Hakuna Matata..

blood as red as mine

2009-11-26T20:57:00.000+03:00

Sometimes my titles make me think that I must be half-mad, at the very least… as if a ki nigeria! but they just pop in and many times, I can’t resist them…

So yeah, their blood is as red as mine.. I am grateful to have been living in the Midwest USA coz of the friendly people….

Everyone was asking if I experienced any racism toward me and frankly speaking, I did not… I wasn’t even looking for it. I was looking for friends and looking forward to experiencing the American culture (still don’t know what that is!)

You’re probably wondering why, then, would I have a title as weird as that.. well, am gonna tell you.. I picked up a bit of the accent…

It seems obvious that Americans are human beings just like you and I… Yes, you are right! It is obvious and they are, actually, human just like you…

It’s just that many people here (“the me of b4 diaspora” inclusive) think of them as small gods of sorts… It was like a light bulb in my head when I realized that they are human beings.. Of course, I already knew that but I never really believed it, I think!!! Otherwise, why was I so surprised?

I know that America is a super power and that is so true… with a tax base like that, of course they are a super power…. And it is the land of opportunity which most of the citizens take for granted. Students have a chance to work part time which many of us only pray for!

But the people are just people…There are people from all walks of life… the most interesting discovery was that the majority have never been out of the US.

Forgive me for mentioning obvious things but I found it interesting!!! So anyway, these people who have never stepped out of stato are just like the majority of Ugandans who haven’t been out of Uganda (who probably would kill to go to stato!!)… and their blood is just as red as mine and yours…

If one is called “unexposed” for having never crossed the borders of Uganda and the international air space, then the same should be said of one American who has never crossed their own borders… get it?!! Light bulb yet??!!

If someone in Bukomansimbi doesn’t know what the Statue of Liberty is, they are no different from their North American counterpart who doesn’t know what Lake Victoria or even River Nile (making it easier!) is!!!!

If we both present in the same way when sick of the same illness whay should we be looked at differently? If we have the same basic body structure, why should we be looked at as different?

Am not even talking about skin colour here… that is not even an issue of difference… skin colour doesn’t make us different coz everything below it is the SAME!!! I did anatomy, I know!

Am talking about being looked as different because we are from different continents!!! My reflections are starting to confuse me… We have and always will bleed the same way no matter where we live..We are the same…

But even with my obvious realizations, It was one of the best experiences yet and I would do it all over again…

DIASPORA; Reflections

2009-05-22T16:03:00.000+03:00

3 weeks post-diaspora… my reflections are a mystery to me… I still can’t believe how much impact 2 months can have on someone….

I really did not care for several things in UG.. I love UG but I really didn’t care fo several issues.. Its sad but I got tired of the disappointment that our city/country was and, unfortunately, still is.

It came as a shock to me when I finally realized that I was defending my country and trying to correct the misconceptions that my Iowan friends had about it…

I also had to answer questions about cultures in Uganda, health indicators, mortality rates and life expectancy… more questions on whether or not my government was democratic, what Kampala looked like, if we had cats for dinner (really!!), if the wild animals roamed around the city….

For a person who hardly ever believed what she read on the first 3 pages of the newspapers, it initially was a challenge for me but I caught on pretty quick… I had to set some records straight..

So my colleague and I took turns educating our new friends.. when one would get stuck, there was always another Ugandan to help redeem our reputation…

Now I read the newspapers from start to end and I try to learn something new about the political scene and what developments have been done in different fields….

And now I understand why we are always examined on health indicators…

So many things matter… my reflections will continue….

meeting BABYFACE!!!!

2009-04-08T21:32:00.015+03:00

Long story short; my flight was cancelled due to clogged toilets (even before taxi) and rescheduled to 1am (from 11am) and I was not looking forward to the mile-long security queue!!

2 shuttle rides, a nap, dinner and a mile of queue later, I was just 2 people away from the security desk when I noticed someone...

I was like ... gee, I know this dude... oba from where??!! I notice he's with a bodyguard of sorts... then this security lady goes to greet him... BABYFACE!!! It suddenly hit me!!! The 2 people in front of me were not leaving... He even managed to fluke our line and go through security into the confines of the VIP section, or so I thought..

I wished I'd said hi over the ropes... Well, there was a missed opportunity... But, for some reason, the UG in me jammed.. I decided to look for him... I kept hoping that they'd missed the entrance to the VIP room.. and I must have been right coz I walked past my gate and saw him walking toward my direction!!!!

So, I smiled and stopped him... I asked him if he was Babyface (duh!!) I needed to break the ice.. Banange how is a Ugandan supposed to know how to stop a celebrity in a Los Angeles airport!! He's like "yea" and starts to walk off... I asked to take a picture with him... I begged... told him I was a foreigner (I am:) ) and, God bless his heart, he accepted!!!

The other guy (who looks familiar... still trying to place him) was smiling and helped us take the pic... I went on about how its a wonderful opportunity etc etc.. Ndowooza he thought I was crazy!!

Just to give a mental picture... I was holding 2 loaded bags... my hair was all over ... my lip balm was lost... and I had to fish for my camera from the red bag shown below...

My friends were amused because I was visibly excited in the snap and he was smiling just a crack... It occurred to me in retrospect that I must have looked like a crazy homeless woman at LAX!!! haha!!

here below are the migugu I was carrying when I met Babyface..

But no matter how unconventional the circumstances were, I am glad that I got to meet Babyface someplace other than on the radio or TV... What are the chances that you meet a celebrity on your best hair and luggage days??!! I never could have been more prepared!!

Return to Maryland; I love this state!!

2009-04-08T21:29:00.002+03:00

I can never find words deep enough to express my love for this state…

Being here for just a weekend made it sad but I am always glad to be here… And this time, it was even more special coz I got to meet my little niece and nephew for the first time and also got to share good times with my older nephews..

It was so cool to know what innate things we have in common.. Like we all love to have fun and do the famous “peace yo!!” So many times in UG am threatened for always doing my peace yo in snaps ….

MD has the best shopping in America.. it’s a shame that I was broke by the time I discovered the fact.. but it was still lovely to go around the malls and just look at stuff.. then my auntie nantekamu ko ku some dyme…

Another super thing was getting the super mac makeover.. this one I had to show off… couldn’t help it…

I did more window-shopping than sight seeing but being with family and doing 2 of my favourite things (travelling & shopping) made it worth my while.. I will always love MD….

shopping as an adult, what a pain!!

2009-03-19T20:52:00.004+03:00

yep, it is a pain.. when I was younger I would find everything so beautiful and so intriguing,, as long as it had colour, flowers and butterflies... Shopping in my teens was a breeze as well,, it just had to be tight enough and decent at the same time (??)... tough but I would pull it off.. also, volume/quantity played a huge role during my teen shopping days...

Yesterday, I decided to go shoppping.. Now, lets say am a 20 something year old who likes clothing... So, i go to the mall with a focus on buying shoes for a guy and possibly throw in a few tidbits for myself.. of course at a bargain.. I am the queen of bargain anyway; I am Ugandan.. we thrive on bargaining!!

The shoes I managed to find after walking between 3 potential stores about 3-4 times and they were on different floors. When I hit the "princess store", I was in shock,,, well, either the economic recession has reached the mall or china has flooded the American market or maybe am too old for the princess store!!! I just couldn't find the right thing.. It was too shiny or looked too fake or too something else!!

Well, for sure I am older and wiser but how could I fail to buy a pair of earrings, studs for crying out loud!!! I hate shopping as an adult,, I really need to buy something nice and cheap... am I asking for too much???!!!

sleeping in and road trip!!!

2009-03-15T05:18:00.005+03:00

This morning was fantastic!!! waking up and glancing at my alarm clock, I was more than thrilled that it was 9.30 am... I'd had more than my fair share of sleep and wasn't going to complain about that today... i vaguely remembered switching off my alarm at 6.30am and retreating to my bed... I have a heating mattress cover.... sweet!!

Pam and I went to run some errands and to post some letters.. Of course we went through the 27th street to see the big houses and stopped at Terrace Hill to take photos of the governor's mansion.

We then headed for the road trip to the Amana colonies; a historical landmark in Iowa.

We used the Interstate highway 80 (I-80); which if followed East takes you to Philadelphia and if followed West takes you to Los Angeles California.. There were many farms along the way and they were interesting to look at... Whoever owns these farms must be a ka-trillionnaire!!

The 7 Amana colonies were inhabited by German immigrants in the late 1800s who lived in communal societies and everyone who lived there had a job to do in the community. They are East Amana, West Amana, Homestead, High Amana, South Amana, Middle Amana and Amana. Currently, it is a national historic site and it is tourist site...

I found it surprising that there are actual families that live there.. The place is jammed with visitors.. I would fell crowded if I lived there.

