Six Months of Knowledge

Living the Good Life in the U.G. 

We have just passed our 6 month anniversary of our arrival here in Kampala.  After reviewing of our time I’ve come up with the following list of lessons learned. 

Things I’ve learned in my first 6 months

•   Wear sunglasses and avoid eye contact with the traffic police so when they try to pull you over you can pretend you didn’t see them and keep driving.

•   Guinness Foreign Stout is not the same as Guinness. 

•  When buying Raybans from a vendor it’s a good idea to buy two because they will soon be broken. 

•    Although you have to obey the traffic laws, motorcycles and farm animals do not. 

• When playing chicken with a baboon I will lose. 

•  “I’m coming” can mean I’ll be there in a few days.

•  Playing in the Nile is Awesome but the Bilharzia sickness you get a month later sucks.

•  When buying something always ask for a bonus.  

•    If you have furniture made it will probably look nothing like what you asked for.   

•   You can transport anything on the back of a boda (motorcycle).

•   Storks kind of freak me out.

•   Anything can pass as a foreign drivers license (a friend of mine uses his tae kwon do id).

•   When it looks like your kids are playing with a rubber lizard it’s actually a real but dead lizard. 

Just a Touch of Malaria

Hello.. Doctor....

So it appears that we’ve reached that chapter in our time here where we get the crap beat out of us through sickness brought on from transitioning to a tropical environment.  We’ve spent the last weekend trying to purge the whole family of Bilharzia, an infection caused by snails in the water of the Nile and Lake Victoria.  Taking the medicine to eradicate those little buggers actually amplifies the symptoms (nauseau, high fever, body aches, chills, headaches, etc..) you were feeling to begin with.  Kathryn claims it might be the worst she's ever felt.  There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth, as well as vows to never go near the Nile again. 

This is after only recently recovering from a mystery illness that had me hospitalized overnight and requiring many bottles of saline.  I woke up a little drowsy one morning after feeling fine the night before.  I went into the bathroom to get ready, but felt a little confused on the proper processes.  I proceeded to try to brush my teeth with my deodorant.  After a couple attempts I concluded that I was definitely doing something wrong, and decided to work on getting dress.   I thought I was doing ok till Kathryn asked why I was putting multiple button down shirts over top of each other.    I said oops, and tried again to get some pants only to realize I again had grabbed a shirt.  This happened two more times. 

Finally I was ready, well sort of, for breakfast.  I don’t remember much but apparently I poured myself a large bowl of milk, without cereal, and was very concerned about which seat was mine at the table.  I was eventually sent to bed and spent the remainder of the morning, vomiting, writhing in agony, and breaking glasses or anything breakable within reach.   Kathryn dragged me to the Surgery in the afternoon were they concluded that I “had some kind of infection.”  

By the way I do not recommend brushing your teeth with your deodorant.   

The majestic site of our infection

Fun in the Sun

Say Bilharzia!

Look out for that Crocodile!