and pop tarts but I haven't trusted my stomach enough to eat any of it yet.

In a little while I am going to go get measured for a Ugandan dress that I will be wearing to an Introduction ceremony this Saturday. The girl taking me to the dress shop is someone that I do not know very well so I hope things go smoothly. I'll let you know about it tomorrow.

2004-03-12T07:58:00.000-05:00

As if this week hasn't been stressful enough, I've gotten sick again. Today started off fine, but after breakfast I developed stomach cramps, chills, headache, the works. In a nutshell, I feel like sh*t. I fear that I'm in for another weekend spent in bed with no appetite. I'm diligent about hand-washing and I only eat food prepared at the Project House or the JCRC. I'm upset that I've gotten sick but I'm also disturbed that my precautions with food are not enough to keep me from becoming ill.

At least it is a Friday. It's not like I'll be missing anything excited this weekend if I do end up sleeping through it.

Send me healthy thoughts.

2004-03-11T09:38:00.000-05:00

No time to update today. Too many things going on in the lab.

Tomorrow is a long day so I'll write then.

2004-03-10T08:50:00.000-05:00

Today is "Half-way Through My Uganda Trip Day." I've been out of the US for over six weeks now, a new record for me. I feel home-sick often but it comes and goes. Usually, the less occupied I am, the more home-sick I become.

Only recently have I really started to miss the United States. For most of my stay here, it has been friends, family members, and food that I have missed the most. Now, though, I am starting to long for everyday American things and customs.

Probably the most surprising thing about Uganda for me has been the state of safety and health regulations. Basically, there are none. Social services that we take for granted (police, fire department, safety inspections, modern health care, garbage collection, safe water supply) either do not exist here or would be considered deplorable by Western standards. And I'm not talking about rural villages, I'm talking about the capital city. It has been a bit of a wake-up call for me.

2004-03-09T09:04:00.000-05:00

I found out that I will be getting a house-mate on Friday. It is a Ugandan woman who is currently studying at Case. She's coming back to Uganda to work on a study at Mulago Hospital for a few months. She'll be in the Project House for the rest of my stay here. I'm happy to get a house-mate although I suspect that she won't be around very much.

Today I saw a man in the canteen open a bottle of Coca-Cola with his teeth. His teeth! I wanted to say to him "Dude. They have bottle openers here, ya know."

One of the three computers in the lab crashed today and probably destroyed all of my files. I'm not happy about this, obviously, but I was recording my results in a notebook by hand, so all is not lost. My project may be stalled though, if the computer isn't up and running soon.

2004-03-08T07:35:00.000-05:00

Here I am at the lab, working during a holiday. The JCRC is very quiet today as almost eveyone is at home celebrating International Women's Day.

I had an interesting adventure this weekend. I walked to the mall. Exciting, I know. Fortunately, the mall is in my neighborhood of Kololo. Having the mall and the golf course near-by is a sign that Kololo is a wealthy and foreinger-filled neighborhood.

Even so, I did attract a lot of attention during my twenty minute journey. One man stopped me and asked me if I was American and then proceeded to ask me if he "could be my friend." I told him that I was late to meet someone and then got the heck away from him.

It wasn't that unusual a request. I've heard many stories about Ugandans wishing that an American would take a liking to them. The plan is to marry an American and thus get a free pass to a life in the United States. It amuses me though, how blantantly some Ugandans try to woo foreigners. Like stopping a white girl on the street and asking to be her "friend," for instance.

2004-03-05T07:57:00.000-05:00

Well, another week draws to a close. This is a long weekend for Ugandans as they celebrate "Women's Day" on Monday. It is a public holiday, meaning that it is a day off of work. I'm probably still going to work. I'm going to try to make it here, at least. Now that I have somewhat figured out the lay-out of the city, I figure it is time for me to start using the taxis. The buses here, called matatus, are the same size as an old VW van and they seat 14 people. I'm not brave enough to try one of those. Instead I'll be taking special hires, which is the same as a taxi. Boda-bodas (mopeds where you sit behind the driver) and bicycles are other popular ways to get around town.

As far as safety goes, I've set some ground rules for when I'm out and about by myself. The first is to not be out alone at night, taxi or not. The second is to not carry much money and to always carry my cell phone. The third is to only go to places that I am familiar with. I've seen a few young white girls walking or taking taxis by themselves, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Other than that I have no real plans for the weekend, other than running, taking a walk to the mall, and playing ultimate frisbee on Sunday.

More next week . . .