It has modern houses as well as the original colony houses. The buildings in the historic area all look similar and all the sign posts are black and white... the outer and inner parts of the buildings are worlds apart.. The exteriors were preserved to maintain the history but the interiors were given oomph and are modern and elegant. Most of the houses and restaurants have basements and are actually bigger than they seem on the outside.

We visited the local microbrewery and i tasted the cherry soda.. y'all know am a teatotaller (sp)! This brewery pulls the biggest crowd in Amana; the main settlement.

We also went to see the only wool milling place in Iowa.. i don't quite remember the name but it was cool to see how much stuff is made from wool and the machinery that was used in days gone by.

We had tons of sweets to maintain our glucose levels and then had a nice German dinner at the Ox Yoke Inn.

We drove home as dusk was approaching.. Its like we were chasing the sun... We were driving West.. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West...

gliding on the ice ;)

2009-03-14T06:51:00.006+03:00

Today was a good day at the clinic... and not because of the extra time we took with each patient nor the interesting patients who told us stories nor the free lunch.... It was a good day because I made a friend...

I'll fast forward to the part of the day when Kelly said we'd be going out for friday night dinner and might possibly be going to glide on the ice.... I was extra excited and kept changing till I found the perfect pair of jeans for the occasion.. I mean, I was just going to wear ice skates and glide, right? "Piece of cake," I thought.

We had dinner at a Thai restaurant.. can't quite remember the name but the food was yummy.. better than the one in Kla, in my opinion... We then headed to the ice rink a few blocks down the street...

Panic started to set in when I saw the number of 3 year olds who were skating perfectly... I got my shoes and balancing almost perfectly on the carpet, I headed for the ice...

Hhhhhmmm, the balance suddenly disappeared and i was reaching out for the handle bars and hoping that I would not crush my face on that hard hard slippery ice.... this was supposed to be a piece of cake... as earlier mentioned,, damn!!!

I managed to make it round the rink a few time with full support from the handle bars (re; both hands plus torso!!). Then Kelly helped both John and I to gain more stability and balance on the ice.. He said, "It's not ice skating until you fall." My worst fears started to re-surface... Whatever had brought me to step onto this ice!!! My toes and fingers were icing up even with the gloves and thick skates!!

I eventually had my one fall on my right knee. It was kinda comical now that I think about it.. I was swaying like a tree being blown by wind and i finally gave in to gravity with a thud on my knee.. It feels good for now but only the future will tell.. I prayed against any injury that would land me in the clinic am working in!!! After that fall, I gained more balance but decided I was done...

John had 2 falls; he stayed longer on the ice and by the time we left, he could slowly move aroung the rink unsupported... The journey home was so short.. Today was a good day!

movie night; part 1

2009-03-13T09:09:00.001+03:00

In retrospect; how had i never watched GRAN TORINO? If u thought SHAW SHANK REDEMPTION was the greatest movie of the 90s, then GRAN TORINO is the one for the 00s...

African time, the lib & gyros!

2009-03-10T07:03:00.006+03:00

today was a record day for us coz we were so late that i couldn't walk into the clinic at the time even with my excess dryness!! i haven't felt this guilty in a while and hence my midyear resolution is to get to school early whether its raining or snowing, I'll be there!! Pam and Kelly were too amused to know that we got there at 10am...

so we went to the library.. JB dashed off to the computers while the serious one (me) went to the endocrinology section and picked up a bunch of books on Diabetes Mellitus. I last went to Albert Cook Medical library sometime last year... going to the DMU medical library was hard coz am so used to standing for hours on end doing ward rounds and running after SHOs for signatures that i found it difficult t stay awake in the lib... it was a job!!

when we finally went to clinic it was focused but i had only 2 patients to see and Dr. Elliott released me.. Dr. Elliott is a unique person... he was a teacher and wrestling coach before he became a doctor and he loves photography. I liked the way he explained to his patients about their conditions..

hitting the library in the afternoon was a feat but i made it to 5 o'clock without fallin off the chair (they are so comfy!!).. supper for me was gyros.. a Greek special.. it is pronounced as "year-os" and not guy-ros!! and not only does it taste good, it's also so darn healthy... proteins and veggies!!

change of clocks, church and tech shopping

2009-03-09T08:21:00.002+03:00

Last night having been a blast and us having come home late, Sunday morning was a bit of a challenge to drag into properly.. The other reason for this was that at some hour, x, between when we got home and when we finally woke up "spring forward"came into action and clocks were moved one hour ahead.. a certain bi-annual tradition to create an illusion of day light for the farmers and give them more light to the day..

So, anyway, I was busy sleeping and Pam woke me saying am going to be late for church.. I didn't believe her because according to my clock it was 8.30 am and i had more than enough time to catch up on more sleep and get ready for church.. She then reminded me about Spring forward and I slowly crept out of the bed... We got to St. John's Lutheran church in time for the service.

we then did brunch at what Pam likes to call a greasy diner; informal, laid back and extra yummy food.. I had the least amount but tasted everyone else's food!!

we then spent the afternoon trying to find the perfect camera for John..

lunch meeting, valley junction and the piano recital

2009-03-08T10:23:00.003+03:00

After learning the hard way, we decided to buy a quick lunch before going for the meeting with the members of the International club... JB suggested that we go check before we buy lunch. Of course I was against it coz the first time that happened, I had to walk all the way back to the fridge to pick up our lunch.. I wasn't about to follow his assumptions again... Anyway, I agreed well knowing that the cafeteria was not so far off and I could still be able to escape and redeem myself if need be...

Lucky for us all, lunch was provided by the university since it was an official scheduled meeting. It was a yummy chicken salad. The meeting went very well with various individuals telling their stories about being in UG and others telling theirs of anticipation about UG. For me, the best part was meeting 3 friends whom I'd last seen when this programme was really only a dream... Seeing them reminded me of how real the whole experience really was... They are so great...

We got home early and got an offer to go visit the Historic Valley Junction. Its a cute street with so many little shops mostly selling antiques and other unique products.. We walked through the whole neighbourhood and couldn't help but notice the interesting signposts and compound treasures.

Then Rishi had a piano recital at the Wesley Acres Nursing home and it was nice to listen to youngsters playing their simple but moving tunes for the senior citizens at Wesley Acres. The day ended on a good note.

lunch at the cafeteria... and syndrome x..

2009-03-06T06:13:00.009+03:00

we were almost late for the meeting with the dean... well, we got there just in time!!! we made it for lunch with John's friend. he was a very friendly guy and my lunch was yummy... pasta and spaghetti from home.. nze am abstaining from those muffins and sandwiches!!! i weighed myself at the gym and it wasn't a pretty number, i can assure you!!

i think am at the point where i need a challenge.. nothing remotely close to the 10 writeups in 3 weeks but something to keep my veins dilated.. am constricting now!!! well.. the weather was so nice today.. i decided to skip gym and walk through the woods while i still had daylight and it was fun.. i almost slipped off the hillside!!!

it was 22 degrees celsius today.. i swear it was as warm as UG baby!!! i have proof luckily!!!

we spent the evening scanning through TJMaxx for some bargain deals but there were too many winter things in there and i was less than thrilled... the day ended with dinner at the Chipotle Mexican Grill... we had carnitas and am totally full.. but happy and fatter!! my homework from 2 days ago was metabolic syndrome (x); hope i won't get it at the rate am going!!

day one in clinic, the gym and the stroll back home..

2009-03-05T04:31:00.006+03:00

just how much information can one put in a title? why should there be any rules? its my article, my kb and my title,,, u know!!!!

that aside; i started the day by waking up extra early so as to be in time for the 7.30am lecture.. the lecturer treated us to breakfast as we had the lecture... we had to sign legal papers and watched a government program about confidentiality and handling patient information... that was interesting to know coz in UG we shout out information which is not right at all...

started with Dr. Carney and Derek.. it was fun all morning... i eventually got the hang of it so find it easier the more i do it... afternoon was with Dr. Schuster; it was very interesting as well... i like that every family medicine patient gets a mini general exam; it encourages the concept of viewing a patient as a whole and not as a renal or whatever patient..

hah!! we had a lecture at 7.30am on upper respiratory infection; very timely since its winter..
at the end of the day (5pm), it was so warm out.. about 10 degrees centigrade and i decided to go to the wellness centre to rejuvenate :).. i found out about a yoga class and decided on that for the evening... i enjoyed it though i lost balance several times... it didn't feel like I'd been working out; i was refreshed from within out...

then i walked back home the long way around coz it was 7pm and dark.. the woods would be for another day... it was a little warm and the streets were lit.. of course am the best with directions so i got home really quickly... it was nice to look at the lit houses and smelling the fireplaces on the way...

got home and found only the pets... started to doze real quick!!

