March 12th
Saturday
The weather is beginning to change and there are signs that the rains are coming. Today we had some massive rumbles of thunder and finally at about 2 o’clock a big down pour. It comes down in buckets and you begin to understand why everyone disappears and makes for cover. It would be impossible to keep dry in any way. The rain brought the temperature down for a while and put the power off!
We had a very quiet day at first as we were both very tired after a long week and a very long Friday. In the afternoon Rose from VSO came and took us out and we went to Garden City shopping centre which was something that was familiar to us. It was built in 2004 and is quite small and the parking is a bit frenetic on a Saturday afternoon. Rose took us to get our WiFi connection sorted out—at last! She lent us an Orange Dongle and we took the laptop to the Orange shop to find a suitable computer geek. I was beginning to suspect that it was our hardware that was at fault. We spoke to a very pleasant young man who took the laptop and started his magic. He was very serious until when he made it work we said he was an “absolute star” and then he laughed his head off!
Sunday 13th
Sunday is washing day………. and preparation for the week of ahead.
After a clear-up in the morning we settled down to email family and get going with the WiFi. What a relief to be back in touch with everyone! Hope you are all reading our emails and blogs. Responses would be nice so we know you are still out there!
More rain and thunder this afternoon followed by much cooler temperatures. Helen (Course Coordinator) and husband Steve called later that evening as they had been away for the weekend in Jinja to see how we were and how we have settled in. They brought chocolate which we haven’t had since we left home for some reason. It was very welcome when we settled down to watch Mr Darcy and his smouldering looks while courting Miss Bennett!!
Monday 14th
This is another public holiday due to mayoral elections. They didn’t get the result they wanted last time so they are doing them again. We had a day checking working on lectures for this week, cleaning the flat and Lorraine’s favourite occupation –ironing. It seems that every time I look round she has the iron in her hand. Its bug killing really to make sure we don’t get attacked by the Mango fly larvae- yuck.
Big heavy rain today and the temperatures are almost English and we are beginning to realise that the power goes off for a while every time it rains We are beginning to see the grass become greener- more like Lorraine remembers from her childhood. The children around the flats are out playing making mud pies.
Our address is “The Brown Flats” and they are brown. They look very unprepossessing but the grassy play areas, paths and roads and pot holes are swept and cared for by staff on a daily basis. There are a group of men washing the residents’ cars nearly every day from as early as 6 in the morning. It is all very neat and tidy and there is always washing hanging out, on the balconies and strung out between the trees. The children are out playing sometimes on bikes. It appears to be quite a nice area with professional and employed people.
Across the main road are the white flats which are identical in every way and yes, they are white.
We have noticed huge contrasts between more modern and cared for buildings next to shacks/ homes made of wood, corrugated iron and anything else that will do to give shelter. On our trip to Masaka we did see traditional dwellings made of mud and thatched roofs. They make their own bricks with clay from the local marshland in the same area and leave them to dry in piles in the sun. The infra-structure is frail to non-existent and people make a living in any way they can.
Tuesday March 15th
It rained very heavily last night and you do hear it on the tin roof. At about 6.30am the bed shook for about 30 seconds? I wonder if it was a shock wave following the earthquake in Japan. Lorraine thought it was a dream and had only half registered it.
This morning is very grey and overcast and there is heavy rain and then heavier rain! We have seen a man go out for work and then come straight back in again. It’s no wonder you would be soaked in seconds. The students are in this morning doing some computer research training so we are not teaching until this afternoon; we are going to treat ourselves to a taxi. The plus side for us is that the temperatures have some right down and we are so relieved not to be feeling sweaty and exhausted with the heat.
A frustrating day as the students did not appear in the afternoon I think they thought they had done enough after their research training and it was raining ……………. We will just have to fit in twice as much tomorrow. There was respite from the rain in the evening and the cool temperatures persisted. This evening at about 7.30pm the water went off! We feel that just as we manage one hurdle this country throws up another one, every simple thing demands effort. There was a short period when it came back on and we quickly filled buckets and used drinking water containers in case in hadn’t come on again by the morning. The lady across the way from us asked if we had a jerry can and could we manage. It does explain why there are a pile of cans underneath the stair well on the ground floor. You live and learn! A cuppa and some chocolate were needed to recover.