2004-03-04T05:07:00.000-05:00

The last time that I tried to take a digital picture in the lab, I found a small gecko under the camera cover. I guess it was a first, finding a gecko in the lab. I can see why he'd want to hang out in the lab since there are hundreds of ants for him to munch on.

I've decided to refer to the gecko in my bedroom as "Hank." Maybe Hank is a girl, who knows? I saw Hank last night. I chased him behind some shelves. I saw two geckos chasing each other and fighting the other night. I also saw a gecko stalk and then eat a fly. When the sun sets, the Project House turns into a gecko playground.

My favorite gecko story involves a worker at the JCRC, Sandra. She was using her laser printer when a gecko fell inside and got smushed as the paper went through. The sheet of paper literally had the gecko's flattened body imprinted upon it. Sandra was annoyed because she had to take apart her printer to clean it. Korey wishes that she had kept the "gecko paper."

Like I said, geckos are not the smartest of creatures.

2004-03-03T07:48:00.000-05:00

In the past week or so I have had mosquitos bothering me at night. At least I think they are mosquitos since they make a high-pitched humming noise as they buzz around my ears. I can't really see them in the dark. There is a mosquito net hanging above my bed and I had to let it down in the middle of the night a few nights ago. It is weird sleeping under one. I felt stuffy and caged in.

I imagine that since the rainy season is starting the mosquito population will be going up. One of the local newspapers reports the weekly totals of new cases of certain diseases. Most weeks Kampala has around 6000 cases of malaria. Good thing I'm on anti-malarial drugs.

Here is an intersting piece of trivia: West Nile virus was first found in Uganda.

2004-03-02T08:53:00.000-05:00

Well, boredom and loneliness have set in for me. Now that I have been here for a month, things aren't novel anymore and I'm becoming bored.

Being unable to speak to anyone at home on most days is frustrating. I only talk to Kent on the phone for about 10-15 minutes each Sunday. We email each other often, but it is not as fulfilling as being able to have a verbal conversation.

When I'm at the Project House, I'm pretty much alone. Work is much better, but even being surrounded by nice people can not totally make up for a lack of familiar faces and customs. Not being able to drive and not trusting taxis definitely makes me feel like I as if I have lost my independence.

I think that I wouldn't mind being here, and could even handle staying for a much longer period of time, if I had two things: a car of my own to drive and a friend from home with me (like Kent, for instance). Then a life here would be merely challenging intead of lonely and isolating.

2004-03-01T07:31:00.000-05:00

I had a decent weekend. Went to see 'Mystic River' at Garden City. I was really impressed by the movie, although the sound system was so bad I had to concentrate to figure out the dialogue. Plus, for some reason, they started the movie about ten minutes early, so we missed the beginning.

After the movie we went to a bar to watch football (soccer to us Americans) matches on tv. The UK's Premier Football league is very popular with Ugandans. Everyone cheers for either Manchester United or London's Arsenal team. I guess that these are two traditionally strong teams. Much to the amazement of those around me here, I really don't care about British soccer.

I've also seen my first rugby and cricket matches on television as well. Rugby seems interesting, but cricket I just do not get. I don't see the appeal of the game, it strikes me as a strange and wimpy version of baseball. Plus, the matches can go on for several days.

I played my second Ultimate Frisbee game on Sunday. I feel like I'm getting better, although I still can't throw the frisbee long distances with any accuracy. I do like playing defense, that's my strong point.

I recieved a phone call from my family yesterday. They were having a dinner to celebrate my grandfather's birthday. My brother told me that he was offered an internship in Bermuda. Pretty cool.

2004-02-27T09:43:00.000-05:00

My project is coming along better now. I finally feel like I know what I am doing in the lab here. At the same time, I'm really glad that it is Friday. I'm at the JCRC for 10 or 11 hours every day so it makes for a long work-week.

Yesterday as I was eating my lunch of rice and beans, I noticed that there were several dead ants in my rice. I wasn't really surprised. There are ants everywhere in the JCRC. I've seen ants in the microwave, crawling between the keys of the lap tops, on my clothes, and crawling up and down the walls in single file lines. I'm so used to them by now that I didn't really care that they were in my rice. From what I can gather about food preparation and storage here, there are probably ants in all of the food, you just can see them all of the time.

That's all for this week. More on Monday.

2004-02-26T06:27:00.000-05:00

My mom wrote in an email that she is slightly concerned about my safety because there was a recent massacre of civilians in northern Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army. I have to tell my mom not to worry too much, the LRA has been slaughtering people in the north for years and has never come close to Kampala. I had never heard of the LRA before I arrived here. The best online description I have found of the LRA is this speech. Life in northern Uganda is best described here.

