Celebrating July 4th in Uganda

Happy 4^th of July! I hope all of you are enjoying your day off! Today has been another semi-lazy day. I got up early this morning and headed back to the pharmacy to purchase the remaining medications we needed for the clinic. We pulled up in front of the store about 8:45 and it wasn't yet open. Seems all the employees were there, but the owner with the key hadn't shown up yet. So Kyemba dropped me off and I waited. Meanwhile he took one of the interns to the market to shop for our 4^th of July celebration tonight. It is always good to have a local with you for insight but also so you don't get the Mzungu price (that happens all the time)! After about 15 the man with the key showed up and I was able to order what we needed. Then it was a waiting game while they filled the order. Fortunately, the market took a while too so by the time they returned I was ready to go. We headed back to Musana and Kyemba took the medications out to the village. Unfortunately, we forgot to pack the suitcase with the gloves and malaria testing equipment so he had to come back before the clinic could begin… Nothing in Uganda is easy or fast! I'm afraid the clinic didn't actually get started til mid afternoon; frustrating for all, the medical team and the villagers! I've asked Kyemba to bring back the remaining medicatons so I can account for them. I'm curious to see how many actually make it back to me!

 

It has been the rainiest it has been in months. When it is beautiful it is beautiful and when it is rainy it rains hard. It has also been much cooler the past few days so that has been nice. Hannah is still sick so I am hoping tomorrow she feels better so we can get back to painting. Andrea would like her to paint everything but we will take it one step at a time! Every time we talk painting Andrea just grins with anticipation. Hannah has actually given me permission to paint by numbers. She will outline and I will fill in the spots!!!

 

The good news is after yesterday's debacle with the airlines I think our team is actually in the air headed home. The bad news is they have an 8 hour layover in Qatar. The good news is that the flight from there is then direct to Houston. The bad news is that it is 16 hours long. The good news is they don't have to spend hours in the London airport. The bad news is that they land in Houston and then have a 3-4 hour drive home. The good news is that Hannah and I are chilling for the day!

 

So tonight we celebrated… and we celebrated in style! Oh my goodness, steak on a stick, hamburgers (yes, I said hamburgers), the best corn salad ever, and guacamole just to name a few. To finish the evening we cooked s'mores over the open fire. Most of the people here had never tasted a s'more so it is fair to say we made new friends. Carol, the head of the clinic was actually poking us with a stick to get more!!! Tomorrow we plan to paint and then go to Sol View for dinner.

 

I love you all. Steve-O, I miss you bunches.

 

Sue