Don't go barefoot...use a dom-con!

So, we continue so stay in our lovely abode behind the bar and adjacent to the crazy evangelical church. Nothing too exciting has occurred as of late. Last week I continued at Reproductive Health Uganda. They’ve actually had me do a few things around the place, so I don’t feel completely useless. I had a couple of really awkward visits to the resettlement villages. For instance, I was trying to run a focus group with women at one village, but soon everyone and their mother had gathered around and was piping in, and when I finished I got the response, “So, people keep coming and asking us questions, and we never see any results. Are you going to get us results?” I have received this on a number of occasions, and it’s really difficult to explain the whole thing about being a young, un-influential, powerless student. I can obviously understand where they are coming from, and its stinky that I can’t immediately get them better healthcare or influence others to do the same.

I had some other better experiences, like going back to Cet-Kana, my favorite village of the four that I visit. It’s the first one I went to, and I met a few people there who were very kind and friendly, and now every time I see them they seek me out and are really interested to talk. One of them, Ana, is an elderly woman, and upon my arriving she gave me an entire pot of sim-sim (like sesame seeds), which was incredibly nice of her. The local chairman (like the mayor of the village) and another man I know took me by the hand and took me on a tour of the village and talked to me, and then helped me translate as I gave a speech on hygiene to mothers and children (quite awkward and not my idea at all, but hopefully something I said was helpful). They day I went to Lela-Obaro, another village, no one was around to help me talk to people, so after sitting around for a while I just decided to walk around the village and see what happened. Turns out, I was welcomed by a group of quasi-drunk men (given, this is at noon), into their hut where they spend exorbitant amounts of time sitting around and drinking their liquor. A few of them knew English, and we had some pretty funny conversation. They also wanted me to buy them some more alcohol, to which I kept replying that I did not think that was the best idea, and that they should be doing something else with their time…probably not my place to say such things, but I’m not going to contribute to their drinking when they could be earning money for their families. One man was really interested in why I was there, so I decided I might as well start asking about family planning, and he offered me his opinions on it and then volunteered to translate so I could ask the other men what they thought. So, this random occurrence happened to be really interesting and useful.

I also enjoy spending time with and talking with Charles, the lab technician, who has been to the US and is working on his graduate degree so there are a lot of things that we can talk about. He has been having me observe as he does HIV testing, and even in 2 sessions I have witnessed several people test positive for HIV…which is such an intense experience, and it makes me feel like this tiny, insignificant piece of sand or something as these people are told that have this disease that will eventually claim their lives. Of course, HIV is not a death sentence, but that is only if one is going to be able to access the drugs and treatment that they need which is definitely not guaranteed here.

This past weekend I decided that I should perhaps begin exercising after not really doing anything the entire time being here (to my credit, I do walk everywhere and probably sweat out my weight in water everyday). So, we went on a run, and then went to Kope Café pancakes. Kope is this café we have been patronizing quite frequently. It has a cozy atmosphere and proceeds go to a local NGO that works with children, and they have amaaazing food, like pancakes and muesli and Greek salads and steak sandwiches and basically sorts of food that are hard to find elsewhere. I have been enjoying food elsewhere of course, like the local staple, kalo, or millet posho, made of millet flour and water and has a play-doh type consistency. I think I am the only muzungu to actually enjoy it, but I really do. Another favorite is mallakon, a mixture of greens and groundnuts, so it tastes really peanut buttery, and you eat it by dipping sweet potatoes in it. Sooo good.

I also found a really cute dress on the side of the road, which I decided to invest in for the evening. That night we went to Buganda Pub to see Sweet Kid, who is apparently a big deal around here. We had heard that this pub was sketchy….and that doesn’t even begin to describe it. It was basically a grabby-man fest, but we were with a guy from out guesthouse who is really nice and drove us there and stayed with us the whole time. The show began with about two hours of awful karaoke, so awful it was laughable. Then they had a few opening acts, including the female artist Bella, which actually turned out to be a series of lapdances. Finally Sweet Kid came out but by that time we were dead, so we didn’t stay that long.

Sunday I woke up and actually thought that I might have malaria…I just had a fever and some other symptoms and it is Uganda so you can never be too sure…I did test negative though and I’m feeling better now so that’s good. The Uganda experience is not complete without malaria, or at least getting tested for it.

PS the title to this post is a quote from the night at Buganda Pub. This is apparently the MC's way of advertising condoms (or dom-cons, as they like to call them.) So remember, don't go barefoot!