Last Saturday, the LRA killed over 200 civilians near the town of Lira. The Monday edition of the Kampala newspaper The New Vision ran a grotesque front page photo of charred victims. The Ugandan army combats the LRA in short, bloody bursts of gunfire. Korey says that their preferred method of dealing with the LRA is to use machine guns to fire round after round of ammo into brush where they suspect LRA soldiers to be. It is certainly a war, and a terrorist organization, unlike any I have ever heard of.

2004-02-25T08:14:00.000-05:00

This week, I received the bill for all of the food I have eaten at the canteen. Breakfast and lunch every day for three and a half weeks only cost me the equivalent of $23. I ended up paying about $33, since I heard that some people gave tips for the canteen workers. Today one of the waitresses had Stanley translate a "thank you" for me. How nice.

Ugandan salaries are very low when compared with similar jobs in the US. The cost of living for the Ugandan middle class is easily affordable for Westerners. Western-style products and housing though, seem to be slightly more expensive here. For example, a tiny bag of M&M's costs about a dollar at the store. Any product made in Africa is very cheap. Bars of soap made in Kenya cost about ten cents each, if that. I think that full-time maids, cooks, and nannies (employed in a lot of homes here) are paid less than $100 a month.

So Americans and Europeans can live very comfortably here. To make things even better, if you are an American working in Uganda for an American company, you don't have to pay income tax for either country.

2004-02-24T07:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Korey and I finally made it to the "hash." The hash is short for Hash House Harriers, which are clubs that meet all over the world for road runs and socializing. The hash is run every Monday here in Kampala. Eric recommended that Korey and I go to these events as it is a good way to meet foreingers, expatraites, and other interesting people.

We were late for the start of the hash and were looking for a place to park as all of the hash runners sped past us. By the time we got out of the car and starting running down the road, there was no one in sight. The course is marked off by periodic chalk dust markings on the side of the road. We tried to follow those and once in a while people on the sides of the street would point us in the right direction. Or maybe not the right direction. I wasn't completely trusting of the random people watching us run by. One time, a group of men by the side of the road yelled at Korey "Give us your wife!" which referred to me. We eventually found some walkers (the hash has a separate course for those that would rather walk) and realized that we were running on the walkers' course. Somehow we also managed to lose the walkers' course and found ourselves back at the starting point after running maybe only a mile or so. I wasn't all that disappointed because I'm not really in shape to be running hilly 5k's yet.

I hope that we can make it to another one. It seems like a fun thing to do if you are in shape.

I forgot yesterday to mention that another highlight of my weekend was getting mail from my mom and grandmother. I was worried that the mail would be lost because Korey claimed that the Project House doesn't have a PO box. But, alas, it does, and I was pleasantly surprised when three letters were delivered on Saturday. Thanks Mom and Mana!

2004-02-23T07:07:00.000-05:00

I must say that I had a good weekend. Here are some of the highlights: I ate pizza (although it was made in a pie dish so it was a little different from normal) and went to an Italian restaurant. I discovered that the international phone rates are cheaper on Sundays. I watched too much MTV and went running on the air strip while it was still light out. I failed in my quest to find a good-smelling shampoo at the grocery store. I studied a map of Kampala for while trying to figure out how all of the neighborhoods are oriented. I found a bag of fake human hair in a drawer in my room (yeah, it freaked me out at first). A thrilling weekend, no?

Then I came in to the lab today and discovered that my experiment didn't work. Try #2 is scheduled for tomorrow.

The JCRC is located on the other side of the city from the Project House. Every morning and evening on the commute I stare out of the car windows. I see something interesting on almost every drive. A few times I have seen the so-called "crazy people" that walk down the middle of the street disregarding all of the traffic around them. From the looks of them, these people must be either drunk or mentally ill. Korey has said that a few times he has seen naked "crazy people" walking down the roads. It is a unnerving sight, especially when you have to swerve the car around a ranting and raving "crazy person" staring you down.

2004-02-20T08:36:00.000-05:00

You know things are bad when the absolute highlight of your day is locating a fine-tipped Sharpie marker that works. More difficulties in the lab today. I won't have results until Monday now. Next week should be better since this week has been "lab renovation week." Just when I got to know where everything was located, it was decided that the lab needed to be rearranged.

Another week has passed and I'm slowly figuring out how I'm going to approach my project. Next week will probably be all about troubleshooting.