cold walk in the woods

2009-03-04T06:03:00.006+03:00

today was a relatively sleepy morning though i don't know why!!! anyway, we were late and walked to school.. it was about 10 minutes walk; which is fair considering av done time with the box-med sch-box stretch... well, we trekked through the woods; which was ok too.. the only problem was the cold breeze!!! i have never lost so much heat per metre squared of skin!! it was scary..

we got to the warm building in one piece and somehow the day started!! its amazing the number of things that can get done in one day... first we had a meeting with the department of marketing and that was fun coz we're going to feature in the newspapers sometime soon.. am following in my roomie's footsteps... then we went to the Simulation lab which is a marvel... we had a geriatric patient with COPD and pneumonia.. possibly vent/hospital acquired post-op.. its strange how here pneumonia is common in the elderly while in UG its more common in the paediatric population.. that's the beauty of student exchange programs...

well, it was hard enough for me coz the students here have done it before and were better at decision making in the clinical situation than me and yet am at a higher class level than they are.. in my final year.. anyway, vennie was right.. i have the data but just need to get comfy so it can flow.. my roomie rocks!!! and so does my girliepie, Karthy who says "Ky you know your way,, it will work out eventually!!" u guys are so right...

anyway simulation is so much fun coz one gets a chance to show if they really integrated their basic sciences knowledge with a clinical situation.. and it encourages working in teams.. it is the greatest invention of the problem-based curriculum.. a real marvel.. if only I'd learnt my basic sciences with simulation instead of clinical exposure,,, guys it really works... I'll post a video..

the doctor who debriefed us was very nie and corrected us she later went through the scans and xray films... this is what PBL should be like,,, not percussion yielding no results!!! in the afternoon we joined 2nd years for theirs on renal physiology.. they are studying it in class and get cases to simulate renal physiology and brainstorm on it... this was better for me coz i was able to redeem myself some... at least i knew the drugs since the students hadnt done pharmacology yet... it was fun.. the teacher was so good that i decided to attend the rest of the renal simulations.

to all the peeps in the disco group am sending you my first lesson in DMU; the management of hyperkalaemia..

always keeping you posted

winter camera

2009-03-02T04:18:00.005+03:00

so its now official... my camera only works in the winter!!! but it feels its self!!! shya!!! the screen became so clear as soon as we hit the winter in Amsterdam and then it went off when we got into the hot airport... but this camera is funny!!! anyway, we managed to make it to this cold place after so many hours being air bound...

the first few days have been punctuated by asking and being asked... "where does this cold come and from" anyway it is very beautiful in Des Moines and there are some woods (forests doesnt seem to work!) near where we live.. I've been told that we live in the older part of Des Moines and each house is so different from the next... styles, colours, sizes etc etc... it is very interesting to just see... keeps me entertained, at least!!!

DMU is amazing!! It consists of 4 buildings and you cant believe how much is contained within them... I will post pictures just to make it clear to all y'all... Vennie should appreciate this kinda thing coz of her big dreams and ambitions!!! When you become secretary general of the UN i expect a grant to build my very own Unisabana/DMU...

The first pic am posting will be of the gym i.e. me in the gym.. mommy should be proud of me... ;) That is if my winter camera decides to work,, u know... anyway, today was good, it was a whole 5 degrees centigrade!!!! how warm!!! I mean, yesterday it was -10 degrees!! i am grateful I feel more of the sun rays today.. its a good day!!! even with my winter savvy camera ;)

How Great is Our God

2009-01-24T02:23:00.005+03:00

I had been putting off watching Louie Giglio's "How Great is our God" video. It was top priority on my holiday list.

The first time around, my bible study group watched it and I had a write-up deadline to beat so I missed it. You know I usually do my write-ups at the last minute, I have no idea why!!!

So, back to the DVD... my roomie almost replayed the talk to me but i wouldn't let her... I had to watch it on my own...

Then one day as I had lunch, I decided to watch it. It was just a week to the holidays.

Louie, indeed, is a motivational speaker! His talk opened my eyes to how great my God is.. I can't put it into words... It is an overwhelming feeling!

Towards the end of the talk, he mentions Colossians 1; which happens to be one of my favourite scriptures of all time!! I started to weep!!! Let me recount the story of Colossians 1; my reason for weeping...

Somewhere between my 3rd and 4th year of medical school, our class fellowship introduced bible study groups of about 5 or so people. mine had, and still has, 7 amazing people!!

We had a study guide for 10 week; one study per week. Being busy, many groups failed to take off but ours persevered; on and off, though.. One of the studies was centered around Christ; about His mission on earth and how He effected His ultimate plan of love and forgiveness to turn the human race back to God, through His death on the cross. My perspecctive was changed completely.

It is difficult to explain how exactly. I think everyone has an aha! moment that makes certain things clearer and that was mine... i was really moved!

Later in my 4th year, I had a conversation about God with a friend. I then recounted the way this scripture moved me and suggested he read it as well. He had made remarks implying that he believed in people, higher power and said a few other things that I can hardly recall. I thought that sharing this passage with him would enlighten him the way it enlightened me... And, that's where I got it wrong!

I happened to have a bible nearby and opened the passage for him. He read it in silence and looked perplexed afterward. "Its not my intention to come off as mean but it sounds just like a story to me." He said. It wasn't an aha! moment...

So, Louie talked about Colossians 1 and he got me to weep! I wept because someone so random, so far away from me, had finally said how he thought that this passage was one of the few passages in the bible that showed How great our God is! It wasn't just a story and that is why I was so moved... My Christ is supreme and my God is ssssssooooooo great!

It is by God's grace that we believe!

My Bogota "Take-Home"

2009-01-24T02:09:00.006+03:00

"For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie - deliberate, contrived and dishonest-
but the myth - persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.

Too often, we hold fast to the cliches of our forebearers.

We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations.

We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

JFK

Yale University

1962

Bogota Diary 30th September to 2nd October 08

2009-01-24T01:31:00.007+03:00

These remaining days have been a blur.. They were so interesting that I couldn't keep up with the diary. Anyway, we had the community site visits. I was in the group that visited Fundacion Cardio Infantil, a hospital that specialises in paediatric heart surgery but provides medical care to all patients.. This is an inspiration for my future health centre! We then headed to Usaquen, which is in old town bogota. Beautiful place with colored buildings and cobblestone streets.. with jewellery sellers lined up on the streets and housing the ultra trendy hacienda mall...

Our group had some of the funkiest ladies.. Lina, Paula, Carolina etc... It was a funky group!!

I attended a mini-workshop on CV writing and job search.. this was fun and interactive and we were helped to edit our pre-existing CVs. I joined the women and health taskforce and volunteered, with my schoolmates, to edit the section on cervical cancer. It is a module aimed to educate women on cervical cancer to demystify it.

I attended another mini-workshop on writing for publication. All the Network sessions are aimed at providing the best for its members and improving the skills that they already have.

Another fun workshop was entitled "Cinema and medical education for healthcare providers; from emotions to reflection." A Brazilian university was demonstrating to us how public health is taught through cinema to enable the students relate to the community and helping them realise how they can be more effective in promoting global health. I found it very interesting. Some of the movies featured include; October sky, Pretty woman, Saving Private Ryan, amongst others.

Bogota Diary ; 29th September 08

2008-10-03T07:13:00.005+03:00

This was a good morning!! I had typical Colombian breakfast again! Ale´s parents drove me to Hotel Cosmos 100. I will miss them.. I found my contemporaries taking break tea...

I attended a workshop on Grant Proposal writing which i hope to put to use very soon. The session was very educative. I am even considering writing a grant proposal for Faith Mulira Health Care Centre - Masooli, an not-for-profit health centre that my grandmother is setting up. I had no idea about logical frameworks.

Lunch was a breeze on the 10th floor of hotel cosmos but it has some exclusion criteria elements to it... that is a story for another day.. Bogota is a classroom - full of learning experiences!! After lunch, we were on our way to Universidad de la Sabana, our hosting university.. It is about 45minutes from the city but really close to the mountains and the Bridge of the Common, a historical landmark in Colombia.

Uni Sabana is a private university in Chia-Bogota. It is a beautiful school surrounded by a river and with boats to take the students to classes if they dont feel like walking all the way there!!! It looks like more of a resort than a school from the outside. On the inside, it has a state-of-the-art library, classes and ambience.

It was originally a hacienda, an upscale farmhouse - mainly horse farms. It has old Spanish-styled buildings as well as modern buildings and a beautiful green compound punctuated by flowers and shrubs.

I was extremely overwhelmed!! After this, we were back to the buses and off to Chia, a smaller town. It kinda reminded of KLA! We arrived at Andres Carne de Res at about 7pm. It is a cozy restaurant, fantasy-like, with memorabilia of things past and full of surprises. the picture tell its story. It's like an all year circus but much more fun. we had our Network dinner and danced ourselves silly! Truly out of this world and different in a nice way!! LEGENDARY night!

I was able to get like 200 post cards for free... they never run out so I kept picking!!! Typical UG babe!!!

