Because we didn't know the course and it wasn't clearly marked, we were given a caddie. A 10 year old kid who carried our clubs in his hands and pointed us in the right direction. As soon as we got on the course, 7 other young kids all emerged and helped to caddie for the rest of the round. Not only were they caddying, but they were also our ball finders as we could not afford to lose a ball. As soon as we stepped up to tee off (and I used that term loosely as there were no tees on which to place the ball), it started pouring rain, but we decided to continue because the storms come and go pretty quickly for the most part.
As we struggled to figure out where we were supposed to hit the ball as there are no flags in the holes and the greens look very similar to the fairway, we realized that there really weren't enough fairways for 9 holes. That's when we figured out that each fairway served as the fairway for anywhere from 1-4 holes. This meant we had to be very cautious of people hitting balls at us. We also had to hit the balls across roads with people walking on them. It was very much like one of those carnival games with the ducks going along in a line in front of you and you have to knock them down. Despite our efforts to hit people, we missed...kidding of course.
We had a great time and the kids were constantly laughing at us and our poor performance on the course. Surprisingly, we made it until the 8th hole (of 9) before I lost my ball. And I only lost it because it went into a yard with a locked fence. It was really a cool experience and we will definitely go out and play again. Especially because the whole round cost about 5 bucks each.
I had also mentioned that I would be teaching class at the school about using a Microscope. It was a great success as I explained everything about the microscope to levels P4 and P5. Some of the kids had remembered some things about the microscope as a volunteer had used it with some of them last year. The kids definitely enjoyed using it to look at a blood smear and plant cells. I explained to them some of the basic differences and had a blast. I then had to administer a quiz to them, which they all did very well on. It was clear some kids were more interested in others as they spent a lot longer looking into the microscope and asking me questions about it. Both classes I taught though were very engaged and were very excited about having me teach.
My supervisor, Dr. Bangsberg, was in town this week for two days. It is crazy what he does. Leaves Boston Monday morning, arrives in Mbarara Wednesday around lunch. He then works and has meetings straight through until Friday lunchtime, then starts the trip back to Boston. He spends 4 days traveling, and 2 other days working on site. We did have dinner together and several meetings and talking to him was great. He explained to me all about the projects and those that I will be working on and what his goals are. It means I will be busy doing work for the next couple of weeks, but I am excited about it. He is truly trying to do some things that have never been done, but could end up being extremely valuable and important. He also said he would put me down as an author on my major projects which is pretty exciting.
I did finally take some pictures of the school, however, the internet connection in my office is not allowing me to post the pictures. Later this week I am going to try one of the other offices with better internet, but unfortunately the pictures may have to wait. Hope all is well with everyone. Time is flying by as I am trying to plan some cool trips, including Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