I'm starting to get food cravings. They've been creeping up on me since I've arrived. A good portion of food that I am used to is either (1) unavailable, (2) available at only a few expensive restaurants, or (3) tastes nothing like the American version. These foods include: milk, cheese, all bread, all salads, all soup, cookies, ice cream, pizza, popcorn, hamburgers, sandwiches, pork, most pasta, and any sort of dessert. What is left? Well, I've been mostly eating rice, beans, pineapple, chicken, beef, french fries, and fried fish. I drink either water, passion-fruit juice, lemonade, or Coke. After three weeks, I've grown tired of this new diet and find myself day-dreaming about a nice soup and salad lunch. And a piece of pie from Baker's Square.

This weekend my goal is to sit out in the sun a bit and get some color. More than one person has commented on how blindingly white I am.

2004-02-19T06:55:00.000-05:00

Due to a variety of delays, today was the day that I was finally able to start the HIV project that I came here to do. I've spent the past few days gathering materials and making sure all of the equipment is running properly. This morning I was all ready to start. Then the cabinet makers came. And installed cabinets. Right above the lab bench. For two hours. So I sat on the ground outside and waited for them to finish. Finally (finally!) I was able to start. Then I realized that the tubes were missing, we still have no markers or pens in the lab, the one ice bucket was being used by someone else, the ice machine was broken, and if I did, by miracle, happen to generate samples, well, guess what, there are no empty boxes to store them in.

My first thought then was "Let me call British Airways and get the next flight outta here because there is NO WAY I am going to be able work with RNA in conditions like this." My second thought was "What the heck, nothing's impossibe, might as well give it a try."

So I tried. I'll find out tomorow if anything worked. Cross your fingers.

2004-02-18T07:07:00.000-05:00

There is a gecko that lives in my bedroom. He and I do not have the best relationship. He keeps me awake at night when he makes rustling sounds and I scare the crap out of him whenever I turn on the light or make sudden movements. A few times I've had to switch beds in the middle of the night (my bedroom has two single beds) because he has been shuffling around on the walls near my head. This morning I was folding my blanket when I saw him perched on the window sill. Just to mess with him I purposely swung the blanket around near the window. The gecko must have been really alarmed because he took a flying leap off the window sill, tried to land on the bed, but fell short and landed with a squish-sounding noise on the floor. Then he scampered away to who knows where. Geckos rountinely fall off of walls and ceilings. In fact, I'd have to say they are some of the dumbest and least graceful creatures I have encountered.

I'm thinking that I have to give this gecko a name, since we share the same bedroom and all.

I had a good day yesterday because I received a package from Kent for Valentines Day. It contained a bunch of goodies (chocolate and cookies) and the hand sanitizer that I was so desperately wanting. Kent, with the help of some of my fellow lab members, was able to get stuff in to the weekly Fed-Ex shipment that Case sends to Uganda.

Thanks everyone!

2004-02-17T02:53:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling much improved health-wise, although wary of everything that I eat now. At least I can be confident that the Project House food is safe.

It has rained about four times here since Sunday. The rain is good because it cleans everything and gets the dust out of the air. The temperature aslo goes down considerably. The traffic gets worse when it rains and all of the pot holes fill up with water. I tend to like the storms, though, because they remind me of summertime. Of course, I don't have to walk anywhere in the rain like most people.

One of the Ugandan JCRC workers is very sick and needs a kidney transplant. Listening to his saga has opened my eyes to the poor quality of medical care available in Uganda. Basically, if you need an organ transplant you have to come up with money and travel to another country, like India, because no organ transplants are performed in Uganda. If you don't have money then you simply get worse and die.

Hospitals operate much differently here. Almost no one has health insurance so patients often must present cash for any drugs or treatment they need. A patient's family members must come to the hospital to care for the patient as nurses don't generally do much for admitted patients. Family members must take them food, wash any clothes and bedding, and generally care for the patient for the duration of their stay. Even women coming in to deliver a baby are responsible for bringing all of the "supplies" for the birth. Keep in mind that these are all practices that occur at Mulago, the largest and perhaps most modern hospital in Uganda.

Quite different from home, I'd have to say.

2004-02-16T04:30:00.000-05:00

I survived another weekend. This one was worse than the first, unfortunately, due to the fact that I became sick. I've had a sore throat and swollen glands for a while, but it was my digestive system that decided to revolt. I guess things started on Friday night when I became nauseous and lost my appetite. Saturday I felt okay, but not very hungry. Sunday though, was pretty bad. I barely moved all day, couldn't eat a thing, and experienced the worst case of "gastro-intestinal distress" that I can remember. Ugh. Today I feel better, although not entirely well. I did feel fine enough to come to work even though I still don't have much energy.

John the cook wrote me note explaining how to cook the food in the Project House. He is worried that I am "starving" myself since I barely ate anything all weekend.