Bogota Diary ; 28th September 08

2008-10-03T06:05:00.009+03:00

I woke up in Ale´s beautiful room... earlier than anyone else.. I had a wonderful typical Colombian breakfast... I met her stylish niece and adorable nephews. Ale is a good driver and a fast one too.

My presentation went well but I had to dash out of it midway for a lunch date with my hosts. El Corral Gourmet has the yummiest burgers ever!!! Please note that I haven´t stopped eating ever since I came to Bogota!! I enjoyed the onion rings with crumbs on top.. they were really crunchy!!
ps. here-above is squid i.e. friends of octopus and not very tasty.. rather rubbery and goey!! The salad was yummy, though!
I went to Hacienda mall which is totally beautiful... but rather expensive!! Ale and Jairo picked me up with my beautiful bouquet!! We had dinner at Crepes and Waffles. Yummy! Yummy! Yummy! I had a nice time!!

Ale´s parents are so warm and they were speaking to me in English. I was amused by Alejandra calling Jairo her ´little dog´! We then went to 93rd street park. It is just as beautiful at night as during the day.. Of course we took pictures!!
After this, we were off to the bus station to drop Alejita.. She left for "Old Village" at midnight. I already miss her... She came all the way on a 5 hour bus just to spend the weekend with me. She was unable to attend the rest of the conference.. We left Jairo at his house and i spent the night at Ale´s parents´house.

Bogota Diary ; 27th September 08

2008-10-03T05:26:00.006+03:00

From the runway, Eldorado airport looked really small and forged yesterday. Despite the pilot giving us the smoothest landing yet, most of us were air-sick by the time AF landed in Bogota. I think it was because of the much higher altitude we were flying at due to the mountaneous terrain.. Eldorado is beautiful on the inside and the departure section appears classy from outside..

Lina, Carolina and Johanna welcomed us and they were so warm!! We packed all our luggage into lina´s car and headed to the city. It is so BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! can´t seem to stress it enough. It is green like Kampala but the green is of a lighter shade. It has buildings and roads like USA!!

After going around the city, I got to see the 1st world bit of Bogota and the 3rd world bit of Bogota but this city is really clean!! No matter what part you are in!! Hotel Cosmos is luxurious!! It looks new but I am told that it is about 10 - 15 years old.

If only UG could achieve even just the level of cleanliness around here, we´d be in bigger tourism business!!! Colombia is worlds and ages ahead of us; best believe!!

My hosts have been very kind to me. We live in a very beautiful and well maintained house. I love the decor and the style of the apartment. Lina´s parents are so warm! This is my home away from home. Oscar gave up his room for me.. he is a nice down to earth guy; Lina´s and my hermanito (little brother). I now have two hermanitos; Jr and Oscar. We made a deal; he helps me practice French and i help him practice English..

Then there´s Lina´s spoilt cat Salomon. He is black and white, she totally loves him and he seems to find me interesting!! I used to think that having pets was a cliche but Salomon is adorable!

We hit the town at Zona Rosa and went to a club.. some say it is preppy, others say it is just bad.. i think it was good... i had a good time!! We returned at 1.30 am and had tea & bread as we talked and finally slept at about 2 am!!

Bogota Diary ; 26th September 08

2008-10-03T04:08:00.004+03:00

After tossing, turning, waking up and sleeping again, we finally woke up... about 2 hours to landing time.. Sudha and Vennie brushed their teeth and i had to gurgle toothpaste since I had no idea where my toothbrush was!!

Breakfast arrived and ofcourse I chose the non-vegeterian option... sausage, beans, scrambled egg... sounded yummy, well except for the eggy part. That turned out to be one of the worst decisions I have ever made in my life!! I ventured into breakfast with the assumption that it would be as yummy as supper.. The egg was a really bad idea. Period.

That over, other problems set in.. the feeling of weightlessness that I loathe.. It feels like my heart is going trough my throat!! I loved the taxi and getting out of the plane. I hoped that Paris was all I´d ever dreamed of and lots more.. I was not disappointed..

Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France is an architectural marvel... Unfortunately, it is far from the city and neither the Eiffel tower nor any tourist attraction was visible from it. But it was really funky as we flew in at 6 am with all the city lights.. If one never did anything else in one´s life but look at the aerial view of Paris at night, all would be well. My Mo can draw the city plan just by looking at those lights.. It was breathtaking!!

Waiting at CDG was okay albeit the presence of extremely expensive duty-free shops. I saw some pretty cool stuff in the ´Newspaper shop´. Vennie managed to read new magazines for free. She copied a mzungu guy!! I wonder if that store makes any money.. everyone was reading for free and no one made any effort to buy the magazines!

Gate 56 was sunny and had nothing much going on... Well, except for the increasing number of South American and Asian citizens.. This was not surprising because the airline was Colombia-bound. We ate some yummy spicy chapatis and mine was done in record time, i was so hungry!!

Finally, a window seat!! But, we are next to the toilet, again!!! My complaints are stopping right now. I am content just being on this flight. We had been making fun of the excess people at gate 56 and were silenced when we saw them queue up for business class.. We might have been put in our place but returned to square one after getting onto the plane and finding them in Economy class just like us.. They had fluked the business class queue!! They were just posers!!

I got inspired to practice French.. the words just kept popping into my mind..

Aboard Air France en-route to Bogota;
Air France is undeniably my best airline yet!! Early in flight, we were given menus to enlighten us of what would be available to eat on the journey. The food was yummy!! Definitely more palatable than on KQ!! The platters were bigger and they had the tastiest chicken and orange juice..

But, taxi was very turbulent this time round; in all ways.. We had a few episodes of weightlessness or what I´d rather call ´free fall´... It was quite scary and we were over the Atlantic ocean!

These AF people need to deploy in UG; they would be in business... For the last part of the journey, we had a free bar with goat-cheese sandwiches, icecream, water, tea, coffee, wine and pretty much anything else we wanted.. That was super funky.. This is when our back-bencher seats came in handy.. we were right at the source.. in the metals!!!! The food trays were passed out regularly..

I watched ´Sex and the City; the movie´ and ´Forgetting Sarah Marshall´. I noticed that the steward had a flirty smirk toward the hostess in our cabin.. I almost watched ´Forbidden Kingdom´but tulo caught up with me...

Bogota Diary ; 25th September 08

2008-10-02T08:07:00.007+03:00

The stress of reading for a paper that ends up being postponed combined with the excitement of a journey overseas with friends... that´s how I felt while seated on the plane from Nairobi to Paris! In retrospect, it was exhilirating... In all honesty, doing the paper today would have been a total disaster for me... I had been trying to study and I kept reflecting.. I kept wondering what it was that caused my lack of focus. For sure, I knew the amount of work that I had ahead of me and the perseverence in me were not, at all, proportional!!

That off my chest, am off to EBB.. I was shocked by the way we were mistreated at EBB and being given seats next to the toilets made it even worse!! I complained, ofcourse, but the experience was worth every penny that our kind sponsors had gifted.

I promise never to be mean in reference to Entebbe airport. I was impressed to find clean and fresh-smelling toilets with clean sparkly showers that actually worked!!! The airport refurbishment for CHOGM is still evident from the Economy lounge, at least. I guess cést la meme chose in the Karibuni VIP lounge.. Well, it seemed like it from a distance!

We were taking pictures, talking aloud, maximising the mango jazz promo; clearly taking this trip in stride! Well, maybe not but none of us cared anyway.. I am sure that the other passengers thought we were first time flyers because of our hyper-activity. The looks on their faces were of mixed nature.. amusement, bemusement, irritation etc. They must have thought that we were spoilt and under exposed. No price for guessing what the looks would change to upon revelation of us being one year shy of the working class of Uganda!

Sudha and Vennie were so much fun to travel with. Travelling with family is special but travelling with friends is an adventure that everyone should experience. Vennie thought that all the stewards were of another orientation and i was calling them air-hosts.. You know, since the ladies are hostesses!!

The flight to Paris was as packed as the Nai one. We tried to impress the predominantly french airborne population with our broken French in vain. All attempts fell on deaf ears.. no one even offered to correct us. At least we tried!

Sudha and i watched "Nim´s Island". It was a sweet though kiddish movie.. We dozed off somewhere midway the movie.. Dinner on KQ was funky!

all that glitters

2008-08-07T10:25:00.003+03:00

to be published in 'The Antenna'; Galloway's in-house news letter.

All that glitters is Galloway. Yes, Galloway is a gem of sorts and no, I am not trying to pull off a nursery rhyme. This is my ghetto story!

Having loved my Box with all of my heart, I have made big girl steps towards settling in and loving Galloway. In Box, my being there meant that my country was moving forward to bigger things.

