When I wasn’t away on epic excursions, I… (part 1)

In Uganda, when I wasn’t away on epic excursions, I…

1. Enjoyed the carefree days in the guest house.

I fondly remember the guest house being always busy, bustling with people coming and going. Together with the other elective medical students from far and away, we’ve had a host of visiting guests sharing the merriness with us too – some for just a fleeting night, some for up to a week. It was always a joy to chat with them over dinner about what they were doing, where they were from, and share tales of life. So far we’ve had with us computer technicians, electrical engineers, civil engineers, missionaries, financial advisors, various project representatives, insurance agents, and even gentlemen dating our housemaids (we think… from what we could gather ><) !

I suppose one of the perks with working in a moderately large hospital with considerable overseas support is that the facilities are reasonably “modern” – flush toilets and proper shower heads made our stay much more comfortable than it would have been otherwise.

We needed to wash our own clothes – with our hands – which I found quite fun and rewarding, hah. Compared to throwing your clothes into a white cube that is your washing machine, there was much more satisfaction to be gained after doing your washing manually (provided you have the time, which we did)! But I developed a little bit of contact dermatitis halfway through the stay, though =_=

Besides the long conversations and hilarious card games, together with Paul the visiting UK electrical engineer, we embarked on this project of putting together an Agatha Christie jigsaw puzzle with a mystery story behind it (which could only be solved by putting together the jigsaw). It took us a few days, but somehow jigsaw puzzles appeal to an inherent, innate desire of us as humans to assemble things together (I think)… and engineers fare better than medical students. We were exhilarated when we were about done (the black parts of the ship were immensely difficult) – but then realized one piece was missing! The real mystery now became where did the final piece go…?

2. Watched the total lunar eclipse. (well, the first part of it, anyway)

Of course, on the Saturday midnight of 3 March 2007 was the total lunar eclipse (the previous total lunar eclipse being in 2004); Sue and I stayed up until 1am to watch the beginning of it (Peter had just left and Michael hadn’t yet arrived). It was quite a peculiar feeling watching the phenomenon while standing on the land of Africa – magical, as though the whole world revolved around you, yet at the same time humbling to gaze at the expanse of it all – space and time. 海上生明月，天涯共此時 came into mind, but then it’s not technically correct in this context…

To see the red discolouration nearing the end of the event (for reasons similar to why sunsets appear crimson and why orange moons appear so) would have been nice, but staying up for 3 hours more until 4am, with hospital work to do about 4 hours after, didn’t exactly sound too attractive. We decided sleep was more alluring. I figured too that I could always go online and see some photographs of lunar eclipses. How sad.

3. Went for a field trip with the student nurses.

On one of the Wednesdays I tagged along with the 3rd year student nurses for a field trip to Kebisoni Health Centre. The student nurses were there mainly to learn about the functioning of a small health care centre as well as some basic medical knowledge (the different types of pneumonia, basic obstetric care etc) – but I enjoyed the road trip and mixing with the students more than anything (sorry to say…).

I was the only mzungu amongst the group, and I stood out way too much like a beacon. Some may enjoy the attention but I definitely felt really awkward. (I had thought that one of the ex-pat nurse tutors would be coming together too, but she bailed out on me last minute!!) Being the stranger in the group, however, really made me think about how a newcomer to any group of people – a school class, a church cell group, a circle of friends of a friend – would feel, and how I appreciated those who took the initiative to approach me and explain/translate things to me.

Together with the students I had lunch in this random shop off the red dirt road – apparently a “restaurant” of some “hotel”, but you’d know after being in Africa for a few days that such words don’t usually mean what we normally think they would. It was my first time having real street Ugandan food, and I was very excited! Not too surprisingly, the manager came and took my order first — and then served my food first, like a VIP. To be safe, I ordered what most of the students did — matoke (the local banana which can either be served mashed or whole) and rice (which was served together with a bowl of salty groundnut-paste, which they called G-nuts), which wasn’t too bad, actually!

We took off in a landcruiser and a sedan car. While the health centre was about 25km away, the drive took about an hour each way as the dirt roads were really quite bumpy. Yet it was very fun – I realized then that I really enjoy just sitting in a car, looking out at the things pass by. As we were about to return, the landcruiser’s engine failed to ignite (I knew something like that was going to happen!), and we had to push it down the hill before it finally and thankfully started. On the drive back amidst the rattling rain and setting sun, there was a huge cheer in the landcruiser as we overtook the sedan car which had left before us.

4. Climbed a mountain to see the world.

And then on one of the weekends, Sue and I took a hike up the mountain near the Kisiizi Hospital compound. It was about an hour’s climb up with an amazing vista all the way, sceneries that one would expect to find in a place like Northern Europe rather than Africa (seriously, that is what guide books say too)!!

It was about an hour’s trek up, and during the way it became apparent who amongst the two of us was the fitter one, haha… T_T;; A lonely cellphone mast stood all by itself on the top of the mountain with its diesel generator faithfully humming away, spoiling the otherwise tranquil view of the entire Kisiizi region. We could see the hospital compound – a tiny blob in the valley protected by guardian mountain ranges, covered with patches of lush green forestation on bare pale rocky terrain. How big buildings seemed like mere toys, and I wondered about the folly of it all. Yes I’m trying to sound smart.

Some kids followed us for parts of the way, either chanting repeatedly “How are you, how are you?”, or “Gimme money, gimme money!”, or both. On the way down we had to give way to a herd of cows and sheep going in the opposite direction. They seemed oblivious to us snapping photos of them, but not the shepherds who followed behind – little children they were – as they immediately demanded some money in return for the photos. We refused with a smile, but the thought of them commanding their army of bulls with horns that resembled that of Diablo‘s to attack us suddenly crossed my mind. ++;;

To be continued…! お楽しみに !!

* * * *

( …I figured I’d better break this into two parts otherwise I’ll never finish uploading it =_=)