Off to Survey

Wednesday I went to Kampala to go to the office of Engineering Ministries Internationa (eMi). I had lunch at the office and then it was a rushed departure to leave for the Gaba Bible Institute in Buloba where Patrick Cochrane and I would be surveying for 2.5 days.  We had a walk about on the site.  It is an old campus that GBI has purchased and is now trying to remodel and rebuild into a thriving college.  There is much work to be done.  I was also not expecting the primitive surroundings that we would be in.  The driver dropped us off and after our walk about JJ an American construction volunteer announced that I would be staying with a female staff member and Patrick would be staying with a male staff member.  He also announced that there was no car to drive us there. Normally this would not be a problem, however it was about a 10 minute walk over a very bumpy trail with my heavy suitcase.  It has wheels, but it is clearly not built for off roading.  JJ graciously dragged it the entire way.  Patrick’s suitcase was still stuck in London so he was quite happy to not have any baggage to carry.  On the way out we are going to get the driver to pick up our luggage where we are sleeping so we don’t have to drag it uphill all the way back to the main campus.  There is no running water and the latrine is a good 20-30 metre walk from the house.  The latrine consists of a concrete slab with a small hole in it.  Excuse my honesty, but it is very hard to have good aiming accuracy with a hole of such modest diameter.  There is also a large pig whose primary residence is outside the latrine.  It is a bit disconcerting to go about my business with him making a ruckus right outside the door.  I am not complaining, everyone here has been very gracious and I have enjoyed my stay.  After getting used to the idea of our rustic living environment, it has not been bad at all.  

                                                         The Latrine

The heat has really been getting to this cold loving Canadian.  Yesterday was my first day of surveying and I was not acclimatized at all yet.  It was very hard and I can’t really say I enjoyed myself very much.  Today was my second day of surveying.  It went much better.  Patrick and I tag teamed and worked while the other rested and vice versa.  It was much better with more breaks and I made sure I drank more water.  Sam one of the locals came up to me and said “Jaimee, you look so much better today than you did yesterday.”  I expect it will only get better from here on out.  It is so humid, there is a haze in the air.  In the morning it looks like a cold day in Canada because when you breath, a white mist comes out of your mouth.  I am missing winter in Canada.  Winter is one of my favourite seasons.  I love the feeling of a frosty day.  I know that it has been very cold in Manitoba recently so some of my readers may resent me for complaining about the heat, but I much prefer cold to hot.  The locals here are crazy!  They will be wearing long sleeves when it feels like a sweat lodge to me.  I’m not sure how they do it. Last night when I had had such a hot and hard day, around 6 PM it was still feeling extremely hot to me and one of the university students here said “Now it is cold, cold like Canada.” Not quite buddy, not quite. . .  I am hoping I don’t lose too much of my resilience to the cold weather while I am here.

Another thing that has been difficult to adapt to is the time of meals.  The first meal is usually served around 11 AM, the second around 1 PM and the third around 7:30 PM.  This does not bode well with me as I have usually eaten breakfast and at least one snack before 10 AM. I much preferred the way it was done in India with first breakfast and second breakfast served by 10 AM.  I am very glad that I brought snacks with me.  When I am at Eagles Wings they serve breakfast at the Canadian time so it is better for my tummy!

                                     Patrick tied flagging tape on the local kids.  They loved it!