Sunshine daydreams

My mind is still a little foggy with the remains of malaria and the medication ... so I wonder if thinking of sunshine and holidays will clear it out.

Here are a couple of things I'm looking forward to:

• Next week, I am heading out on the school trip of a lifetime ... to Zanzibar! I am very excited and know that I am very lucky to have this opportunity. Year 6 trips usually involve a wet week in Wales, but this itinerary includes snorkelling, a trip to a rain forest and swimming with dolphins!
• I have just spoken to my lovely friend in London and we have booked a hotel for our mini-break in Madrid. I can't wait to experience a little European culture again - be it the galleries or simply enjoying a mid-day sangria and a siesta!

I'm feeling better already ...

Well it won't be so tranquil once Year 6 arrive!

Can't wait to sit and take in the world over a glass of vino!

Warning: Gin and Tonic DOES NOT protect against malaria

Never get complacent in Uganda. Be it about taking care of your belongings, driving along the treacherous roads or your health. I did, and am now paying the price fighting off a second bout of malaria.

After spending a weekend in Jinja a couple of weeks ago, a friend asked if I took a prophylaxis.
"Oh no," I quipped, "I'm sure the quinine in the amount of gin and tonic I supped protected me well enough."

Good quality tonic contains quinine (which glows under ultraviolet light)

It didn't. On Wednesday night, I was wiped out when I came home from school and took a long nap, which is unusual for me. On Thursday night I suffered alternately from soaring fevers and shivers that had me snuggling under the sleeping bag I used on Kili, designed for minus 15 degrees Centigrade. I estimate the real temperature to have been around plus 23 degrees.

I knew the signs too well. It was time to stop kidding myself that I had caught a friend's cold and time to take a malaria test. I crossed my fingers, but the red line still appeared.

Obviously there is never a good time to catch malaria, but this seems particularly bad. Right now, we are in the middle of writing reports, the kids start their SATS tomorrow, I had planned to go on a 60 km bike ride to Lake Albert at the weekend and we head off for the school trip to Zanzibar next Monday. Clearly there is too much to do to get sick.

There are only two good thinga about having malaria for a second time that I can think of. One is knowing how to avoid the worst parts. I demanded the anti-nausea tablets straight away, which have helped me manage the heady mix of painkillers and anti-malarials. They are the best thing ever invented, They have also saved me from having to go back and spend a day on a drip. I am very grateful for that.

The other good thing is that you know exactly which friend to call. The one who will come and get you from the surgery in a posh frock (again), cook me Heinz tomato soup, make sure I don't fall asleep before taking the next dose of pills and try her best to tell entertaining stories to a very spaced out audience. Thank you for that - I hope I never have to return the favour for you, but will do anytime you need me.

Today I am on the mend. I do have woozy moments, but I was pleased to be able to leave the house for a few hours of fresh air, good company and relaxation. I am going to work for a few hours tomorrow and will take things one step at a time.

As for the bike ride ... well let's see! Maybe a mini bike ride is on the cards instead.

Finger Lickin' Good?

Great news for all junk food lovers in Kampala - I can exclusively reveal the city has its very own Subway and KFC. No, this is not Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Kisementi Fried Chicken! And one day I will track down the Starbucks - I'm sure there must be one, as I see the lady wearing the apron everyday!

Mmmmmm?

Would you risk it?

It's a small world after all

It's a small world that I live in, here in Kampala. Stay here a while and you will find it virtually impossible to go anywhere without running into a familiar face.

It's a funny little world too, full of huge contrasts and diversity. Take yesterday for example. In the morning, I was cycling through the villages on the outskirts of the city, past children playing with tyres, frozen in time. Refreshment stops were outside a small shop, where they brushed the dust off the ice cold coke with a grimy cloth.

By the evening, I was dressed in my gladrags at a fancy hotel by Lake Victoria, for a function promising to celebrate the diversity of food and cultures across the world. Or, as we were told, 'it's like your school  International Day, only with wine on the tables and a bar - right up your street!'. We were promised a table with four single men ... only what we actually got was a table with three very dignified Ugandan ladies who demurely sipped Splash juice. Maybe the single men saw the sign that they were seated on a table with the International School teachers and ran a mile in the opposite direction ... who knows?

The evening was fun; full of good food laughter and dancing. The event was attended by people from all over the world, some proudly donning their saris and lederhosen. By the end of the night one thing was clear: it doesn't matter whether you're from Brussels, Birmingham or Bombay - after a few glasses of vino, everybody looks daft when they dance to cheesy 70s and 80s music!

It's a small world after all! 

Season's Greetings

They say Christmas gets earlier every year ... well this is the first time I have ever seen tinsel and fake snow on sale in MAY ... oh Uganda!

Strange but true
 
Today we had a hailstorm in Kampala. I am not kidding when I say the hailstones were the size of golf balls. Children and adults alike came out of their classrooms to watch this extraordinary experience. How is it possible for big lumps of ice to fall to the ground in a tropical country on the Equator?

As for snow - I think it will only ever exist in aerosol form in Uganda!

TMA

For the past few weeks I've been suffering from a nasty case of TMA. Like many tropical diseases, it can lie undetected for sometime, festering away, until diagnosed by a friend. Symptoms include a general sense of lethargy, lack of inspiration (notice how this is the first time I have blogged in about a fortnight) and serious cravings for shops and good customer service.

TMA, short for Too Much Africa, and more specifically TMK (Too Much Kampala) is an insidious little infection but luckily there is simple and effective cure:
leave Kampala as soon as possible and take a large dose of Jinja.

This weekend I recuperated from TMK at The Haven in Jinja, whilst celebrating a friend's birthday. Specific treatments included gazing at a beautiful view, good company and conversation. Activities were lighthearted and leisurely such as Scrabble and Petanque on the lawn. Most importantly, it is important to keep hydrated on such occasions with liberal doses of white wine or gin and tonic.

I am feeling invigorated and feel I have the energy to make it through the next few weeks until the holidays.

All quiet today ...

The walk to work protests now seem to be gaining a little more attention in the UK press - like today's article here . Or if it is not making headlines everywhere, then at least in The Guardian, which is about as close as I ever get to keeping up to date with current affairs, and let's face it, I waste more of my time reading the frivolous stuff like Charlie Brooker's weekly rants (couldn't find one today and was forced instead to read the whole article about Bin Laden) than the actual news.

Today seemed peaceful enough - maybe some people walked to work, but I didn't hear of any violence. No  texts came from the British High Commission reminding me to stay vigilant! We had a normal day, thank goodness. Discussions at work today reminded me that it is not yet time to worry because:

a) So far all of the protests have taken place on sunny days. We will know they are really serious when people start protesting in the rain
b) All protests have taken place during the working week. Nobody wants to ruin their weekend by holding a protest. Don't forget, Kampala has a reputation as Africa's party capital to uphold remember when death by waragi was Kampala's biggest threat?

I started to think about what else may prevent people from protesting. Perhaps if there was a giant, non-stop footballathon between Manchester United and Arsenal, then the potential trouble-makers would be distracted. Nobody wants to miss out on their favourite Premiership action, do they?

Really, I do support the cause. Current price rises are totally unacceptable, but so is the fact that over the past 3 weeks, eight people have been killed (including the tragic death of a baby in Masaka) and more than 250 injured, with innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. I'm sorry if I sound a little flippant over what is really a very serious matter, but I have had enough and just wish that some peaceful resolution could be found - and quickly.