Day 14 - July 19

Sometimes its just nice to have a day that is not to stressful and a bit more laid back. Today was perfect for that! Angella and I set aside the day as our time to organize what we need for the medicine cabinets and get Yassin, the office messenger, to fetch them from all of the places where he knows he can get them at a good price. First off, let me just say how much I love the idea of an office messenger. In the states, we just order things online, call somebody to deliver, or go out and get what we need ourselves. With Yassin, anything is fair game. He sometimes goes to fetch something Angella forgot at her house. He goes to town to buy medicine for the clinic. He delivers paychecks. Anything you want, Yassin can get it. He knows all the best places to shop for clinic supplies. He must be one of the most valuable resources that the clinic has! Luckily, Angella can have him fetch our medicine too!

I walked in to Angella’s house around 11. I did a lot of walking today! I loved every step! The big hill is getting better. Because of the rain we got yesterday, I think some of the dust has settled. It’s still a killer steep hill that got me only slightly winded, but as soon as I slowed down, it was not a problem. I realize more and more why people walk slow. It’s hot and long, so if you take your time, every walk is a lot easier. I noticed that many of the same people are doing the same things every day. I am trying to figure out what everybody is doing at their jobs. There is a group of people digging out clay and forming it into pots. Every time I walk by, the yard is even more full of them drying in the sun. There is a man always sitting near a large pile of smoking stuff in his yard. I don’t know if he is cooking or making bricks or just burning garbage. At the “valley” of the hill I walk in is the place where all the garbage is burned. It smells and I try to hold my breath for those two minutes that I have to walk through the cloud of smoke. I’m sure that there is something bad that I’m breathing in that’s worse than the smell because they burn ALL of their garbage. At least it’s all in one place. There is actually a fine if you litter in this neighborhood. I’m more than slightly impressed by that law! Today, the man burning the garbage stared at me for a while. Finally I said hello. He smiled and waved and then said, “You walk a lot. Why do you walk so much?” I actually had something to say. Angella taught me a phrase for “I want to walk”. I said it and he just laughed. I probably didn’t say it right, but I think he got the picture. I learned the phrase so when the Boda-Boda drivers call out as I walk by I can tell them, “No, I want to walk”. It should come in handy quite often. I was surprised I even remembered it this morning!

It was hot by the time I reached Angella’s so I needed to sit on the floor and cool off. We talked about our plan for the day and then watched a collection of World Cup videos and commercials that her friend had put together for me. Those songs will always remind me of the trip because for my first week here they were all that I heard and saw on T.V. and radio. Thanks to Richard, I will hopefully get to see them for a very long time!

We decided to take a Mtatu to the nearest ATM and then walk the rest of the day. It’s nice to be able to just get money out of an ATM rather than carry everything in cash like I have in the past. It’s worth the $5 charge from Wells Fargo to do it! However, I always feel uncomfortable carrying around all that money once I’ve got it!

We walked to a place called UHMG (Uganda Health Marketing Group) where Gloria had told us to go and buy mosquito nets. At the gate, the guard asked us for ID. It’s the first time I’ve needed it, but I’m glad I had my passport with me. Angella didn’t have anything to prove who she was, but they let us in any way. At least now she can’t say that I never have a reason to carry my passport! We talked to a women in the reception area for a couple of minutes and she instructed us to go to their warehouse. At this point I was just hoping we wouldn’t get there and be told to go someplace else again or that they will cost just as much as they do in the grocery store. It happens a lot and when you have no clue if people are sending you to the right place or for the right thing. Luckily, she assured us they prices are low to allow more people to buy them and that the warehouse always has them in stock.

We walked to Garden City to grab some lunch before heading to the warehouse. While we were sitting in Javas, a guy walked in the door that was dressed like the guy in the music videos for one of the world cup songs. I pointed him out to Angella and told her what I thought. She casually said that it wasn’t him but the guy walking in is a famous singer in Uganda. Wouldn’t you know, he walked right up to where we were and asked me if he could use the extra chair at our table. He then sat down at the table next to ours. I kept glancing over trying to figure out what a famous person does at a restaurant. He was working on some photos with a guy who must have been his manager and listening to some music. At one point I asked Angella his named. She quietly said Maurice. I didn’t understand so I loudly repeated, “Maurice or Morris”? Of course Maurice heard me and responded by looking in our direction. The rest of our lunch, she said he kept looking at me. I probably wanted to know how I knew is name. If I were Allie Bentrud, I probably would have found a way to talk to him but I’m just not that good with celebrity sightings! Apparently in Uganda people really don’t make a mob scene when they see famous people unless they are huge international stars. At least I can say I kind of talked to a famous person and he used my chair!

We took Boda’s to get to the warehouse! Oh, how I miss riding bodas! I know they are probably the most dangerous of the three ways to travel, but if you find a good one and you’re not in a really crazy congested area, they are perfectly safe. They are slightly more expensive than a mtatu, but you get to places so much faster! You are darting in and around the stopped traffic and you constantly have the fresh (by fresh I mean smoggy) air blowing in your face. It’s better than an expensive, stuffy cab that has to get stuck in the jam with all the rest of the cars.

We got to the warehouse and the people were super helpful and we were able to buy the nets for about $5 each. Last year when somebody recommended a good place, we paid twice that price! We’ll have to remember it for the future! We ended up with 25 nets, which meant a big box and my back-pack full of them! We still decided to take Boda’s home. Angella took the box and we managed to get them all back to the house.

By the time we got in, Yassin called to tell us he was available. The bodas were already gone, so we walked all the way back to the clinic. It took us nearly an hour to look up the drugs and decide what he needed to buy, but we finally got it done! It’s going to cost just over $200 to get supplies for 18 medicine cabinet. I paid that much to get half of that amount of medicine for only 10 cabinets. Clearly it is better to buy medicine here than it is to bring it. We learned our lesson. This project is all about figuring out what works best and then going with it.

On the walk home, I felt Africa all around me. There were 5 cows with hug horns being chased down the road by a guy with a stick. The kids were coming home from school. Some girls in my favorite pink uniforms said hi! Maybe I should see if I can go with them to school some day! The garbage pile was full of people sorting and mixing the pile to make it burn better and salvage anything that is still useful. One of the guys at the clay pot place waved and said hello. Some children hollered out Mzungu over and over until I turned and waved at them. Halfway up the big hill, a overtook a man walking my direction. He said, “afternoon, madame”. I then started to talk with him since we were headed the same way. His name is Stephen and he works in Ntinda but lives on the other side of the hill with his wife and children. He walks most of the time. We parted at the top of the hill and he wished me a good night. As I passed the soccer field, there were tons of guys out playing with an old tattered ball. I could faintly hear beating drums and in the distance I saw a line of girls dancing to the beat.

By the time I got home, I was really tired and probably pretty dirty. I took a shower and decided to relax the rest of the night. My poor mom had been home all day just catching up on reading and cleaning. She didn’t want to go out anywhere, so we heated up some leftovers. Gloria came over because she was locked out of her place until Susan got home with the key. It was Gloria’s last day of work before the wedding! She’s getting so excited. I can’t wait to stop by and see what the weddings here are like on Saturday! Gloria is so full of energy and is hysterical to be around. She also let us use her internet connection to post some blogs and check some emails. I want to make sure I don’t miss too many messages while I’m here, just in case they are important!

Tomorrow we don’t have much planned, so I’m excited to finally have more than a couple hours to rest and relax. We are just going to meet up with Max at Little Angels. He’s the guy who runs the place and we want to know a bit more about it. Then we’re going to have dinner at another Susan’s house. It should be another good one!