Where has the time gone? I was staring at the calendar one
hot day back in October thinking that this was going to be the longest few
months of my life and next thing I know, tomorrow is the final exam. Cannot
believe how fast time has gone. I have even added a new word to my vocabulary;
I am to be an “invigilator” for the exam. Seriously I haven’t ever invigilated
anything but turns out Preya has with IB exams. She said 2 hours of standing around
watching students. What I have is 3 hours (hopefully sitting). Seems there will
be some searching of body parts etc. going on as well, sounds like fun and
games. There are supposed to be 3 of us in the room watching them. It’s a
pretty big room so let’s hope this goes off well! Creating my 100 point, 13
page final exam was not easy. I was so stressed about formatting it and about
making sure that I had covered every single thing that I was testing on. In
part because the students just had to retake an anatomy exam that was given to
them and was only passed by a small handful of students (that is the fault of
the lecturer then not the class). I just wanted a good exam to the point that I
was so stressed out one of my kids had to remind me that I was just giving the exam,
not taking it. I had my last week of classes with them and could feel the
energy in the room as I said, “this will be on the exam” and they would
immediately perk up and listen. I asked them why I tell them what will be on
the exam, the reply, “you want us to do well” my answer, “no this is what I
want you to remember for a very long time.”
Thanksgiving for me was a long and very productive meeting
at the University with all of the faculty working on the grant money, we came
up with some very productive ideas that will further the goal of SEED and the
Peace Corps here in Uganda, we think, we hope. Followed that up with a visit to
the hospital to get their okay and opinion on it and it went well. We have a
very good plan to provide each ward where we have students with Digital
Thermometers, BP equipment, pulse ox imiters, that kind of rare stuff (one per
ward) in case your mind was imagining maybe 20 thermometers in out patient. The
problem then becomes how to keep them secure on the wards. Everyone was excited
about such cute gadgets then the wheels start turning on how to keep them from
getting nicked. We will be investing a some sum into cabinets and locks to keep
things secured as well as some clip boards and other printed materials for
assessments. One wonders how beneficial a thermometer is that has to be locked
up with two people having the key to get to it, but we shall try, this is all
about Quality Improvement and we have to start somewhere. I have been on a
mission to purchase items here in Uganda. Lot’s of luck with that. I found the
medical store that has the “best prices” and priced them against Amazon, it is
4 times more expensive here then ordering through Amazon. Doesn’t even make
sense. So …… moving along. I have ordered so much on All Heart and Amazon that
I am going to arrive back in January with an amazing amount of “stuff” but
hopefully it will go okay and I can get by with paying for an extra bag not an
extra ticket. I don’t know, I just want everything here safely and SEED has
made incredible progress with a very well laid out grant program. Meanwhile we
had no electricity for the days leading up to Thanksgiving, or on Thanksgiving
so my planned Skype call with my family did not work out. I was awake the
entire night.. Hot, and just longing to call home. Anyway. I finally got
through and talked to a few family members after most people had gone home but
was feeling homesick.
 |
| Thanks! Giving! Sue sent this over with SEED, saved it |
Last night we had a very wild party here, and I do mean a
crazy party. I invited my host family, Assman the occasional cook who stops by
for parties and his family, Walter the driver and his friends and my neighbors
(of course). This involved the procurement of cases of beer and about ten
chickens and other miscellaneous purchases. Shillings began taking on the feel
of Monopoly money at some point and I just came handing it out. All I can say
is people were leaving here with a remarkable glow on them and there was no
chicken left so I assume it was a success considering that the number of people
who said they were coming tripled as the day went on. When someone says “can I
bring a guest?” that means I am bringing two or three more people, I think.
Anyway our man Walter, the terrifying driver, suddenly became chief waiter,
chauffer and fetch the beer guy as well as the dispatcher of the ten chickens.
It was all a bit informal as we gathered in the driveway but the music was LOUD
enough that I thought the church would call and ask us to quiet down.
