Uganda Day 10: Interns, Interns Everywhere
I feel like there weren't enough interesting things today to justify a blog post, but I still haven't missed a day and I don't want to break the streak.
This morning was the first time I've really felt sick. Last Sunday a little ill, but not too bad. I'm not sure if it was the Indian food or just my strange diet catching up with me in general, but I was up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache, which lasted through to the morning. Thankfully, it got better over the course of the day and, as of right now at least, I feel fine. I think the knockoff social tea cookies I brought to work helped a bit. I snacked on them all day and it kept my stomach in check (and also took the edge off the pre-lunch-time hunger).
We're getting closer to finishing the draft of the introduction for the report at work. My supervisor confirmed today that we're on the right track so far, which was good news, because I was worried she'd say it was rubbish and we'd have to start over. Yay! It's due tomorrow though, and we have quite a bit left, but I'll worry about that when I'm back in the office.
It's going to be a lot busier around the office now. All of the local interns started today. I think some of the university programs have mandatory internship requirements, so there were about twenty new recruits roving around. Aliana and I had to go down to their induction meeting for a bit, to take part in the introductions and the group photo. I'm a little bit skeptical about having all these new interns. My division is getting two of them, and I believe they'll be working on the report with us. Maybe I'm just not a fan of group work, but this is already starting to seem like too many cooks in the kitchen. Our office only has six seats, and we were already six before today. Plus, it's different than working with Aliana—we're both coming from the same place, and I have a good rapport with her. And even then, it's difficult to coordinate working on the same thing at the same time. Not sure how it's all going to play out with two more people involved.
After work I had to walk down to the main road to take out some money (seems to be flying out of my pockets at an alarming rate) and go to the grocery store. I also wanted to stop in at La Patisserie on the way back and get some toastbread—they've got all kinds of bread, and they'll slice it right there for you, and I have not been impressed so far with the stuff from the grocery store. Unfortunately, there wasn't much left this late in the day, so I got myself a pain au chocolat for dessert instead (I'd made the trip, I might as well make it worthwhile, right?). Funny, there's no decent English translation for pain au chocolat...just feels like a strange thing to order in Kampala. Anyway, I'll just go back on Friday or Saturday and get the bread, and I think I'm going to get some nice cheese and coldcuts at the butcher shop next door. We actually went there for lunch today and got sandwiches, which were delicious.
When I got home I made some pasta, ate my chocolate bread, and here I am. Oh, I also bought insect killer spray stuff at the store, so I'm ready if I'm revisited by any of the plagues. I was hoping they'd have ant traps, but I couldn't find any. Maybe I'll check the actual supermarket whenever I'm near one again.
Have I mentioned the strange black specks that appear on my kitchen table? Every morning since I arrived, there's a small pile of black specks on the table, always in the exact same spot. Looks kind of like someone spilled pepper. I've also noticed them falling at other times during the day, when I'm sitting here. I just assumed it was stuff falling from the ceiling (which is all made of old wood, fifteen or twenty feet up) due to wind, or vibrations, or something. But as I was finishing dinner today, some black specks fell onto my laptop, along with what looked like a very tiny little slug-type thing. At least it didn't land in my food. So my new theory is that these little slug things are crawling or burrowing through the wood, which causes the stuff to fall. Slightly disconcerting...I may start sitting on the other side of the table.
That's it for today. I wish I had more time on weeknights. We finish work at 5:30, and by the time I get home, make dinner, do dishes, fill in my report on the day's activities (part of the internship requirement), and write a blog, it's time to shower and hit the hay. Even when I do have a bit of time, I tend to be too tired to do anything productive. I'll just have to take full advantage of the weekends! We actually have a long weekend coming up, because Friday is a holiday here. Should (hopefully) be some interesting things happening. And if not, well, at least it won't be work!