I have finally moved on; grieved my last for my wonderful Box. Yes, I miss the reduction mirror on ‘A’ floor. Reduction in the sense that it was more of a diminisher than a magnifier. No mirror that I’ve known before was as kind as that one. It always lifted my spirits. Sentiments that are shared by many Box alumni.

The bee-hive activity and the automobile-filled “airport” were a constant source of entertainment. From bodabodas to MTN trucks to government cars, the airport was comparable to the old taxi park; loud and alive!

These might sound like the kicks of a dying horse but they are only the remnant memories of a reminiscent Boxer. But, with the kicks, a new phenomenon is born; one of serenity, valor and hope.

All that glitters really is Galloway. A quiet sanctuary of fun-loving, holy (assumption), book-wormy doctor blasts. This is the funnest lot of 5th years to hit this zone and a sure stepping stone for those yet to come.

We have brought the diamond back to Galloway. The thieves can’t handle us and we have made the concept of boring defunct on this side of town.

Being at the end of nowhere might warrant us the freedom for nothing-doing. But, being people of virtue, we have channeled this freedom into fun, educative and inspiration activities.

The volleyball team is applauded for pioneering the funkiness we boast of. The numerous discussion groups show that we’re not all about play; we’ve got our book on. The Antenna, cells, Bible study groups, fellowship, morning glory, morning mass, mosque, TT squad, jogging club, football crew and room rounds are our extra evidence. We are an all-rounder and it looks good on us.

Even as we patiently wait upon DSTV subscription to be paid, as the dudus feast on our left-overs, as we enjoy the monkey-view apartments, this is our home for the next year.

The gem that is the embodiment of Galloway shines brighter each day. There is nothing more glamorous than being 4 steps away from class and actually loving it. Galloway is really all that glitters.

a tight paper

2008-08-07T10:22:00.000+03:00

This is a situation that places one in a corner and there is very little or no space to relieve oneself of it.

Ladies, please raise your hands if you have ever been put through a tight paper by a guy whom you can not fend off. And, are you still trying? You probably are.

Unlike the mousy guy whom you can tread all over and the ultra irritant who you cannot stand looking at, this tight-paper guy is out of your “abusability” zone. You have so much to lose by telling him off and yet he has not gotten you to a place where all guards are thrown off and you can run your mouth about him. He really puts you in a tight situation.

Then, he plays mind games with you... confusing you… today he is extra kind and tomorrow he is extra severe. You keep hoping that something could take that goofy look off his face. Worse still, its not a yucky goofiness,,, it is really just a tight paper. Treating you like royalty and if you don’t put a stop to it, he just might embarrass the two of you.

If only that tender smile could be erased from his face, shooting him a warning eye would do the trick. He goes out of his way to, indirectly, make your life comfy; you are afraid that someone will notice and then all hell will break loose. No one will ever understand that you need to stop this… that it is nothing but you cannot tell this tight-paper guy off… you have too much to lose.

Your contemporaries will laugh their heads off as you suffer to sort out your dilemma. If only he was ugly, or maybe younger, maybe executing your plan would be much easier. However, he is older and not ugly; you need to act fast. The worst-case scenario is him getting on to his knees and proposing marriage… in front of everyone… and you have to turn him down in public. Thank the high heavens that he doesn’t have your number.

Why didn’t he read the sign? “No parking” The feigned toughness on your face, your long routes to avoid him, your subtle shrugging off of his attention. Why didn’t any of that work?

For as long as he has a soft spot for you and you can’t dare tell him off, you are in for the long haul and you just might find yourself trapped.

It is a tight paper!

living with your classmates...

2008-05-02T09:52:00.013+03:00

it is a challenge.. there is beauty in being able to go to school, meet people and leave them there,, you can always see them tomorrow..

enter cobes; a concept born by the faculty of medicine to expose med students to community medicine for a certain number of weeks every academic year..

this was our last visit and we had to implement a project.. which was great but ofcourse.. we had to live in the same house for 2 weeks.. which was also ok but it was such a challenge.. i enjoyed sharing a room with jackie and judith and laughing with jos.. jude was fun as well.. judith telling us about the Netherlands and Jackie's stories about stalkers and the like.. but i just don't know why i found it annoying..

i guess it was partly because i couldn't watch idols or project fame.... well, i could but had to walk about 1/2 km to get to the TV.. i know i am whining but cobes was only nice when we were laughing in our room.. and when we would go surfing and talk about marriage...

it wasn't that bad... i guess am growing old.. above is a pic of the girls after being left behind.. cobes was fun when i stretch my mind to think about it.. atleast parts of it were..

the art of getting it

2008-05-02T09:52:00.008+03:00

this is about the possession of the art of getting a joke (natural sense of humour), getting the joke after intense explanation (acquired sense of humour) and the inability to get any joke, what-so-ever..

i happen to be in the 'acquired' group.. it takes me a while to get a joke and usually i have to be told it's a joke before i can start to process it in my brain.. it reali is not a crime to belong to either of the groups.. i guess we can't help having or lacking a sense of humour (SOH).. but, there is hope..

i used to be worse than this... but, somehow, watching TV constantly improved my SOH.. sitcoms are made to be funny, most times.. some producers manage to deliver and others don't even get close... i used to wonder why my parents were laughing, all i saw were people running from the kitchen to the sitting room and they never left the house...

lucky me,, i finally got a piece of the art.. and i am learning everyday.. Monsieur is always teasing me... i always think he's serious.. but, i will get there..

to those with a natural SOH; i am jealous!!! but don't get too carried away to realise that you can actually hurt someone..

to those who totally lack a sense of humour; lighten up..

e.g. my dear roomie and i both know our faults and make light of them... she has a tendency of dancing to a tune that is different from the one that she is meant to dance to.. we laugh about it everyday and tell each other off with love...

i, on the other hand, have a tendency towards OCD ie Obssessive compulsive disorder.. i check and recheck the door after locking it and always remind my friends to lift their feet... i can't stand the sound of feet being dragged on the ground,, sorry but it irritates!!

thanks to our laughs,,, she got over dragging her feet, is a champion for my cause and i successfully transferred my OCD to her.. she rechecks the locks these days!!! isn't life beautiful?!

then there is a subset of those who fail to get it.. they usually take defense,, no not offense, defense.. several times people snap at vennie and i saying.. "don't say those things that you usually say to kyom/vennie! they annoy me.. keep your comments to yourself"... so, did they get the joke or do they hate the joke or was there no joke?

much as i know they might be right to a certain extent,,, the extra stress of snapping, boiling and stewing thereafter is really not worth it..

a joke is always a joke.. how you decide to interpret it is another story.. but, don't forget the 3 categories.. u have to fall in one of them..

either you get it (now or later) or you dont.. period!!

Break Free!!!!

2008-05-02T09:52:00.003+03:00

By Rita Kisenyi - my dear friend

It is the obstacle that stands in the way of getting to that place
It makes you wander through the corners of your mind
Groping through the darkness therein
And holding on to the weak anchors you find
It makes you wonder whether you will ever get to that place

You find the comfort that you are not exactly looking for,
This comfort is the child of procrastination
The child of complacency
It makes you feel content to just have the fantasy
And tells you that real place is just Neverland

You know you have to get rid of this obstacle
And all the fallacy it has taught you to believe
You know you can't go on living this way
No, now is the time to break free
And embrace the true comfort of achieved dreams.

Now is the time to understand that
It is not in looking at things through the glass
That you will get to the place
But that in breaking through the glass,
You will face the pain, but emerge stronger than before
You will break free from the FEAR that has been holding you back
You will attain your dream; you have found the firm anchor.

Something I wrote with you in mind. Sorry for not communicating more often, I hope it never makes you think I love u less. 11/4/08

all good things come to an end

2008-04-11T11:19:00.005+03:00

yep! Am through with Internal Medicine but I miss it already... I started out wanting to be a surgeon.. I knew that Daddy was a doctor but that was about it! I thought that my father was a surgeon because all doctors are, right?

Anyway, i grew up and found out the difference.. Well, Daddy was not a surgeon but i still wanted to become a surgeon.. I continued to grow up and started to think about how many years a surgeon spent in school and it didnt seem like such a great idea anymore... i managed to do well enough to make it to medical school.. Thanks to God!

A new phenomenon came up in my growth; the subject of marriage... a surgeon not only studies for several years but also spends most of his/her adult life in the theatre with time for nothing else.. eh, trouble set in. "Me! to go through all that?!!"

I started to admire physicians.. very clever, meticulous, can explain almost any illness from first principles.. That was the beginning of my love affair with internal medicine..

Back to surgery.. After rotating through the department and realising that i had been misinformed (and it was 2 late,, i already loved internal med), i decided to enjoy the rotation.. surgery is fun.. ok, yea they study for a long time but who doesn't?? They work hard but thanks to multi-level health care, they can go to sleep and have time for their families.

Paediatrics will not be written about today. the residents made me hate it.. but, i guess it's alright..