After consulting my Health in Africa book, I learned that what I have is common and that as many as 80% of travellers to Africa have moderate digestive troubles lasting a few days. Unfortunately, this is caused by poor sanitation and hygiene. You can wash your hands as many times as you want but there is no guarantee that the person who prepares your food has washed theirs.

Sometimes the water pressure drops at the JCRC and there is no water. So that means that no one is washing their hands, even the kitchen workers. I had Kent buy me a bottle of hand sanitizer that is being sent along with the weekly shipment of supplies from Case. I hope it gets here soon because I have become a hand-washing freak. I don't want to go through another day like yesterday.

2004-02-13T07:28:00.000-05:00

Friday is "movie night" here at the JCRC. Korey sets up a projector in the conference room and plays dvd's off of his lap-top for anyone to come and watch. The movie today is Pirates of the Caribbean.

I don't have any big plans for the weekend. I'll probably go running tomorrow and then play Ultimate on Sunday. In between I'll be reading, watching BBC Prime (the best channel on the satellite tv), and eating stale bread and peanut butter. What a way to spend Valentine's Day weekend. I'll have to treat myself to that Twix bar I have stashed in my closet.

Random things I have noticed: Friday the 13th is not unlucky here. Chicken is more expensive than beef. No one pushes in their chairs or uses napkins when they eat. All toothpaste is called 'Crest.' Raising one's eyebrows is body language for the word 'yes.' Everyone is terrified of snakes to the point of hysteria if they see one. What we would consider evening wear is what some women wear to work. It used to be a custom that Ugandan women had to become pregant before getting married in order to prove their fertility.

Interesting, huh?

My next post will be on Monday. 'Til then, have a good weekend.

2004-02-12T08:04:00.000-05:00

Korey's car had another flat tire yesterday, the same tire that was flat the day before and supposedly fixed. As I suspected, the repair jobs are not the best here.

Korey and I went running on the air strip yesterday. The Ugandan President's air strip is across the street from the Project House. It's only used for helicoptor landings now. It is guarded by the military and when I wake up in the mornings I can hear the soldiers singing their songs as they do their morning exercise drills. Anyway, the airstrip is a big grassy area that a lot of people use as a park when the presidential helicoptor isn't there. It is a great place to go running. It was dark by the time that we got back to the Project House from work (the sun sets year round at 7pm here). It was a little weird running around the air strip with just a few street lights here and there and otherwise total darkness. It would be pretty easy to sneak up on someone. I would never ever go there alone at night even though it is just across the street from where I am staying. If we wouldn't have had that flat tire we could have made it before sunset.

The Project House has an interesting history because it is located so close to the air strip and thus the Ugandan military. During the days when Idi Amin was dictator, the army would loot houses and sometimes kill ordinary citizens. The Project House was owned by someone with wealth and was at a high risk for being constantly looted by the nearby soldiers. Because of this, the owners installed what looks like bars for a jail cell right at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor. You can swing the bars shut and lock it with a big chain and lock, effectively locking yourself inside and everyone else out of the second floor. The bars look pretty scary and out of place to be in someone's home. I'll take a picture of them sometime.

2004-02-11T03:36:00.000-05:00

It's another nice day here in Uganda. The weather is remarkably uniform - sun, no clouds, no rain, and always between about 68-85 degrees Fahrenheit. It is pleasant, but I could use a cloudy or breezy day now and again. It is the dry season here so it never rains. During the rainy season it only rains about once a day for a short duration. The rainy season starts in March. All of the plants and trees are covered with dust so it will be nice to see them clean soon.

I went to see a movie yesterday at the mall, Garden City. I'm not sure if it is the only American-style mall in the country, but it is probably the biggest. The movie, Love Actually, was too cutesy for my taste. The movie theater is new and nice, but only has two screens. I was pleased to find out that they sell popcorn, but Korey warned me that it is filled with a lot of "corncob parts." I had a bottle of water instead.

The mall has a grocery store called Uchumi that sells pretty much everything. I bought a few chocolate bars there. Chocolate, candy, and any baked goods are rarities here. Only stores and restaurants that cater to Europeans will have any. What is available is overpriced and kind of beat-up looking. Even coffee is impossible to find. I've only seen cans of instant coffee here, nothing real. Having no coffee is weird because Uganda exports a huge amount of quality coffee beans to Europe. Ugandans never took to the stuff I guess.

