Uganda Be Kidding Me: 10 things I learned this summer

I'm thinking "BuzzFeed Editor" would be a good fallback career if we run out of public and health in the world, so here is a summary of my summer in listicle form. Also CAN'T WAIT TO REUNITE WITH YOU ALL SO SOON!

1. "African" souvenirs are usually made in China or India, just like everything else in the world. All the colorful fabrics and crazy pants that white people on safari like to buy are about as Ugandan as French fries. Still, they are awesome fabrics/pants so can you really blame us for buying them and acting all cultured when we get back?

2. Peeing in a whole in the ground is something you can get used to. It's not really pleasant, but it gets the job done. I only had to use a latrine on days that we worked in the field, so I can't pretend to have had an authentic village experience. At night, I got a hot shower and a flushing toilet. So really we should all just appreciate indoor plumbing. 

3. On long layovers, you can totally leave the airport and get a bonus vacation! We did this in Amsterdam because we had 6 hours between flights so I'm pretty much an expert. We saw the outside of the Ann Frank house, ate frites, walked around the museum quarter, and wished we were as adorable as all the Dutch bikers. 

4. Knowing other languages is really cool. So I guess I am not that cool. Everyone I met in Uganda speaks like 5 languages and I could barely remember any words in Runyankore. I did meet a Burundian man, though, and exchanged like 2 sentences of French with him!!

5. Sexism. I just learned about sexism. Obvi I have seen this my whole life but it was different to observe as a foreigner. My first day working in the field, one of the health workers we partner with invited me to spend the night with him and it became pretty regular for men to ask if I was single or tell me they wanted an American wife, which is awkward. But the real sad thing was hearing from women about sexual abuse and domestic violence and just the general experience of being expected to garden, cook, clean, raise babies, make money, etc. sometimes with no help. And then it was sad to hear men talk about how they were expected to pay for everything but if you're poor you just feel disported and become an alcoholic and OK clearly not everyone does this but just for real why can't we all just work together and not force people to live and work and be a certain way just because of their sex??

6. Electricity is dangerous. My laptop charger taught me this lesson when it exploded and nearly took my head with it. Which reminds me that I need to check amazon for a new one...

7. I talk really loud and might be hearing impaired. Or Ugandans are just really soft spoken? I don't know if it's a consequence of having lots of cousins or something but I have discovered that I shout when people don't understand or acknowledge me speaking and it's super annoying and why do I have any friends? But then also I can never hear anything the first time so probably you should be nice to me I might be deaf. 

8. I always thought I was kind of low-maintenance, but it turns out I am super spoiled. I really struggled with the unreliable electricity and internet connection in Mbarara. One time I spent a whole work day reading Mockingjay and waiting for the power to come back on so I could use my laptop that can't hold a battery charge, and it was the worst thing ever. Also I'm bad at flies. I just don't like them, especially when I'm eating, and one time I even skipped lunch because I couldn't handle the flies in the village which is super weird for me because I LOVE eating.

9. At airports it really is important to get there early for your flight. And then once you are there, you should probably stay close to your gate so they don't close it while you are on the other side of the terminal being an idiot. I learned this lesson in Miami, but it all turned out OK because I got on a new flight and Marco Rubio was there which is basically a celebrity siting and I made friends by having a tide-to-go in my purse.

10.I really like travelling, but it is so great coming home. I am already planning my future trips: Paris to see Rachael, Poland to see the Pope, Uganda again to see my frands. But I definitely realized that I can never live anywhere but Michigan, at least not long term. I just missed everything too much!

The Alumni-Student Paradox

(I feel like this could be the title of an episode of the Big Bang Theory.)



I still love you, Brady

I finally got to watch some Michigan football this weekend now that my moonlighting job has died down with the wedding season. I have a 2-0 record, so using science I can say that I am the singular reason we won yesterday, and against App. State. I also left both of these games at half-time, because it turns out I am a much worse fan now than I was two years ago. Also I was afraid my toes were falling off, don't judge me for being a wimp.


It's weird being a student and an alum at the same time right now, because half the people I see around Ann Arbor are old friends and half are new. When I'm in class, most of the people I talk to are from out of state or out of country, and it's all pretty focused on getting that degree. But then I see old friends and I feel like I'm still in undergrad. As much as I love Ann Arbor, this has shown me that I should not live here as a non-student, I would just be too confused.



So cold

Blaine was in town this weekend for the Indiana game, and just because she sometimes gets a week off at a time with her wacky nurse schedule. This was great, because I like Blaine! I went to the game with her and Kathleen and then dinner and then to this bar called Bab's that I have never been to before because it isn't on South U. and charges 8$ for a drink. But it was way classy and worth the 8$.
Lately I've been super busy, which isn't a thing I'm really used to since my job last year was a joke and I spent most of college watching The Bachelor. I feel like I'm always in class or at work, and most days I'm gone from 8AM to 10PM. This isn't that impressive, though, because Kirstin is awake and at work before me and also usually gets home super late, so we are just both absent roommates. Now that midterms are over I will get a little break from proctoring, so I can finally catch up on episodes of The Voice. Even though Shakira is gone and she was my favorite.

Today I had a meeting for what I am calling "Uganda Club," which is actually a group of students working with Progressive Health Partnership, doing grant writing and fundraising for their work in maternal and infant health care. I'm hoping that I can put together a research project and do my internship with PHP this summer, too, which will hopefully be more exciting than writing grant proposals, because that is turning out to be kind of a bummer. But I'm pretty into moms, so at least the topics are a fun time.


I just did a countdown, and there's only 3 weeks till CARTSgiving! I'm really excited for all the mystery train and Mexican food and to be all together again! 

Epidemiwhat?

I started school this week!!

So did Patrick. Isn't he cute??

I feel like I sort of started last week because that is when we had orientation and I had to make friends all over again. Normally I'm all: 

But lately I've been pretty friendly. It helps that everyone in my program seems pretty cool, and they all like public and health so we have that in common. So far I've gone on running dates, played kickball, and biked in the rain all in my effort to be social. And I even remember the names of some of the people I've met. Success!

My classes this semester seem pretty much like and undergrad course load (5 classes, 16 credits, mostly in class from 8am-1pm). But I'm sure they'll be harder, so I'm bracing myself for lots of studying. My favorite so far is public health genetics, which I have Mondays/Wednesdays. I learned already that it's been recently discovered that 75% of our DNA is transcribed into RNA, which is not what I learned 3 years ago in undergrad genetics. Also we are going to talk some about GMO food, which is a thing I've recently become more interested in as I dabble in being a vegetarian hippie. 

I also have intro to epidemiology (which is good because I'm still not entirely sure what I'm training for a career in), biostatistics, biological basis of disease, and a programming class in SAS. 

So far I'm loving being in school again, maybe I'll stay a student forever?