Well its been awhile since I last posted, mainly cause not that much has happened! Caitlin (Cait - a new volunteer, a resident from Wisconsin, not to be confused with Cait the volunteer coordinator, they spell it the same way) arrived on Thursday night with Doug, from Entebbe. Thursday I just worked on assorted projects of mine around the clinic. Friday was more of the same. Friday night we all ended up staying up really late, listening to comedy routines and random stuff from Doug's hard drive and just hanging out.
Saturday, Lisa, Cait, and I went over to Bududa. We stopped first at the Arlington Guesthouse, where I hung out with other Cait while the two of them went to the FIMRC guesthouse so new Cait could meet Ryan, who manages the clinic there now. Since I had already been to the FIMRC clinic and guesthouse and to Kikholo, I figured I could skip the excursion.
Then Lisa and Cait decided to run to the Zaale's, I hadn't brought sneakers so Dr. Cait (this seems better than calling her new Cait all the time!) and I decided to just walk there, about 3 miles. Well this was fine until I started to get a stomach cramp and feel REALLY sick on the way there. We were actually just about at the turnoff in Bunaporo where you turn to get to the Zaale's, so I ended up just taking a boda the rest of the way and then resting for a bit when I got to the house. This was really the first time since I've been here that I felt sick at all, and I'm not really sure why. Weird.
So we had a typical night at the Zaale's, really good food, and they make you stay up way later than you're used to to talk and hang out with them (this means staying up past 10 PM, shocker!) In the morning, we had to talk our way out of the house, since they always try to get you to stay overnight. Then Dr. Cait, Lisa, Lacey, and I went back to Matuwa. Lacey came up with us since on Monday the TOMS distribution would be at Bupoto Primary School, which is much closer to our guesthouse than to the Arlington one in Bududa.
Sunday afternoon, we just vegged out, eating easter candy that Doug had brought back from the US (they have starburst now where you can get just the red flavors, imagine that!), watched a bunch of Lonely Island videos and then watched America's Best Dance Crew until the laptop died (we didn't have power from last Wednesday until yesterday, so one full week). It was raining pretty bad and totally gross out, so we ate a big dinner and just did nothing the rest of the night.
Monday Cait and I went with Lacey to the TOMS distribution at Bupoto Primary. I have pictures but I've already uploaded a bunch of TOMS pics and I'm lazy. It was a good school, quick and decently organized. The only real glitch was that since they are all out of the smaller sizes, we only gave shoes to P4 through P7, so the younger kids were pretty bummed I think.
Tuesday, Cait and I went to Jan's clinic, the one I went to previously with Rachel. A British resident equivalent, Charlie, was there too, so I got to shadow/work with both her and Cait.
Yesterday, Cait and Lisa went to Mbale so Cait could see Mbale Regional, Cure Hospital, and Jan's Hospice, and to do the shopping. I worked on clinic projects, and making materials for my Girls Group curriculum.
I should mention that Monday night and Tuesday night the neighbors were BLASTING music all night! One of their family members had died, and they do this for several days after the death, just to let the whole sub-county know about it and to draw attention to themselves. So we really didn't get much sleep all week. Monday night I took a sleeping pill, and Tuesday night I took some Benadryl to try to sleep, but by last night I was so exhausted from two essentially sleepless nights that I didn't take anything. I'm still tired. They played the music last night, which was mostly drowned out by the rain. It has been raining really hard! I guess the rainy season is finally here. Honestly on days like today and yesterday, it doesn't really affect me, since the clinic is right next door and I could do work in my living room in the guesthouse if I really didn't feel like going anywhere.
I loaned Aidah, our housemom, my Georgetown hoodie last night since she was so cold! It was super adorable how she put the hood up and tied it and then tied her headscarf on over it (I took a picture, but I haven't uploaded from the camera to my ipad yet).
Today I spent some time in MCH with Cait and Agnes, who is maybe being hired as a midwife by the clinic. Irene, our old midwife, was fired, and they are trying to replace her, so different midwives have been working here on sort of a trial basis. Agnes seemed to really know her stuff. I shadowed while they examined two pregnant women, and I even got to feel for the head and the height of the baby and listen to the heartbeat. It was pretty cool. Maybe ob/gyn is back in the picture... hmmm
The afternoon I mostly spent doing my projects (Grainsacks, girls group visuals, etc.), including some grainsacks for the meeting of the Pregnant Womens Group that Cait and I have organized to lead tomorrow. So I made visual aids for preventing STIs in pregnancy and PMTCT of HIV (Preventing Mother To Child Transmission). I've also been finalizing my personal statement and resume for our Gtown Pre Med committee application process, which if I do them right the first time, I won't have to do as much for my actual medical school application. Cool.
So that's pretty much the past week. I also just emailed the deposit for the Murchison Falls safari that Cait and I are doing next week. I leave the village to head to Kampala next Saturday, the 28th - its ridiculous that I only have 9 days left in the village! This weekend Cait and Lisa are going to Sipi Falls, and I'll be staying here to lead my first Girls Group meeting... so hopefully that goes well.
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