Attack of the Fembots

The last few weeks have brought some changes as our friends Elena and Sheida have returned to the US. We have spent a lot of time with them, both in Kampala and "up country". We miss them already and want to wish them the best of luck during their residency interviews. Taking Sheida's room in our apartment is Allison (coincidentally from Minnesota) who is here for about 3 months working for a NGO. Our friend Glen, an internist from Winnipeg, also left and is probably back in Canadia by now after spending some time in Botswana.


Ann and Glen his last night in town.

Last week Ann and I got the opportunity to play some basketball, which we have been missing during our stay here. Our friend at the IDI, Sam, has been inviting us to come play so we joined him at Makerere University for the teams he coaches' (one girls, one guys) practice. I assumed we'd be shooting around, maybe play a quick game. I was wrong. On the way there Sam, who is quite soft-spoken, joked "are you ready to run". I laughed. Apparently he was serious. So yeah, we joined the college kids in their practice including all the drills, sprints, etc. I wasn't ready for that. So after a few days of recovering, we joined him on Friday after work for some 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 before his guys team had a game. So before the game was about to start, he handed me his whistle and told me I was refereeing the game. I was hesitant, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. It was tough as I was all alone and really have no experience refereeing basketball. Sure, I've played for many years and know (most of) the rules, but I guess I wasn't sure if I'd do a good enough job. It was controlled chaos, but I think it went pretty well. I ended up doing this past Friday's game as well, which was even more difficult considering it had just rained. Being that the games are played outdoors on a tar court left for some slippery conditions.

Last week was Thanksgiving, and we were fortunate to have a place to go as the head of research at the IDI is American and invited a number of the us at the IDI to her home. Her family had purchased a live turkey that roamed their yard for a few weeks before slaughter...truly free range. A very nice meal and we even got to watch a little football! Of course it was the early game (detroit vs. green bay) as we're 9 hours ahead of Central time. I don't know how I'm going to see the Vikings in the playoffs, but I really hope I can figure out a way. Especially if they get to the Super Bowl!

Last night Ann attended an Austin Powers theme party and I played in another poker tournament. Ann was a fembot and won the prize for best costume. I won the poker tournament and took home just over $1500 (3 million Ugandan shillings). So far I have played in 3 tournaments and have finished in the money in every one. It's a nice source of supplemental income!


Miriam and Ann in their fembot costumes.