Stationed on 4B Neurology, i thought i would die trying to examine the central nervous system, stroke, stroke and even more stroke.. Have i ever mentioned that this was the worst possible ward i could be placed on? Anyway, i get there and try to find reasons to break up with internal med but wah!! it kept getting better.. and i think i have a cardiologic bias but am not so sure.. am kinda fighting it within me!!!

Everyday, I would find renewed strength and resolve to specialise in internal medicine.. i will become a physician, by hook or crook!

I never had a mentor in medical school but I now have a physician for a mentor.. 5 weeks down the road and i still have no regrets.. Till 5th year when i do Clinical Medicine II..

I will become a physician one day!

the baby cried at 1 minute!!

2007-09-07T16:11:00.000+03:00

I hadn't realised that i was seething with anger until i opened my mouth. The nerve of indifferent people in whose hands the helpless people's lives lie.. I was really mad, I tell you!

We met at the table; she being operated on and me, observing the procedure. 20 years old and she has never seen her period. The doctors know what is wrong but they can only do so much. Only God knows why certain things happen. All the blood from her period is in her uterus. The pain and mood swings haven't been a stranger these past 5 years. Oh no! She's known them as well as Jane and I. They were as real as mine just not proven overtly. So, she is losing her uterus, it has no outlet.. All hopes of having children are flushed down the toilet. It can only be a toilet; drains are much too shallow..

"Who can take up this patient?" the good surgeon bellows. "Me." I say to myself. One of my friends tells me to clerk the patient. I decided to do just that. I went to see her a few hours later when she came to. Severely wasted and anaemic. "Nali munene nnyo. Enjoka za nnuma ne bampa califomu wiki namba." she told me as we chatted. Loosely translated; "I used to be very fat. I'd get severe lower abdominal pain and be put to sleep for a whole week." We are encouraged to follow up patients and not get too attached to them but how could i not? This was the first patient I had ever clerked in my 22 years on earth. I did my daily duties as junior clerk in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

One seemingly usual day, I found her feverish and she was vomiting. She had a host of other medical problems. I was very confident then and asked a senior consultant Gynaecologist for help. He reviewed her and asked the ward staff to give her medication for a possible malaria attack. The intern doctor did all he was supposed to do and left. Well, so did I. Before I left, I browsed through her file once again and something caught my attention. HIV positive. I wasn't scared but the grief I felt for her tore my heart. "She's only 2o. She has her whole life ahead of her. Why?" I lamented within me. All patients in Mulago are tested but it is up to one to find out one's results. I guess she kept on sampling different men before finally realising the problem was in her body. Only God knows..

5pm same day, i go back to review my patient and her file shows no evidence of anyother interventions apart from what the intern had done. Being new and not wanting to step on any toes, I collect myself and go to see the ward nurse. "Be polite." I tell myself. And polite I am, I guess the Gayaza grooming team would have been extremely proud of me. That aside, I state my case to the sister on duty. She points at the HIV status and with indifference and contempt written all over her face, she sneers, "We shall do it. We are fed up. Twakoowa. Why should we hurry for these patients? We shall do it." My colleague saw her point in the file and simply shook her head. I was thoroughly disappointed. No, I thought that I was thoroughly disappointed till i started to tell my colleague. Then, i realised that I was so mad. The day before, I had asked the above mentioned sister to help a patient change a soiled dressing. With her usual sneer she replies, "No gauze. We shall prepare it later or tomorrow. She can wait."

I needed to vent and labour suite was the perfect place. Seeing little ones struggling to come into this world is a rewarding experience. Off to the labour suite. The stench in there is not for discussion today. Ignoring the smell, I launch into delivering the babies. My mood gets brighter and i hear myself say, "The baby cried at 1 minute after birth." This is truly what i needed.

Maybe I shouldn't blame the sister. I shouldn't be judgmental. She probably doesn't know where she'll get money to pay fees for her little ones. She probably gets paid peanuts and yet she is well educated. It is said that the medical career is one of service and not a get-rich-quick. I can only pray for her and so i can let go of the grudge. It is filling my throat!!

I hope that this is the lowest i'll ever feel in my medical career.. I hate this feeling. I know that i am bound to go through even worse situations but I can only hope that our attitude can change. It must change!

Dancing; Cuban style

2007-04-11T09:29:00.000+03:00

The problem with Ugandans is that we judge even before we get past the surface. Well, for today… don’t start. Not just yet, anyway! (I won’t even defend myself)
I won’t lie to you, I promise. All I know is that Cuba is a tiny island country in Central America. Fidel (we are on first name basis, him and I!), its leader has been in power since like the 1950s but they have never had any problems with his unending kisanja since he delivered them from Eva. Sorry, from some dictator guy. No names..
I do not know if music can actually speak but it would be interesting to experience the voice of the music in my life… In many of those cute movies about dancing- Cuban style, it seems as if music actually speaks.. If u disagree, explain this..
"I don’t know what a two step is but the music tells me how to dance."
"You cannot dance without the music; I didn’t want to waste the music."
I wonder if that means that you have to listen carefully and by some stroke of genius, the doh- reh- mi suddenly becomes dance instructions. 1, 2, 3 enter…
I can not imagine what dancing to Ugandan music would look like. Disastrous, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ugandan music but the thought of dancing to ‘letter O’ just cracks me up!
Who cares about the fact that a song is ending when we can replay the song anyway? I guess it can only be someone who cannot replay the song because it is being played live on stage or on the street. Imagine being at liberty to dance outside during the day and not having to worry about being round up for being idle and disorderly.. Sweet, huh?
Back to Havana; Ok, I haven’t been there before… but in the movies.. I’ve never seen anyone else enjoy music like these people. It might be a little too vulgar for our taste but they are king when it comes to feeling the beat.
People are crazy about Cha-Cha and Salsa and all the other Cuban dances. Well, maybe not you but other people will pay through their noses just to learn. In Kampala, at the German cultural center, one has to cough up Shs. 6,000 per lesson. And mind you, one gets only one of those a week. Earth knows how much is siphoned out of a lover of dance at La Rouge, the Sheraton and Kampala School of Dance.
According to Ms. Jennifer Lopez, it is a good exercising tool. It is safe too, provided you have a partner that you feel comfortable with. Plus, you are assured of posture that exudes confidence. I hear that is a rare and badly needed commodity in the Corporate World.
It’s amazing the way their culture has seeped into all corners of the world. I mean, they are like so 3rd world.. A small time survey can prove that on every 18- 20 something year- olds’ list of favourite movies, you’re bound to find ‘Shall We Dance?’ ‘Dance With Me’ ‘Dirty dancing; Havana Nights’ riding high.
Many of us would like to be as agile as them Cuban girls and wear glitzy clothes and shoes, if only for a moment.. Even in our dreams. No doubt, the fever will hit Kampala soon..

Stuff that we just love!

2007-04-11T09:24:00.000+03:00

‘We’ in this case refers to those of us who care enough to notice or even scrutinize once in a while! In no particular order, Ladies and Gentlemen the things that we just love;

People who not only smile with their teeth but also with their eyes. You can see the smile originating from the gut or lungs as easily as a deep breath. Milton, the Ugandan contestant at the Tusker Project Fame Academy, smiles from his heart. I can feel it through the TV.

Great buys (shoes) at less than bargain prices from the roadside vendors we visit after 7pm. This includes the hair treatment in Wandegeya salons for UGX 3000 that leaves relaxed hair looking natural. Not so great after all, huh?

9 in 1 DVDs (are they really DVDs?) with the latest romance or action movies even though most of them are blurred and the picture is blocked by the shoulder of the person seated at the front. Wait! You’re not even at the cinema, are you?

The metamorphosis of UTV from an ugly caterpillar to the beautiful butterfly called UBC. If you’d watched UTV from way back i.e. the days of ‘Another life’ and tried it today, you’d be as impressed as we are..

African woman magazine... Just flip through it, you’ll know why. Never mind the fact that it was just 3k a few months ago and its now 5k...

Rolex for supper... not the watch, silly! I meant the thin oily chapatti with poorly washed vegetables and stretched out eggs. But they are tasty!!

Kinigeria; it is extremely annoying that these productions (I refuse to call them movies!) have influenced more than a substantial part of our population. Thanks to them, all the girls I know of speak Pidgin English.

Breakfast shows; Fat Boy, Mr. President, Melanie, Mich, Aisha, Oulanya, Gaetano, Lillian. These are the most talented ones and they certainly are generous with their endless give away games.

Comps, free nights, free drinks, happy hour, places with no entry fee… anything that starts with ‘free’; even freedom

Scoffield, Bauer, House, Lisa… all these series’ heroes have replaced the good old Friday night movies. We’re not complaining if we can borrow them from our neighbour (they are the new matchbox and salt) and return them after 24 hours. There’s no way we’re letting tomorrow’s gossip feature us as the ones in the dark.