Fortunately it went well and everyone looked happy when they left. Among our guests were Dr. Peter who literally
saved the life of one of the PCV’s and it was fantastic to get to talk to him
about all that we experienced that night. He is a very talented surgeon, just
has “that” touch and we ended up talking shop for about 5 straight hours. All
about the hospital, the patients, the students, training of the students,
medical care, and patients that he has that I have also had. He had another
doctor with him and he of course was completely in on our plans for Quality
Improvement. Sadly I don’t really know the title of the other doctor but at
some point I figured out that he is not just a doctor but “the” doctor as in
all other doctors work for or with him somehow in our district. I am quite
certain he assumed I know who he was, finally half way through the evening I
was able to quietly ask Peter what his name was. I’m not disclosing it. So
embarrassing but honestly how would I possibly know? I had never met him before
but he certainly seemed to know who I was so I just did that “Hi, how are you?”
thing hoping I would get some clue as to when or where I had met him. I haven’t
met him so fortunately didn’t ask about the wife and kids. We spent the entire
party talking shop and of course I did get to mention a few things about
football and of course my students and family. That is the extent of the world
as I know it but not in that order.
 |
| Walter, Janet and Anna getting ready to feed Papa |
 |
| Everyone cooking, me taking pictures |
 |
| Assman's cute family |
It’s Sunday morning and the church is definitely louder than
our party was now that I reflect. A few days ago there was an elementary school
graduation near to our house, the power was out and they had a generator and at
one point the noise was so loud that the coffee table was vibrating. That was
interesting. So life on the home front is good but I am missing my family so
much that I ache, I just want to see them, hear them, just be under the same
roof with them, it is a physical longing just to be around all things
Clark/Nguyen/Davis and we have a fair number coming home for Christmas.
YEAH!!!! I don’t think I can stand it much longer. I almost (thanks to United)
L O S T my ticket home. I got it with mileage
points on August 8th, United code shares with Belgium airlines and
Lufthansa and doesn’t fly into Uganda, so I have my ticket, I have my plan, I
call United because they sent me a message that they were trying to contact me
urgently about a change of plans (that change was that the flight was going to have
a longer connection time in Belgium) whatever, once I get on the flight I’m on
it, it’s a very long trip no matter how you look at it. So here I am, ready to
go home and the United ticket agent and I are on Skype and …… she deleted my reservation. As in
she was trying to find another route and she actually was in the computer and
bingo, erased my confirmed seat. Once it was deleted there was no way on earth
to get a free seat on anything and some lucky devil out there who was
waitlisted on the Frankfurt to Denver flight had their waitlisted ticket
cleared as mine evaporated. With our long life in traveling and with all the
kids I always said get your Christmas tickets on the 4th of July, so
I got mine in August. Suddenly, I had NO ticket at all. Meanwhile my data was
running out, my battery was going down and the electricity was off and I gave
the lady my phone number twice as she was off in search of a supervisor to
explain that the best she could do was to offer me a ticket departing here on
Christmas Day. There are only two people on earth who will ever know what a
nightmare that was, the person who for some insane reason deleted my
reservation while searching for another route and me. She knew what she had
done but how to undo it? I didn’t shout, demand to speak to anyone or anything,
I just cried. After several hours of absolute stress, she got me reconfirmed
but I am leaving on the 9th, with my finals being on November 30th
I’m fine with that but my life doesn’t belong to me, exactly. I need to get
permission for more leave from PC, I need to talk to Agnes about leaving, she
has already told me to go as soon as I grade my exams which of course I will be
doing almost immediately as the diligent invigilator that I am. But still, this
is all going to be rather sudden to drop on her tomorrow. She probably isn’t
going to even blink an eye and when I went back in my emails I realized I had
one from her saying feel free to go as soon as you complete the grading of the
exams, but still I have changed my plan so had to create some drama that maybe
this will not work out and I will be here for Christmas. That might be fun, but
I sincerely want to be on the other side of the world. Wish I had brought a
jacket but these are things that one doesn’t focus on in July. Agnes has so
much work going on I seriously have no idea how she holds up as well as she
does. She is a very strong and very determined person and I admire her greatly.
She deals with incredible problems every single day, such as my student catches
me outside my car to explain something, the something being that she hasn’t
paid her tuition and therefore wants me to give her the final on some other day,
this is the same day that I have learned about the awesome responsibility of being
an invigilator and how the final exam is put into an envelope and kept for five
years sealed, etc. No reduction of paperwork act yet implemented! I am able to calmly
look at my student and say, “that is just terrible, talk to Agnes about it”
which of course just puts more on Agnes but not some kind of thing I can decide.
