Monkey Brain Musings

4:30pm Wednesday 12/12 I returned home Monday late afternoon and after 2 days, and a 12 hour time difference, the fog is finally starting to lift from my brain. I flew into Dubai last Friday evening, checking into my hotel a little after midnight, and spent the weekend exploring. Dubai is simply fascinating, with stunning architecture and a rich blend of cultures. I spent Saturday morning touring the Jumeirah Mosque followed by a discussion by the Sheikh Moh'd Center for Cultural Understanding, and spent the afternoon and evening with my new friend, Nada. If you are a frequent reader of my adventures, you may remember that I took a fantastic walking tour of Historic Dubai from Nada when I passed through Dubai on my way to Uganda, and I am happy to say that we stayed in touch while I was in Uganda. She is the owner of www.wanderwithnada.com and if you are considering traveling to Dubai, you MUST take a tour with her! We took a boat tour of the Jumeirah Palms area then had an incred...

8am Friday 12/7 My last morning in Uganda. We have been without water for 2 days now and as much as I will miss this crew, I can't help but think of how nice a shower will feel! :) I did not sleep well, woke early, finished packing, and now I am waiting for the team to arrive for my final meeting. Dr. Alphons arrived early, and he is working across from me, answering phone calls and emails. My office buddy, Rian, is watching cartoons and coloring. Rian, as I may have mentioned earlier, is the son of the office caretaker, Eddy. I have nicknamed him Squirrel and his 3 year old energy is both entertaining and exhausting. He is out of school for holiday and has been my near constant companion whenever I am in the office. He was quite helpful during my packing yesterday, asking "What's dis?" and pointing to everything. Everything. He also proceeded to search through my clothing and pick out a skirt to give to his mother! This kid is too much. :) Without his classmates, h...

7am Wednesday 12/5 Good Morning! This week has been an office week, for which I am grateful. I have been catching up on lectures, sending and replying to emails, and sorting through pages of notes. Due to technical issues, our Gulu trip has been cancelled, and I will travel back to Nawenyago today instead. Nawenyago is where Sister Christine works, and I will be giving her a quick training on scanning and sending "sweeps". ITW has developed a protocol where the midwives take video clips (called Cine Sweeps) and send them to Radiologists in the USA for diagnosis and review. Until recently, Nawenyago has not had the internet connection, so I will spend a view hours of training, then we will drive back to Kampala. Yesterday, there were multiple conversations regarding who would be going to Nawenyago with me, based on whether Allan needed to stay behind to continue working on the Gulu Clinics, sending Renny in his place. Maybe I have gotten accustomed to Ugandan communication an...

3pm Monday 12/3 Yesterday, I caught a small 11 seat plane and flew from Bwindi back to Entebbe, where Picho was waiting to drive me back to Kampala. What a beautiful way to see the country! I am an odd mix of someone who loves heights and flying, but also suffers from motion sickness (although not as strongly as my poor mom!), so I loved the view but admittedly had to close my eyes for a short stint of turbulence. By the time I arrived back at the Kampala office, it was clear that I would not be going to Gulu after all and I was so relieved. This has been an incredible trip, but I am starting to feel the extent of my schedule, and the thought of spending another 3-4 hours in a car made me want to scream. Luckily, I was able to unpack a bit, take a long shower, do some laundry, and watch a movie on my computer before nodding off.  This morning I realized that I was out of data, which means no Wi-Fi, and then we lost power. All of us, the ITWA office team and I, have been tryi...

9:30am Sunday 12/2 "The only thing constant is change." That's the theme of the day...week? My original plan, to my knowledge, was to spend a little over a week here in Bwindi. The Nursing School Principal had organized a rigorous lecture schedule through the weekend even though the students start their exams tomorrow. When I relayed this information to the team, Kristen asked me to get some additional information from the Principal and/or the Director, in regards to the Ultrasound curriculum the school was using (designed by ITW) and related details. Friday morning, I stopped into the Admin office, to find the Principal and Director. and instead I found an Administrator who informed me that both the Principal and Director have left town and would not be returning until after exams. I also learned that no one in the office had been informed of my lecture schedule, which happened to conflict with numerous other events. Many questions were asked and answered, by both part...

10am Thursday 11/29 In theory, I have internet access, however it is constantly disconnecting and reconnecting, to the point of frustration. I will say a silent prayer that it connects long enough to send this out. I sat down to catch you all up on the past few days, and something fun and wonderful happened, so I'll start with that. Two nights ago, I met Herbert Byaruhanga, owner of a birding tour company www.birduganda.com. We compared camera equipment, chatted about Uganda, and ran into to each other a few times while he was staying here. He brought his bird tour group by Ride 4 a Woman this morning, and was chatting with me in the restaurant/lounge area while his tour shopped. He pulled out his phone to check the time and accidentally started playing a recording of a bird call, which was very loud. He apologized (I laughed), turned it off, then snapped his head around as he heard a call from outside. "THEY'RE ANSWERING!" he shouted, and ran out of the room, calli...