UMEME power cuts; isn’t Kampala beautiful when UMEME does her thang?

People who switch their phones off at night

livin' & lovin'

2006-10-19T15:45:00.000+03:00

A few months ago I lamented that i had lost sight of my dream.. well, not anymore.. I got a second chance to live my dream and this time round, I am not taking any chances..
Writing is my passion and believe you me, if it were possible I'd do just that.. Campuser.net is a wonderful opportunity and I enjoy what i do. It is even more interesting to read someone else's article because it shows how different our writing styles are and proves the point that you don't have to copy someone's style to be just as interesting. I enjoy reading the articles that are written by the other agents even more than reading my own. I don't know if its because it is new to me or because I've read mine too many times to enjoy it anymore.
It's just like a second chance at love, you hold it so tight and don't want to let go. This time round, I am living every inch of my dream and loving it to bits..

so, am an editor..

2006-08-01T18:30:00.000+03:00

i finally have the chance to make a difference.. here's my story..
ever since my first semester, i have been on this and that committee doing this and that... i loved being the subordinate because i was in the thick of things, or so i thought.. i'd always give ideas, do my part but at the end of the day, a very strange outcome would be staring back at me..
i kept wondering what exactly the problem was... well, they say that time is the best teacher... AND THEY ARE RIGHT!!!
so, i get to finally discover that the fruit of my labour (and many others' labour) was going down the toilet because someone or some people donot care about making a difference but rather about making a quick buck..
it was, and still is, extremely sad.. but two things are for sure..
1) that is the definition of campus leadership, politics, rubbish..
2) i can make a difference now..

i am letting me down...

2006-05-31T14:09:00.000+03:00

i always loved to write.. stories, compositions and essays, songs name it.. i did it with so much passion and i loved every single second of it..
times have changed and, i think, so have i... its almost sad.. i don't want to let go of what defined who i have always been...
its funny that i seem to talk more and write less now. i used to be somewhat of a loner and i would write.. it came naturally, i think..
i miss that world so much right now but i think it works in my favour to have this world as well,,, is it too much to ask?? Can i have both??
even with the busy schedule at school, i'd like to make 'me time' in which i can rejuvenate my past (or is it?) passion and make me whole again.. maybe i can write a book, or maybe a novel or maybe a play.. who knows? who can know unless i actually try...
i mustn't let me down..

May u find that true passion in u and let it burn bright.. Whatever you do, do it extremely well...

"When a Greek man dies, people donot ask about what he did or didn't achieve in life but merely ask... 'DID HE HAVE PASSION?' " -John Cusack's best friend in Serendipity

if only life was simple...

2006-05-31T13:43:00.000+03:00

this semester, i was ready to show these books what i am made of.... well, it didnt go quite as i'd expected... i think that i have finally been put in my place!
ok, to hell with the whining.. am all ready for the holiday inspite of the fact that i'll be in school the whole time.. am happy still..
has any of you read the past issues of African Woman?? I love!! I recommend!! There's something about the magazine that is not really Kampala (read; glossy pages, graphics in plenty) but it still manages to emanate pure, simple Africanness... I only wish that it had more for us to read.. i am so hooked.. i think that someone needs to try it out..
With the Belgium trip in the looming horizon, tensions have set in as pertaining to the abstracts and reports but ofcourse we shall overcome. i really wish it were possible for us to go on full sponsorship by the way...
let's see what tomorrow holds.. for now.. life in Kampala is beautiful...

This dust!!

2006-02-03T15:09:00.000+03:00

the flight back was a lot shorter except that i was extra cautious as we flew past North Africa- personal reason... i sat next to the kindest gentleman... he was a senior British citizen who kept waking me up whenever food was being wheeled in. I was kind of disappointed when i touched base.... i couldnot stand the heat as soon as i got off the plane. it hit me like a slap!!! anyway, that being expected, was ignored; then i had to battle it out with the revenue authority employees who imagined me to be a very rich business woman and almost detoothed me!!! Thank goodness for those horrid campus IDs. If it wasn't for it i would be lying in some prison cell still awaiting redemption...

He Died for me...

2006-01-15T04:01:00.000+03:00

THE POEM
I knelt to pray but not for long,
I had too much to do.
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer,
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer.
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry,
No time to give to souls in need
But at last the time, the time to die.
I went before the Lord,
I came,
I stood with downcast eyes.
For in his hands God held a book;
It was the book of life.
God looked into his book and said
"Your name I cannot find.
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time"
Anon.

Dulles Airport

2006-01-13T08:56:00.000+03:00

fairly large but a little confused... checking also taken to another level... i never thought that i'd meet an old friend of mine, Nkuru.. I had gone to bid my cousin farewell as she left for Uganda and i happened to see my O.G!! i think that this airport deserves a word or two for that!! this world is truly a small place...isn't it?

Silver Spring,MD

2006-01-13T08:51:00.000+03:00

i like this city coz of this particular house owned by a church minister. he decorates it extensively every christmas and it is a tourist attraction in its own right; it has so many lights and it depicts peace on earth.. i thought that was a beautiful thing... look at the pictures..
ps; everyone who passes by at night, stops by to take pictures...

Gaithersburg, MD

2006-01-13T08:20:00.000+03:00

I like this town coz everything is close to home; the mall, the train station, the food store... u know my kinda suff... the libray.. Oh no!! it's recess!! anyway it is a nice little town that has houses that remind me of the America that we used to see in the movies a long time ago.. it is so cute, it should be made into a historic place!!
The train passes there quite often so one gets to listen to its chimes and it is like the train in Uganda!! There are small streets and not many monster houses so it gives a feeling of... i don't know what.. might be getting a little bit mushy!!! oh oh!!
Now, the cool part, there are enough cinemas... this one theater complex we went to had about 20 cinemas showing the latest movies and they were packed.. we almost failed to get tickets to watch Munich soon after it debuted here...
In few words, i can say that it is adorable...

Washington D.C

2006-01-13T07:39:00.000+03:00

I liked the train journey to D.C coz i'd been dying to use public transport here and it just had not happened for me... so it was nice and i managed to see the average American. The seats on the metro are so close that one has no choice but to inhale whatever perfume or cologne 'the neighour' decided to don and one really has no choice but to say hi lest 'the neighbour' turns out to be a thief or some other undesirable neighbourly quality...
It was cool how we could stop at each station and the doors on either side of the train would take turns to open.. supercool i must say coz i would never really know which one would be opening next...
We got off at The Simpsonian(i think!!) station in D.C and this is like the centre for all the tourist attractions in the Capitol. There are many museums as in American History, Natural History, Air and Space, Something on Native Americans, the armed forces, on all the wars you can think of and it just goes on forever...
the coolest thing here is that they are actually interesting and it isnt such a drag... if only our museum was like that, i would have been the first on the bus every time i had to attend school trips to the museum!!!
We started with American History and didnt visit any other museum.. after looking at and visiting different sections of the museum, we were exhuasted but hadn't even gone through half of it.. it is so huge and very interesting!! there are even portions of real ouses that had been reconstucted and placed in the museum to show the transition in housing and living in general from earlier years... there was a ship that had been used in one of the battles, a helicopter, the pentagon flag (the very one that was at half mast at the pentagon after tragedy of 9/11) -and, mind you, these were all ife size and not miniature copies... i saw animated productions of battles, conversations, agriculture, way of life and lots more inside one building. a music section, popular trends over the years... it is truly amazing!!
i think that museum was enough to tell me all that i needed to know about this nation.. i am still baffled!!
exhausted due to fatigue and not boredom, we decided to leave and it was already 5pm... closing time...
We then headed to Adams Morgan; the party section of D.C.. I think it was cool.. it had like 20million African restaurants as in Ghanian, Ethiopian etc
IT was packed as in no parking for cars and no space in the restaurants.. we decided to relocate but i think i would have enjoyed it....

Inner Harbour at Baltimore

2006-01-13T07:02:00.000+03:00

Now this is a place I'd like to go to for a date.... hope the fellas are taking notes.. sorry, i mean fella.. it is cold,for one, being a harbour and all; and it is a tourist attraction. Even my beloved Mombasa doesnot come close..
there is an aquarium with dolphins and sharks!!, this huge ship and an alluring shopping centre; yummy!!! i think am in love... with the city!!! HA!!! as one drives into Baltimore on the highway, you start by seeing the high rise buildings and larger than life stadiums for American football and all those other games that they love.. (i wouldnt know!!) it is just optical nutrition kabisaa!!! Not so far from the highway is the Immigration centre for Africans who decide to go legit... u know kyeyo is illegal... anyway back to the cute roads which are quite small by American standards, i saw a sign post.. Johns Hopkins University, Medical Campus!!!! Ofcourse am excited!! U are just being haters, you are jealous!! anyway we go to the harbour and there are all these couples and i was green with envy!!! we window shopped and got to see beautiful sea artifacts... we went late; otherwise, we would have gone on a boat ride and had some American sea water on our faces!! How about that??? There is even a walk-of-fame of sorts and i almost scratched the ground to leave a memory to show my kids when they will be old enough to appreciate good memories.
I left the harbour feeling like i needed to have a girlie day out there sometime. Not with all those cute little restaurants...