I’ve been very lucky the past few weeks to get to know Anna
one of the PCV’s who lives about a half hour outside of Lira. This young lady
is so incredible. My new best buddy is the same age as my grandkids! She is so
full of energy and incredibly helpful and fun to be around. Last weekend we
were also joined by two other PCV guys and we watched the football game
together, and the movie Amadeus, we ate, they slept here, there, everywhere, as
though such things as pillows and blankets are just extra “stuff”. Anna has her
“own” room here now. We love having her come and she is so friendly, so into
what she is doing and we speak the same lingo. Except. There always has to be
an “except” right? She’s a Patriot’s fan. First night she stayed here we made
up her bed and put a Bronco’s blanket on it. Ha ha. Anyway, we are going to get
up at 4:30 to watch Brady go down in the Mile High City. Sack that dude. We do
share a similar feeling that the Bronco’s acting QB Oz needs a hair cut or
something. He isn’t a bad looking guy but his hairstyle is just not up to Brady
standards. If he can win against the Patriots in about 15 more hours #17 jerseys
are going to be the hottest item in Denver for Christmas even if he doesn’t get
his haircut. So this is going to be fun tonight, at least last week no one
really had a dog in the fight, just me wanting to have us win so that was okay
and we did. I always tell Janet, “we cannot win this game because number 18 is
injured” so I had to explain that ten times yesterday and she said, “no you
always say that but we win”… time will tell. In the months that she has lived
with me including pre-season the Bronco’s have lost three games and won a whole
bunch more so she assumes that the Bronco’s are… shall we say the Patriots? Speaking
of winning, Beth won free tickets to the game so is going to be sitting there
in the stands with some very cold weather and snow (thankfully both her and
Peyton are going to be on the sidelines) but she is going to bring this game
home for me. The Patriots have only a few hours left until they are no longer
undefeated! If I was them I would not be looking forward to this trip to Denver
at all, because we got D, including Talib, formerly of the Patriot’s who they
decided not to pay and that guy is devastatingly good without a chip on his
shoulder. They may have the QB with a better haircut but we got D. Every picture I have of Anna is her cooking food, she cooked a lovely lunch today and I didn't even get up to photograph it, or she's serving food. She is one for PC to be proud of. Doing her thing!
Another shooting in Colorado, and following the shooting which
happened to involve a white dude who actually killed a policeman but of course
was taken alive without a scratch on him (probably), the tweets in support of a
man going into a clinic and killing people were some of the most outrageous thing
I have ever seen in my life. He is the new hero in town and he actually killed
people seeking medical care as well as a policeman. That is seriously wrong. So
another day, another shooting in America, it must have something to do with
guns? Oh no probably not.
The Pope is in Uganda. I am going to have to wait until I
get some free data to watch his speech, apparently he really hit some great
points and people were very taken by his strong words on tribalism. This Pope
is quite the guy. Speaking of saying what is on your mind, I sent out a blast
email to PC this morning that I wish I could get back. I could have said it all
in one email to the PC Director and just let it go but I was feeling quite passionate
about something so emailed half of Kampala. It was entirely unnecessary but
…….. Some of us just say what is on our mind. Not comparing myself with the
Pope. Chill guys I’m kidding, Somewhere there is a Clark child saying oh NO my
mother just said WHAT.
That is the Sunday morning update from beautiful, loud, we
got power Lira, Uganda. I got a ticket! I’m going home! I’m going to have
deviled eggs! I’m going to eat cheese! I
am so happy, so relieved the party came off okay, so happy my classes are finished
after a successful semester and grateful above all else that I somehow ended up
here in Lira, Uganda. This is truly a time of Thanksgiving, Thanks to the Peace
Corps for allowing us to do what we can do, thanks for the people of Uganda for
being so darn nice, thanks to the powers that be that I am still walking about,
or limping about!
Lock up the kids, turn on the Christmas lights, and break out
the egg nog, I’m coming home and will then do a post about how much I miss
Lira.