The adventure of yesterday involved Korey's car getting a flat tire while we were at the mall. Korey is a pro at changing them now because he once had three flats in a week. Since it costs the equivalent of about three dollars to repair a flat tire here, I tend to doubt the quality of the repair work. The refrigerator at the Project House is currently broken as well, although I discovered last night that the tv is working again. You never what is going to work around here.

2004-02-10T07:23:00.000-05:00

I'm in a better mood today than yesterday. I've been listening to my cd's a lot. Interestingly, 'Johnny Cash's Greatest Hits' has become my favorite cd. I've always liked Johnny Cash's music, but for some reason now I can't get enough of it. I brought a decent range of music with me, but I've been listening to the Cash cd over and over. I'm wondering what sort of psychological phenomenon is at work causing me to obsess over 'Ring of Fire' and 'Folsom Prison Blues' here but not at home. My best guess is that it sounds authentically American to me. Nothing else in Uganda, music or otherwise, feels as real to me.

Oh yeah, the music that they play here on the radio is horrendous. Half of it is mindless R&B and the other half is nauseating ballads by Whitney Houston and Bette Midler. Apparently Uganda has yet to discover rock & roll.

The lab got in to a discussion about intestinal worms yesterday. In Uganda, it is quite common to have intestinal worms, especially in children. Fred, a Ugandan who works in my lab, told us that he regularly takes "de-worming" medication. Since it can take a while before any symptoms show up, taking the medication is a precaution. So Korey, who has lived here for a year and a half, decided that he better take a course of "de-wormer" to make sure he doesn't have any worms. The clinic at the JCRC gave him a set of five pills to take at once, which he did. Today he has been complaining of all sorts of stomach distress and looks like he is going to pass out at any moment. Nice side-effects those pills had.

My thought for the day is - Yeah, it's more comfortable to live in a tropical climate, but I'd rather live in a less temperate area where there are a heck of a lot less parasites to worry about.

2004-02-09T04:21:00.000-05:00

I tried to get access to the Internet this weekend but I was unsuccessful. The Project House has a computer and a supposedly working phone line but it appears as though the modem for the computer has disappeared. Korey thinks that John (the house cook and general house-manager) may have locked it up in one of the storage rooms. I'll either have to ask John if he knows where the modem is or bring one of the lab lap-tops home during the weekends. I still don't know if it is worth it because the Internet service at the house is horribly slow and goes down about every five minutes. I may just have to get used to not having Internet access on the weekends, which is too bad because there really isn't anything else to do.

Weekends around here are going to pose quite a challenge. I'm going to be stuck mostly at the Project House. I can't drive anywhere, although the House, so they tell me, is within walking distance of the mall as well as a few other restaurants and stores. It is safe for me to walk along "some" roads during the day but not at all at night. I'm scared to take taxis because I've heard stories about "white girls" being driven off to remote places and then taken advantage of. There isn't anyone in the house, besides John briefly in the mornings, and the tv hasn't been working. To top it all off John doesn't make meals on the weekends so I'm on my own for food. Korey insists that he'll drive me around on the weekends but he's got his own life and a girlfriend. I'm already tired of being the third wheel.

So, yeah, this weekend was kind of awful. Korey did take me out to do stuff (watch a soccer match on tv at a bar, go to the resort pool, play Ultimate Frisbee with a local group) but being at the House alone is horrible. There is no one to talk to, no where to go within easy walking distance, not really any substantial meals to eat, and no Internet or tv. I don't have any work to do so all I can do is read books, which gets really old after the first few hours. I'm grateful to Korey and Brenda for taking me everywhere with them but they aren't the most talkative couple to say the least.

The isolation is a bit distressing. It bothers me more than anything else. But I'm hanging in there.

Ultimate Frisbee was really fun although my frisbee-throwing skills are awful. It was good to be able to run around for a while and get some exercise.

Lab work is going alright, though very slowly. I'm still waiting for supplies so I can start my main project. Today seems to be filled with equipment breaking or disappearing (which is a nice new challenge, ugh).

On his way to pick me up this morning Korey drove past a roadside butcher and saw a severed cow's head next to a "river of cow blood and manure in the street." Too bad I missed out on that sight. Maybe tomorrow if I'm lucky.

2004-02-06T02:11:00.000-05:00

One of the most surprising things for me about Uganda is the condition of the roads. Previously, I had heard that they were bad and boy, are they ever. Most of the roads are not paved and those that are paved are in extreme disrepair. Pot holes are everywhere, some as big as kiddie pools. On one street that we drive down there is a pot hole that crosses the entire street like a ravine. We get through it because the car that Korey drives is like a large jeep.

