Week 3 in Uganda

Tomorrow, the students arrive for their first day of school. Despite my years of experience in teaching, the day always comes with some trepidation. As always, some things are in place, and some things aren’t. Administrators NEVER provide teachers with enough planning time. The week was filled with meetings. One entire day was devoted to First Aid training, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. All important, without a doubt, but I found myself having to bring home tons of schoolwork. Things like this happen in every school. Vlad, my neighbor, will be teaching P.E. so he is laughing all the way to the local watering holes. Last night, he joined his confrere at Bubbles O’Leary, the bar of choice for a lot of expatriates, while I stayed home to read Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and work my way through the yearly plans for the different levels that I will be teaching.  I am still waiting for my classroom to be adequately equipped with the technical stuff needed. The computer has no speakers, the printer cable only arrived on Friday, and I am waiting for the projector to materialize. I am told that, in Africa, it is each ‘man’ for himself! I see that in the way that driver’s drive. The traffic congestion is beyond belief, and the diesel fumes too much for my little lungs. Yesterday, I took a boda (motorcycle) to “The Surgery”, the clinic of choice for most teachers at the school. There, I picked up some surgical masks to wear when riding in traffic. At the market, the vendors were disconcerted by the mask. “You scared of Ebola?” “Just the pollution,” said I, and casually picked up some spices – nutmeg, ‘fresh’ vanilla bean, coriander, some curry powders, sea salt from Mombasa, Kenya. Was a little adventurous yesterday, and made myself a rice pudding with brown rice. Yummy, I might say, because everything tastes quite different – the milk is different, the eggs, and the spices seemed more flavourful. I also made my first pot of lentils, and reserved the beans for another day. I have used up every container in the kitchen (they can be counted on one hand!) and my fruit salad will have to wait a day or two! Last night, the rain arrived. Then, in the early hours of morning, more rain. Galoshes! Darn – why didn’t I pack any?! I haven’t ventured out, yet, but those muddy roads are certainly not inviting. The gym will have to wait until I pluck up the courage…and give in to the fact that my runners will be caked with fresh red mud. I am sure the cleaners at the gym are not going to be too pleased. Maybe I will carry a clean pair of runners for the treadmill. Looked into the cost of sending a parcel from Canada. A joke! I will have to pick up some cheap willies from the market, made in China, of course, and cut them down to serve as galoshes. They are somewhat affordable, but dreadfully uggle!  Our first holiday comes in October – 19-26^th, I believe – and I have been looking into some options. I would like to escape to a place that has cleaner air – nothing to discuss on that one. Since I have tons of work to wade through, today’s blog is deliberately short. The pic for today is taken from my spare bedroom/office window. In the distance, you can see the Bahai Temple which sits on the neighbouring hill. The temple was build in the 1960’s – and I am told it has beautiful gardens and is a lovely serene place to visit. Shall do that one of these days. It’s a 40-minute walk from my apartment. Maybe next weekend.

A view of the Bahia Temple, taken this morning  from my back window