Monkey Brain Musings

 Good Morning, friends! It's early, Easter Sunday morning here in Atiak. Another week of record temperatures and so much sweating! We had a few days of respite in the low 90's, but it didn't last. All of our electronics are fritzing out from the heat, especially my computer, which I have been using for lectures. Luckily, the next 2 weeks are primarily hands on, so I can give my computer a rest.  A few nights ago, we were blessed with rain and the  temperatures dropped to a lovely 80 degrees. Picho showed up for dinner in a sweatshirt 😂 and many of the locals complained of the cold! Religious holidays are a big deal here, so there was no class on Good Friday. Four of us spent the day in Gulu, going to the market, having lunch, then spending the afternoon at the hotel pool to cool off. The market was not crowded in the morning, because most of the locals were celebrating by attending church and parading through the streets with large wooden crosses. When we drove by early ...

 Sunday 3/23/2024 Good morning! 🌞 It's early Sunday morning, 80 degrees (which feels like heaven!), and a bit overcast. It is supposed to get into the high 90's this week, with thunderstorms and rain, but not break 100. We shall see! The locals are not looking forward to rain, because of the mud, and I have left my rain boots back in Kampala. I am looking forward to some rain and I have always loved thunderstorms. Rain will bring mosquitos...but they are already here, so I don't know if I will notice a difference.  I've had a busy week of training and spent 10 hours yesterday working on additional lectures, final exam, and a schedule for the next three weeks. This morning, I was finally able to download some exams that Samalie (the lead educator, in charge of curriculum, etc...) had sent me. The Wi-Fi was so slow yesterday that downloading even the shortest document failed.  I made sure to tell my trainees that I was available all weekend, so I also had a midwife come ...

 Wednesday 3/20/2024 Hello Friends! Once again, I am hopeful that I can send this out to you all. When I travelled to Gulu last Saturday, I picked up a different router with a local carrier, and I can get internet in the very early morning or very late evening.  I don't even know where to start to catch you up! I have officially been here for a week, and it's been pretty incredible on so many levels. The weather has been brutal, even for the locals, so we are all a bit miserable. I found this little buddy outside of my hut Saturday evening... I will admit, as much as I love snakes and lizards and other creepy-crawlies, scorpions SKEEVE ME OUT. 😂 Picho still hasn't recovered. I haven't seen another one since then, but I definitely shake out my shoes every morning.  I started training 6 midwives on Monday, some of them getting their Master's in Midwifery. They are so smart and eager and have such a strong education in OBGYN that it's a whole different experience,...

  Good morning from Atiak!   Picho and I arrived at the Birth Center Wednesday evening, along with another passenger, Denis. Denis is a biomedical engineer and works on Ultrasound machines and Rachel asked us if we had room for him in the car, so he would not have to take a bus. It worked out well for all of us, because he is such an enjoyable young man and he and Picho share are sharing a hut. His company made the 6-hour drive very entertaining, like most Ugandans that I have met, he is friendly and funny and eager to have a meaningful conversation. Allan had set up a portable router with local Wi-Fi for me, unfortunately it is not working this far north, so I am using my Google Fi network, which is spotty at best. Today, a group of us will drive to Gulu (about an hour south) and spend the day shopping for supplies and getting some work done. There are hotels in the area that offer day passes, where you can use their pool and restaurant, but most importantly, their inte...