As if the roads weren't bad enough, the traffic is astounding. There are basically no stops signs or traffic lights. So driving is a free-for-all. Trucks, buses, cars, taxis, and scooters zip around everywhere and cut everyone off. Pedestrians run across the road at random moments. If there is an accident on a major road literally the entire city can become grid-locked. This happened on Monday when the guests of honor for the JCRC dinner didn't make it because of a huge traffic jam. On graduation day at Makerere University in Kampala it is impossible to drive anywhere on any road because of the traffic. People flood into Kampala for the graduation and the volume of cars shuts down the roads. Someone that I met said that she was stuck in traffic that day for 6 hours trying to only cover about 3 miles.

I assume that the mortality rate due to traffic accidents is sky-high and Korey agrees. He says that he once saw a body lying in the road. Someone had just been struck by a car and all of the passing vehicles just drove around it and didn't stop. Other pedestrians were trying to help out though.

On a lighter note, I'm doing fine. There are a lot of scary and dangerous things to be on the lookout for in Uganda, but I can honestly say that I am not afraid. Kampala is a relatively safe city and if you are smart and discrete I don't think that you have too much extra to worry about than in the US.

Today I'm continuing with my lab work. I'm not sure what I am doing tonight or this weekend. I don't know if I will be able to update the blog until Monday. The phone is working again at the Project House but I don't know about the quality of the Internet connection there. I'll see what I can do.

Have good weekend!

2004-02-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

Well I finallly found a dish in the JCRC canteen that I like, beans and rice. The server added matoke, which is a kind of fiber-filled banana, to my plate. I tried it and didn't really like it. It reminded me of a dense, flavor-less yam. I made two more discoveries concerning Ugandan food today. The first is 'Top Off' sauce which is their version of ketchup. It tastes like ketchup but it looks like red jelly. Weird, I know. The second discovery was G-nut Sauce, which we would call Peanut Sauce. Peanuts are called G-nuts here, you see. Anyway, G-nut Sauce looks like purple yogurt. Seriously. It looks like that because they leave the "purple skins" on the peanuts when they mash them up. I'm still not sure that I understand the whole process. It tastes pretty good though.

I did my first PCR today (a lab technique that we do a lot of here and at Case) and it took me an hour to just gather up the supplies. Most of the equipment they have here is in fairly good working order, which was a relief to find out.

According to my 'Lonely Planet, Health in Africa' guide, there are several stages of culture shock. The first stage is amazement at your new surroundings. The second stage is anger and annoyance directed toward your new culture. I think that I am starting to experience the beginnings of the second stage. To be sure, I am blown away by the kindness of the Ugandans that I have met and am trying to keep an open-mind. I do and will, however, approach everything with an American perspective. To an American perspective, many things here are unusual or downright incredible. After being confronted with these differences many times a day, I've been getting worn down and a little defensive. It helps to know that this is a normal reaction. At least I am getting used to the food. Slowly.

2004-02-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hi again. Things are still going well here. I'm confronting some of my first challenges to doing lab work here. Not being able to get supplies quickly is a huge issue. I'm realizing that even when everything is going smoothly, research here progresses much more slowly than it does in the US. I am surprised to learn, as well, that the virology lab here does not even possess certain simple pieces of equipment, like a balance. We have to borrow the other lab's balance here, which seems to work out okay.

Right now I am searching my memory for the concentrations of a solution that I used to make all of the time back at Case. Being 8 hours ahead of Cleveland makes things difficult because any emails sent back with questions won't be answered until the next day.

Today we went out to lunch so I was spared another experience at the JCRC canteen. The food there is not bad exactly, everything that I have tried so far just seems too greasy or strange-tasting for me to enjoy. I hear that they make good fries and omlettes so I'll try those. Supposedly the milk that they serve there is boiled, instead of pasteurized, and has chunks floating in it. Mmmmm. The food that I've had at restaurants has been more appealing. Tonight we're having a lab dinner at a Thai restaurant.

Okay, back to work.

2004-02-03T03:31:00.000-05:00

Today is my second day at work at the JCRC. So far I've just been sitting through meetings and getting myself acquainted with everything.

Last night there was a special dinner at the JCRC to welcome employees of two new clinics opening in Kampala. There was a big tent set up outside with a head table and rows of chairs facing it like an audience. A group of cultural dancers, who were very impressive, provided the entertainment. I was trying to hang around behind the crowd watching the dancers when I got called up to the head table to meet the director of the JCRC, Peter Mugyenyi. Then I had to sit at the "important table" for the rest of the dinner. It rattled me a bit because I am definitely not an important person around here and I felt very out of place. I did enjoy meeting Mugyenyi though. He is well known in the international health community for his programs that have drastically reduced the spread of HIV in Uganda. Korey tells me that the 15 billion dollars that President Bush promised to commit to fight HIV in Africa was going to be spent in a way modeled from Mugyenyi's programs. (Side note: The 15 billion dollar promise evaporated after the start of the war with Iraq). After dinner, Mugyenyi gave a short speech and then introduced me, along with Eric and a woman from USAID, to the staff of the JCRC. Again, it felt weird.

