Or you could just call it Monday. I’ve got one of the three things in that list. Go ahead and guess which!
I went to Kampala to pay for my extended student visa. Wow – that took four hours. One hour to get to the bank, then waiting for 1.5 hours before I could go to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) at Garden City Mall, then the remaining time running around Kampala and returning to campus. Turns out that I didn’t have to go to the URA after all, but everyone there was very nice. Then on to Immigration, where room One is on the other side of the courtyard from the door. There I learned that I would have to return to the bank in the afternoon to get a receipt. Why I couldn’t get the receipt when I was there originally is lost on me. But I couldn’t stay in the city all day; I had to come back to class. Then a couple trips to the Director of Student Affairs to get guidance on how to proceed, but they weren’t there. I forget how ensnaring a bureaucracy can be when you’re not used to the rules!
Then I didn’t have my meal card at supper – you have to present it at each meal so it can be checked off (to prevent double-dipping, but they have our photos on them. One of my friends noted that no one else could use my meal card). Emmanuel explained to the guy checking the cards that I had left my card in my room, and could I please pass through? The answer should be no, but he considered, and that wonderful man let me in! Grace abounds! (OK, so I do have the meal card, but just didn’t have it with me when I needed it.)
Apparently, July is mosquito month here. I’ve only got about five bites right now, and fortunately, they’re not itching terribly badly. But good to know to expect this next year.
The countdown is on… there are only about four academic weeks left in the semester, then a revision (reading) week, then two weeks of exams. I’m here, I promise, but I probably won’t have much to say in the next month or so, and what I do say may not necessarily be coherent – I think I’ll have at least four papers to do, and at least one of them will be group work.
Nice night!
Maybe a bee-keeper suit would work for the mosquitoes…
And it is the same folks who check the cards. One of Emmanuel's points to me was that the guy would know that I always have my card (since I stand out in a crowd). Maybe that's why he was so kind.
Oh what a nice man! Is it the same worker everyday? Did he recognize you? I just read an article in the Economist about laser zapping mosquitos…I'll see if I can find an e-copy to send you. The tech stuff isn't the interesting reading part…but the idea is fabulous! I want to buy you a wall/fence that does this!! Heidi