Kampala Calling

After an unplanned, frustratingly exhausting 30 hour tour of Africa courtesy of Egypt Air which included such notorious airports as Cairo, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and yes, eventually Entebbe I am now back in Uganda! I had the most surreal experience during my 5 hour tour of the Dar es Salaam airport. Having come through Madrid in Europe, many of my fellow diverted continent-touring comrades were from Spain. So when we were grumbling and groaning about our predicament, naturally, I spoke Spanish, however, when we were given our breakfast coupons (yeah for chips and chicken as the only option for breakfast at 5am!) I ended up sitting with a lovely Tanzanian bloke who works as a lawyer at the Arusha Human Rights Tribunal who had also come from Madrid, so naturally, I switched to Kiswahili….much to the confusion of my newly acquired buddies from Barcelona who hadn’t been able to place my Spanish accent to start with. Surreal. I was post-call equivalent as it was which probably heightened the dream-like nature of the event.

I got to the guesthouse from the airport at 3pm, showered and dropped by the office to check in with our research program assistant. Our to do list was long and I just wanted to pop by, say hi and outline our plan of attack. I found not the woman I had seen in January, no, alas, there was a very very pregnant woman sitting at the desk….very. The baby squirmed visibly across the tautness of her belly beneath her clothes. Although she was expecting me, she looked rather….well, sheepish I suppose. My mzungu self blew up inside of me, why on EARTH would this not be something you would mention to the research program so they could make some adjustments?! But FORTUNATELY, the lovely culturally sensitive, accepting inner being took over, congratulated her exhuberantly and enveloped her sheepishness in a hug. I need to zen out and get with the African way of doing things. When I asked how the pregnancy was going she said “Sheona, why do I feel these contractions every 20 minutes, I don’t understand?” She’s due in three days…life happens, awesome, complicated, real.

As I sit writing this the clatter of the monkeys scurrying mischievously across the tin roof startles me occasionally. I’m staying at the Mulago Hospital guesthouse for a few days before moving into my apartment. The guesthouse consists of two, not quite rustic, not quite luxurious house-like structures set on the slope of Mulago hill surrounded by deep green grass scattered with brilliant purple jacaranda blossoms fallen from the trees and the occasional sharply textured globular Jack fruit, cracked and oozing its sweet white nectar onto the surrounding celebrating ants. In addition to the resident monkeys there are a few large Ibis who wander, searching for bugs in the grass with their long smooth beaks. I’m exhausted, overwhelmed by both the logistics of research and the epi and stats MPH courses that I’m starting. But I’m also overwhelmed by gratefulness, for the opportunity to be here, the thrill of the daily realities of life in Uganda and excitement for the next phase of the project. Life is crazy, but good.