So – we were about half way home on the Post Bus ride from Kampala to Gulu, watching the countryside whiz by, when it happened. It had been blessedly uneventful – just what you want on a bus ride considering the alternatives. I got up early to be able to
This comes to you from the exciting cement confines of a windowless-single-with-a-fan room at the Annex, my home away from home when in Kampala. I’m here for my second crown (no not the one that comes with jewels) courtesy of Uganda and Peace Corps. At least this time I was
It is 9:02 AM on what would appear an ordinary work day. The day has already had an interesting beginning, but back to that later. There is not a soul in sight at any office. This is a clue. I have missed it. These are the District Offices – so
Today is the International Day of Peace for those of you who didn’t know (I didn’t until yesterday) and this year it seems particularly relevant. Maybe it’s because I’m half a world away from the normalcy of my daily life in Austin, where it’s easy to think peace is always
rips out of Gulu are always an adventure, but I am once again reminded of the sailing adage: If you add your most hideous days and your most exquisite and the average is zero, you’ve had a fabulous trip. Starting with the walk to the bus, this score came in
Ah – are any of you out there old enough to remember the Twilight Zone episode where a man ends up in a different universe, is greeted by strange creatures who treat him well and even build him a house? Come on…. I know some of you saw that one.
Had an interesting totally Ugandan experience today in the Pharmacy of all places. Allergies have been causing me terrible headaches over the last few days, to the extent that I left work today, a rarity for me. So finally, after having taken everything in my own medical stash – all
t’s a Friday night and Gulu is poppin’. Really – poppin – I don’t know if it gunfire or truck backfire. It sounds a little ominous, but as usual – after 7PM I’m in for the night… so whatever is happening will have to happen without me. Life has
Saturday, August 4th – our one-year-in-country mark, is now disappearing behind us and just a memory in the rear-view mirror. That much anticipated anniversary passed without the marching band (which will march for almost any occasion) parading through the streets and no one celebrated our year of survival, tears, friendship
Aaaaah – just when we thought it safe to go out of the house – Al Shabab, a revival and … Ebola come knockin’. Of all of three – the Revival is the worst of it… It (10,000 people expected) started Thursday and the only real threat has been to
Every Year, some Peace Corps Volunteers put on what is called Peace Camp, one of several camps sponsored by Peace Corps through the year. The goal is to work with young people who have been impacted by the war that raged here for 20 years, ending only in 2008. Young
Back in Gulu and readjusting to the constant noise and the oddities of place. When I was burglarized I re-arranged my room in a not very Feng Shui way to thwart anyone else who thought they might reap the rewards of using a 20-foot pole to explore my room. I