Baltimore,MD; a true historic beauty...

2006-01-03T08:50:00.000+03:00

The Atl

2006-01-03T07:50:00.000+03:00

Now the flight to Atlanta had good lukin fellas but they were not so friendly and most of them were sort of married looking married with like 2mth old babies.... how boring!! did i mention how packed that flight was? i wonder who does that to us... there's only one of them a day and the cities are 9hrs 45min apart!!ok, the airport in Atlanta is quite nice except that they've taken checking to another level... u know how we pay through our noses to get visas now u get here and do the exact same interview like the one in Nsambya... complete with finger print checks and photographs.. megapix should apply for the tender to take pictures these ends.. gee!!!then they check bags again and again for agricultural produce as in matooke, bijanjalo and binyeebwa... the like etc..then you take off your shoes and belts and get checked all over again... anyway, it's all good if you have nothing to hide.. just like me..the cool part... they have a train at the airport which you get onto and it takes you to the baggage claims and arrivals terminal.. CAA should get a clue!! It has no seats but you dont stay on it long enough to need a seat.. when i got the arrivals, there were so many people clapping every so often and i was almost fooled that they thought i was Vivica Fox or someone..I realised much later that they were clapping for the members of the armed forces who'd come home for Christmas from Iraq... I felt the goosebumps too.. and they gave them cards and teddy bears to welcome them home.. how nice..The escalator goes up to arrivals so you can get your one minute or so of fame.. ok, until they discover it's the usual passenger!! I love every second of it.After baggage claims, we head out into the cold, or so i thought.. well, i was wrong.. winter officially starts on 21st december and it was just 18th. It was warm but in Uganda, all of us would be wrapped up in about 20 blankets... yeah, not so cold..The ride home is fun.. all the cars i see in the magazines zoom past us and i can't help but feel this overwhelming joy... Ladies and gents.. and celebrities too (especially U.R.) ici, je viens!!!

Lawrenceville, GA and Duluth, GA

2005-12-28T11:08:00.000+03:00

These two cities or towns.. whatever.. are surburbs of Atlanta and of course, silly, that means they are found in the state of Georgia.. ok, these are really interesting cities with recently built homes and they are quite nice too.. they are arranged into neighbourhoods complete with fences and even names.. i.e. names printed in gold at the areas that lead into these 'hoods'.. one of them.... apparently houses the homes of the really rich, for those of you who are conversant with the world hip hop scene living in Atlanta and its surburbs... and that should make me happy but guess what.. their neighbourhood is gated as in it has a gate that locks and you have to be extremely rich or know someone who is, enough to get yourself invited, so as to get into and drive past their homes.. interesting, isn't it??
On the whole these are really clean towns and they have committees in their neighbourhoods to ensure quality of life and quality of reputation are preseved in their sub divisions..
Now we know why some places in Kla are forever dirty.. or should i say not always clean??
Another thing about these cities is you cannot go two minutes on the road without seeing a hammer as in the car!! not the tool!!! I am tired of those straight-edged cars!! Then, go a little further down the street or highway and you'll see the porsche and lots of other cars with interesting shapes!! And believe it or not.. these are their 'everyday' cars unlike the tycoons in Ug who drive their nice cars only on Sunday.. to Church...
Oh yeah!! the people here are really friendly.. strangers greet you as you walk the dog, as you shop in the mall or supermarket, as you window shop!! it is amazing!! Folks wave at you as they drive past in their cars.... People are just amazing here.. I guess that's Why Van says that America is the place to be...

Amsterdam

2005-12-21T21:03:00.000+03:00

... the flight was not so bad except that it was deficient of entertainment.. as in no interesting faces.. 5.25a.m local time and we are about to land into this beautiful city that has given us the priceless gift of some of the world's most gorgeous people!!

as we descend, i crane my (already long and slender) neck and look at the array of lights and cars.. it's barely dawn but there is life and it seems like its raining but what the heck! am going to be inside.. it's a breathtaking sight...

It's all orange, white and neon lights amidst the darkness. pictures will come much later...

Landing is so smooth that, if i had the means, i would hire the pilot for another trip!!

7.30a.m local time and am lying on one of those leather chaises like the plastic ones at resort beach but i can't sleep. i have a bag but no rope to tie it to my legs... yeah, some of those good lukin fellas are thieves.. sorry ladies, God couldn't possibly give them everything...

I've managed to take a decent bath and send 2million sms to any one i could think of then.. just waiting for 9am to check in.

8.30a.m local time and i decide to check for my flight on the screens. ok, it's there. zib; the gate has been changed and did i mention that the airport is humangous and oh, so beautiful but quite pricey!!!. so i check at the transfer desk and prim 'n' proper tells me i have to run to the other side of the airport before 9am or i'll miss my flight!!!

i run, get lost, find my way again and 8.55a.m local time am at the gate..10.00a.m am seated comfortably on the plane can't wait for the journey to The ATL (Usher Raymond on my mind!!) hope it has more interesting faces. Atlanta, HERE I COME>>>> ADIOS AMSTERDAM>>>>>>

Coming Back With A Bang!!

2005-11-04T14:14:00.000+03:00

Ok, so this hasn't been the most interesting blog... well, i am back to my senses and before you know it, i'll be back on track... you won't see it coming so it should surprise you. Watch this space!!

The Middle Wife!!

2005-06-01T17:36:00.000+03:00

By an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second-grade classroom a few years back.
When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness. Usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it to school and talk about it, they're welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. "This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.
First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord." She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
"Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, oh, oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. "She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh! Now the kid's doing this hysterical duck walk, holding her back and groaning. "My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man." "They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this."
Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall. "And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!" This kid has her legs spread and with her little hands are miming water flowing away. It was too much! "Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push, and breathe, breathe.'" "They started counting, but never even got past ten."
"Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff, they all said it was from Mom's play-center! , so there must be a lot of stuff inside there." Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, if it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another Erica comes along.

"The truly happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery even when he must take a detour". Aurevoir

Persistence

2005-06-01T17:27:00.000+03:00

Like a road to heaven
Is persistence
We walk down it
Gales blowRain falls
The sun is at its worst
We meet cynics
Who sneer
Where do you think
You are going
Clowns
Who jeer
You think you can make it?
But we go on
That same road
Persistent upon our course
One destination still
A peaceful end.
-Anon

AHA! LE DINER MEDICALE EST ARRIVE

2005-06-01T16:49:00.000+03:00

Oui! the Grand Medical Dinner is finally here!! Are you going to be there? I surely hope that you, my friend, will not be among the unlucky few to miss this much anticipated event. So, wise people, THE BUS IS LEAVING... HOP ON!
Well, i'll say this for those who aren't well versed with the ongoing happenings of this not-so-young institution. This event happens every year and this time round, it's on fire!! You really don't want to miss this...
Dress code is formal, evening attire; traditional would be nice.
Venue; Pool Terrace, Grand Imperial Hotel
Fee; only, and only student price 16,000 per head and 30,000 per couple.
Who? come one, come all...
See you there.. Come do something that's not really schooly.
Aurevoir tout le monde

i will smile...

2005-05-24T14:37:00.000+03:00

sometimes getting up can be a burden
the weather is horrible
the water is biting cold
i am so unmotivated
the lines at the shower are murder
and i see no reason to smile that day

somehow i'll be ready in time for my walk
that 1 mile walk to school
if i am lucky, i'll survive insults
and splashes of muddy water
and crazy drivers about to run me down
and still, i see no reason to smile that day

when i finally make it school
am tired and sleepy
am late
and so not-in-the-mood to smile..

just thinkin about it today
i am lucky to be alive
to have friends
to go to school
i could go on....
i know i will smile...

A Worthwhile Investment

2005-05-13T18:39:00.000+03:00

Ten weeks down the road and i can confidently say, "it was worth my while; i invested my time wisely!" Public Speaking And Co-counselling classes have taught me a lot. Who ever thought that someone as timid as i was could break open that shell and live a loud, confident, eloquent yet humble and thoughtful world through speech and counselling.
I, surely, owe all this to Dr. Jack Smith who gave me this golden opportunity. I have grown in these areas, a whole lot.. if u need a speaker, well, i used to be to shy to ask but if you've done literature, u can read between the lines.
If you need someone to laugh or talk with, someone to cry with or maybe, someone to share with, iam willing. After all i have learned, i need to give back to the community.
To all those who have not given these classes a chance, please do because u need to. You don't know what you are missing.
Blessings to you all.