Uganda Day 2: Stir Crazy
There isn't a great deal to report today, because very little happened. First of all, the good news: they came with the new hot water tank and installed it and, so far, it hasn't blown up. Tonight's shower will be the real test. If this thing starts spewing water everywhere again, I don't even know what I would do.
The other good news: I finally got a remote for the front gate so I can come and go as I please. Unfortunately, I was given the remote this morning and told that it needed to be programmed. Someone was coming by at some point to do just that. Turns out, he didn't come until 7. This was after he was supposed to be here this afternoon, then after I was told he'd be here at 5, and then after he said he'd be here at 6:30. Anyway, at least he showed up. I was beginning to think he wouldn't come at all.
When he finally arrived, I handed him the remote and he went to program it by the gate. A minute later he turns and says that it was already programmed.
There's a lesson to be learned here. See, I still haven't ventured out exploring on my own. I've been living off the very limited food I bought when I first arrived, which is essentially toast and something resembling pasta. All day today I was waiting for the guy to arrive and program the remote so I could get out and at the very least, get some more groceries somewhere—expecting, of course, that he would be coming in the morning or afternoon (which, if you'll remember, he was originally supposed to do). By the time I'd decided just to forget about the remote and get someone to let me in and out, it was going to be dark relatively soon and besides, this guy was due shortly anyway (or so I thought).
And then he tells me the remote is already programmed. I wasn't sure whether to be happy I finally had a programmed remote or angry because I'd spent the day inside stewing and getting more stir crazy by the hour. Mostly I'm just frustrated that I literally wasted an entire day. Again. Also, I know it sounds obvious in hindsight that you might want to give the remote a try, just for kicks; but no less than three people had told me it needed to be programmed, in person and in writing and over the phone, so I didn't even think of it.
Tomorrow is Wednesday and it is my last free day before I start the internship on Thursday. The whole point of arriving on Sunday was so that I would have a few days to figure this whole thing out. Find food, walk the route to work, get comfortable with the surroundings, buy a helmet. Now I have a single day to do all of the above. Very, very frustrated.
But hey—what can I do about it now?
That's it for today. I wish I had more to tell you...hopefully, I'll have more interesting things to say after tomorrow. I would also like to say thank you for all of the wonderful comments and support from everyone back home. It meant a lot and helped a great deal over the last couple of days. I'll get the hang of this whole adventure thing eventually!
Oh, and one more little thing. I went through those older Paris photos I'd mentioned a few posts ago and added them to the gallery. Nothing major, just a handful of ones I liked enough to stick them in with the newer, better stuff taken on the newer, better camera. Here's my favourite of the bunch (and still probably one of my favourite photos I've ever taken):
Alright, I'm off to test this hot water tank. Wish me luck!