June 1 - 7 (erin)

Thursday, June 1

After much confusion and miscommunication (as per usual), we headed off for Kampala. Nasser managed to get us 5 plus Einer our own matatu which is like a taxi van that normally crowds 20 people into 10 seats. We were able to stop at the equator so that was fun to take pictures and watch the flower flow down the water drains in different directions on each side of the equator, and straight down, right on the line. We stayed at the Backpackers again in Kampala. Jen and I got our same banda and Chandra and Carli got a bigger one with a loft that had a single bed and geckos on the wall…bonus!



Then a very exciting thing happened, a monkey ran by! And then another and eventually there were 5 little monkeys sitting in a tree. They were eating the fruit and throwing the pits at us. Then we met up with John at the Speke Hotel where he was staying. Very fancy. We had our dream come true…pizza! Very exciting. I also had the most strange pina colada ever, it tasted like black licorice. We went back to the hostel very satisfied though.



Friday, June 2

We hired our Kampala driver, James and he took us to Jinja. On the way, we stopped at the football coliseum. Einer sweet talked his way into letting us actually walk into the stadium. When we were leaving our driver made a wrong turn I guess and we got pulled over. James was able to sweet talk his way out of that ticket! When we arrived in Jinja we had a great lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then visited the orphanage where Joseph, the abandoned baby from the hospital is supposed to go. It’s a really nice place with so m any cute babies. It is run by a Texan lady. It was really hard to not bond completely with some of those children, especially when they reached out to be held and practically climbed into your arms. After that we did some sightseeing. We went to the Source of the Nile and took a short tour in an old leaky, rickety boat (sorry Mom, I broke my promise). We saw mountain lizards and lots of neat birds. Einer, Jen, John and I climbed a big rock to get our picture taken and ended up completely covered in little ants and I got bird poo on my arm. Never a dull moment…



Then we went to Bujagali Falls. A guy offered to jump into the falls for a price but Chandra wasn’t thrilled about the idea so we declined. It was a beautiful place. Lots of school kids on fieldtrips. James picked us a funny looking thing from a tree that can be used as a rattle when it’s dry. Then we went to John’s hotel room and each took turns having a hot shower. It was heaven, let me tell you!! A real showerhead that you don’t have to hold and the magnificent water pressure that came out of it, my goodness. We were too tired to move after that so we watched The Bourne Identity on John’s fancy t.v. and he went downstairs and ordered pizza for us. What a gentleman he is…Lawrence are you taking notes ;) Only Jen and Einer were up for dancing at the Rock Garden downstairs so the rest of us went back to the hostel. I got to stay in the loft of Chandra and Carli’s room. It was kind of scary but fun too. The ladder was huge, I felt like I was in a giant’s house.



Saturday, June 3

I was dying to try the American pancakes at the hostel…but apparently that means crepes. Good nonetheless. Also freshly squeezed pineapple juice. Early in the morning Einer picked up his friends from Chicago (he picked them up in Entebbe, not Chicago) so we met them at the hostel during breakfast. Catrin and Ben. Very nice people. It’s kind of fun being the people who have been here for a while and can give advice to the rookies and laugh when they cover themselves with deet and put on seatbelts. We taxi’d in to meet John and headed to a craft market he knew about. It was great! Stall after stall of really great African stuff. Everything and anything you could want and very negotiable prices...John’s an expert at negotiation by the way. Me...not so good. We only got through about 1/3 of the stalls before we realized our new visitors had been patiently waiting for a long time. We decided to come back when we bring Carli to the airport.