In other news, I completed my first successful blood draw yesterday using Korey as my victim. The needle-stick went fine but later on things got a little messy. I won't go in to details because they are gross but never-fear, no harm came to anyone. Korey wants me to do blood draws again but I'm not sure I'm comfortable sticking needles into strangers yet.

After the excitement of yesterday, today has been much more calm. More meetings are coming up as well as another experience with the food at the JCRC canteen.

More tomorrow . . . bye.

2004-02-02T02:12:00.000-05:00

I'm finally in Uganda!

After my adventure overnight at Heathrow, things got considerably better. I met Korey at the gate for the flight to Entebbe the next morning and then we met up with Eric at the Entebbe airport.

My first impressions of Uganda mostly had to do with the heat and the smell of things burning (the garabage is disposed of by burning here). It was night when I arrived so I couldn't see anything. The next morning I woke up and discovered how beautiful it is here. Very green and tropical with bright red soil. Kampala is an interesting city situated on several hills. There seems to be an enormous disparity of wealth here. Some of the houses, like the area around the project house, are huge and beautiful. Most of the other buildings though, excluding downtown, are little more than huts with sheets of tin for roofing.

So far I've already seen a lot of Kampala and the surrounding area. Eric, Korey, Brenda (Korey's girlfriend) and I went swimming at a resort on Lake Victoria that could rival resorts in the USA. The next day, Sunday, we drove to a national forest and went hiking for a few hours. The best part was seeing monkeys jumping around in the trees near the trail. This morning we were at Mulago, the main hospital of Kampala. It is very hard to describe what it is like there. It reminded me of movies that depict hospitals from the 1950s; concrete, bare, nurses in white hats, bleak.

Right now I am at the JCRC where the virology lab is located. Since the phone at the Project House is broken (a big disappointment), right now email is my only means of communication with home. If the phone doesn't get fixed soon I'll figure out a way to get access to one.

Everyone has been extremely kind and welcoming here. I was worried that I would be very intimidated, but I feel very welcome. I am starting to miss home, but mostly just the people for now. I'm sure that I will be missing my bed very soon as the mattresses here are just pieces of hard foam that make my shoulders and back hurt every morning.

Okay, well it is time for tea now. Kent has started a blog of his own called 'Life Without Erika' that you can check out if you wish.

Bye for now.

2004-01-29T16:20:00.000-05:00

well, it has been interesting. i'm currently at heathrow, where i have been for the past 9 hours and will be for the next 11. 90% of the world, it seems, can not function in below-freezing temps. wish me luck as i spend my first night ever stranded in an airport. :o(

2004-01-26T12:26:00.000-05:00

All packed and ready to go. I'm leaving for the airport in about half an hour. The weather is supposedly causing delays in Chicago so we'll see . . .

2004-01-25T18:09:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I leave for the first step of my trip to Uganda. I will be flying out of Cleveland to Chicago and then on to my trans-Atlantic flight to London. Right now I am just slowly packing. I'm not really nervous or excited yet. I think that the full impact of the trip won't hit me until I say my last good-byes tomorrow.

Some background info about my trip - I'm traveling to Kampala, Uganda to work on HIV research for three months. Right now I am employed by CWRU as a research assistant working in the field of HIV. In Kampala I will be working in a laboratory that is run by my boss Eric Arts. I'll be doing some work for him but the majority of my time will be dedicated to a project directed by Miguel Quinones of the Cleveland Clinic. That project will require me to process samples from HIV-infected and non-infected women.

While I am in Uganda I will be staying at the Project House, which is a boarding house for visiting researchers. The project house has bedrooms, bathrooms with hot water, a living room, and a kitchen. The house employs a maid and a cook.

A good friend of mine from college, Korey, lives in Uganda and will be working in the same lab with me. He is the one that will show me around Kampala and get me acquainted with the laboratory. He's also offered to take me out to see some of Uganda's national parks. My boss, Eric, will also be in Kampala for the first ten days that I am there. With Eric and Korey around, I should have a relatively easy transition into living and working in Uganda.

If anyone wants to learn more about Uganda, click here for Uganda's national website.

2004-01-23T16:51:00.000-05:00

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