Inspiration

Waiting for some more. ;)

moldy chocolate

Can you believe that? I didn't know it was possible. I went to Moon yesterday, the tiny grocery store which I've priced and found to have the cheapest chocolate in town, bought a bar of the stuff and walked home, collecting many cute Ugandan children who latched onto my white hands and arms on the way back to our compound. I did some work, ate dinner, took out the bar of chocolate, took a big bite and found it to be COVERED IN MOLD. Gross, gross, gross. I think this might have been the worst thing to happen on the trip so far. That and the fact that we've now got 6 girls staying in one room, using one bathroom, all trying to shower before 730 am. I used to be able to wake up at 6, shower and get in some good quiet reading, writing and praying time out on the "porch" (I use a lot of these terms very loosely), a spot which has now been discovered and commandeered by another girl in the group.

On an up note, I have finally scheduled another meeting with the district health officer this morning and I am hoping that he shows up this time. After that, I'm off to Jinja to go white water rafting on the Nile, which I'm very stoked about.

Rice, beans and washing machines

I have been entering and analyzing data all day which translates into tedious and somewhat boring, torturous work so I am taking a break to write since no one happens to be using the internet at the moment, something which is just shy of a miracle; we're always fighting over it. I spent some time in the hospital this morning so that the other girls on my team who have not yet seen it could have a tour and meet some of the staff. Some of the midwives and nurses are starting to get to know me there so that makes it more fun.

This is going to be a short post but I just wanted to mention a couple things.

1. I love washing machines. A lot. I spent two hours on Saturday morning and two hours this past Sunday morning doing laundry and now my hands are extremely sore and my knuckles are raw and almost blistered.

2. Rice and beans are the bomb. I could honestly eat them everyday of my life for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is a good thing as the only foods really available here are: rice, beans, potatoes, matooke, posho, chapatis, eggplant, onion, tomato, mango, green pepper, peanuts, avocado and bitter greens. Literally. Having said that, I desperately want a salad, for more reasons than one; although a nice steak would be nice too. And forget what I said before about losing weight and starving to death. That is definitely not going to happen. Why? A.) We hired a cook B.) I eat nothing but fried stuff and carbs. C.) Chocolate. (This can be purchased at the grocery store and that occurs pretty much daily; I've got to conquer stress somehow.)