Then we got a taxi to our favourite mall and had lunch in the best food court ever. Had my veggie burger which turned out to be a falafel but still good…nothing is as it seems here. Charles was just getting into town so he met up with us. After some more shopping we went back to the hostel to rest and then we had to say goodbye to John. A sad moment. Then the horror began…I started to feel sick. My stomach was aching. It got worse and worse and very quickly I was immobile on the couch in the lounge…except for when I had to run to the bathroom. I couldn’t even keep down water. Charles went to get me some medicine and it seemed to help so everyone else went out to the club for dancing. After a couple of hours I started to feel sick again. Our banda wasn’t exactly close to the washroom so it was quite a trek in the dark. I was able to sleep for a couple of hours but at 3am I felt so ill and weak I really didn’t think I was going to make it. I managed to make it to the first tree and had to lay in the grass despite the threat of getting eaten alive by strange bugs or being attacked by monkeys. At this point I really didn’t care. When I did reach the bathroom and realized I was probably going to die I texted the girls in a panic. I figured they were back already sleeping in the other banda but Chandra was the only one on her way home. My saviour! Thank God for cell phones and text messaging!! Unfortunately she found me at my worst, lying on the bathroom floor…dirty cement floor…of a hostel…in Africa…gross. (I had a really good shower the next morning). But that’s how sick I was. I even considered going to the hospital but I am sorry, the hospitals here are very scary, especially considering I find hospitals in Canada traumatic. Luckily Dr. Chandra suggested to stop drinking water even though I was so thirsty I briefly (very briefly) thought about drinking out of the toilet tank…but it enabled me to stop throwing up enough to make it back to bed.



The next day (Sunday June 4) was slightly better. I wasn’t able to eat much and was frequently visiting the bathroom so I stayed at the hostel and rested on the top bunk in a dorm room. They were nice enough to let me stay there with no charge. Everyone else went into town. Charles checked in on me bringing me food he forced me to eat. Then everyone came back and we headed home. Was a nice drive, a bit scary…I actually joined the Americans and put my seatbelt on this time.



Monday June 5

I was still nauseous but able to eat little bits of food. Poor Carli got really sick and it ends up that she has malaria again…or still. It’s really not fair! So we took the day off as we were supposed to go to the school in Kitengeesa.





Tuesday June 6

I took Carli to the clinic today and that whole scenario is quite funny. I don’t know if muzungus get special treatment or if we’re just helped cuz we look lost and don’t know the system but we were in 5 different line-ups and she was ushered in and out of 3 different rooms. Had to get 2 awful injections this time, not fun. While she was recuperating I wrote a proposal for USDC. They were requesting money to get a playground for the children in post-operative care at the hospital. I hope it is ok, I’ve never written a proposal before but John gave me an outline and Carli helped me too. At least I felt good about getting some work done and helping them out.



We had more bad news today. Einer was taken to the hospital in some sort of diabetic coma. He is stable now but was quite scary. His blood sugar was extremely low and he’s being treated for malaria and pneumonia. His friends are with him overnight. I worry about his boys in Tekera who look to him as a father figure. They must be worried.



Now Jen and Chandra have what they are calling Erin’s disease…but I tell them that it’s not Erin’s disease until you I see you lying on the bathroom floor! Since I was the only one not sick today, I made some soup for dinner. It turned out pretty good considering I’d never made soup before from scratch. Then Charles took me to his house to meet his brother and nieces. The girls kneel on the ground to me out of respect. I understand it’s tradition but it’s difficult to not get embarrassed about it. Anyway, they are all very nice.



Wednesday June 7

I have just now come to the complete and overwhelming realization that I am in Africa. It just hit me as I sat on the bench next to Einer at the hospital. The beautiful people walking by, the sun shining, babies crying. Why is it here and now that it has sunk in, I’m not sure…perhaps because it is just so real. I am Einer’s companion for the day as he rests in the hospital and I have had lots of time to think. It’s really the first time since I’ve been here that I’ve had time alone to just do that. I was worried before that I felt I hadn’t done anything yet, that I hadn’t accomplished anything and I was panicking because time was running out. But now I feel content that if I needed to I could go home now and be happy. But I am also excited that I still have more time.



I was happy to be able to look after Einer while his friends had some respite. I fed him some of my soup as patients do not get fed much in the hospitals. It’s hard for me to be in a hospital because I hate hospitals normally, even in Canada. But at least it isn’t quite as bad as the referral hospital where we work, which resembles a MASH unit. Einer has his own room which we learned is reserved only for priests and other religious figures. Not a single nurse has walked by since I have been here and he has to have an attendant 24 hours to provide food, clothing and blankets. Even water is not provided by the hospital. And this is a private, upper class facility. I hope he gets better for the National park trip this weekend, he was really looking forward to it. Sometimes here I feel like I am in a movie…right now it is the English Patient.