sights and sounds

I find that there are many interesting sights and sounds everyday in Kampala - some lead to excitement and astonishment and others lead me to be a bit cranky.

We shall start with the cranky:

• the open air church near my house that begins blaring music (does not all seem to be 'church music') at 7am every Sunday morning and does not stop until 7pm!!! It is so loud that watching a movie on my computer at full volume does not block it out.
• the children that come beg next to the car when you are stopped in traffic. I find this especially disturbing when it is 11pm at night at the children are no more than 8.
• dogs and roosters - there are a number of dogs and wild roosters near my building and the noise, especially from the dogs late at night, can grate on my nerves.

Excitement / Astonishment:

• the Porshe Cayenne that just passed me on my very bumpy, very dusty road (this was more astonishment than excitement)
• the children that get excited every morning when I walk passed them - I would have thought that after 3 months the thrill of seeing a Mzungu would wear off....but it keeps me smiling
• finding broccoli at the grocery store that isn't too 'bendy' or too expensive!! (I have also found asparagus but at around $10 a bundle I decided I couldn't justify the purchase)

Overall the good outweighs the annoyances at least 10 - 1:)

Other exciting news was seeing the final deck on a strategy that I worked on in Toronto. A lot has been accomplished in the three months that I have been here and it is a final product that I think all involved can be proud of.

Halloween Kampala-style was a blast - I went to a US Embassy party dressed as Lara Croft and then to one of the more typical ex-pat bars that was having a celebration. This week will be quiet - 4 of the 7 people in my office are traveling - but there will be a lot of coordination work for me to get done. Coming up this weekend is the US Marine Ball!!