Olympic Expectations

As I have avidly been tracking the Olympics and Canada's progress to "Own The Podium" I wonder if the expectations created for the Nation were just too high.  I have always suffered from Olympic Fever but this year I find myself to be quite competitive about where Canada is in the total medal standings....I work with a Norwegian and they are still ahead of us.  I managed to create a situation whereby if we do not surpass Norway in the next few days I may be hearing about it for a long time to come.


The idea of investing in athletes is a good one but I think that there are many other places that the money could be spent.  That being said the sense of National Pride that is created from the Olympics, and specifically success at the Olympics, could perhaps justify the expense...


One of the amazing things about the 2010 games is that I find myself watching sports I have never watched before.  I have seen a lot of ski jumping and biathlon as they are events that take place in the early morning.  They are actually more exciting sports than I had though!  With an 11 hour time change I can't really pick and choose what I want to watch but have been happy with what I have seen so far.  The really cool thing is that I can track Canada's success through facebook - so many of my facebook friends have been making status updates related to the games.


I anticipate that I will have a few sleepless nights over the remainder of the week - tonight I will have to wake up for the Canada Russia game and also hope to see the women's bobsled.  (Heather Moyse - who in the past I have played rugby against  - is sitting in first place after two runs!!!).  Then there is the women's hockey final, the men's ariels, the women's figure skating finals and sooo much more that I will be waking up at odd hours to watch.


In non-Olympic news - all is well in Kla.  Another week gone by and another two restaurants tried out!  I ate Korean food for what I think is the first time and it was pretty good.  We also went to Le Chateau, a Belgian restaurant, for a really nice dinner.  Our Regional Planning meetings start next week so we have been doing some prep work.  The meetings also mean that a couple of people from Toronto will be coming so hopefully some treats from home for me:)


I have had a bit of a pitfall in my planning for my dad's visit - Air Uganda changed their flights to Zanzibar.  I think this was a terrible move on their part.  They used to have Friday and Monday flights...perfect for a long weekend but they have changed to Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday.  While this may sound good it is the timing that is the problem - you do not arrive in Zanzibar until 5pm on the Thursday and the flight out is at 1030am which really only leave you with 2 full days there!!  Luckily there are other options...just more expensive and involving Nairobi transfers:(


If you get a chance do check out RTPtv for some great stories from the Olympics!

one year post-op

Today marks one year since I had my right ACL reconstructed - it was the second reconstruction and third surgery on a very battered knee.  My knee still looks pretty scarred and ugly but is fully-functioning and occasionally serves a a conversation piece (especially since I have almost matching scars on the left knee!).

Jobst Pump designed to minimize the swelling in my knee

I must admit that I still have days that I think about playing rugby - most often when it is cool and there is a light rain here.  To me it is the perfect conditions....it becomes a forwards game and is a slower game.  Since I was not fast and will likely never be, slow games were my favourite.  This weather also means mud and for some reason there is something oddly satisfying about playing for 80 minutes and coming off the field covered head to toe in mud.


Mom, Dad - do not worry.  Days when I consider for a second about returning to rugby I remember the weeks on the couch with one leg or another in the jobst pump or being iced.  I must admit my speedy recoveries were due to a lot of help at home re-filling my ice cooler and a fortune spent on physio.


In news from Kla - I went to another restaurant that I had not been to on Friday - Haandi - and it was pretty good!  I was very excited on Saturday morning when I woke up at 5am and actually found the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on live!!  I have been avidly watching whenever I can and have likely spent hours online reading about the results that I miss.  While I am so happy that there is some coverage I am not always sure what the producers are thinking.  For example on Monday night's coverage they were switching between the women's 10km cross-country, the snowboard cross preliminary rounds and the men's downhill.  When there are medals on the line why air preliminary rounds!!!  And if you have already stated who the winner is in the cross-country why keep going back to it!!  Ultimately I only saw about 8 skiers in the downhill....missed the all the Canadians and the gold-medal run so needless to say was a wee bit disappointed....yet still happy there was coverage:)


On Sunday I managed to get lost along a road that I have been driven on almost every day for the past six months!  One little turn and you end up in a whole new area.  I managed to sort it out and ended up walking twice as far as necessary to reach my destination....not so fun with the humidity we have been having but I can now say I have explored a new part of Kla!

new discoveries, odds & ends

Over the past week I have had a bunch of new experiences in Kampala - this is exciting as it is so easy to settle into routine and stick with what I know.

Last Friday evening we went to Steak Out for dinner.  I had heard of the place but had not yet been there.  I should mention most of what I had heard had to do with Thursday night "Rock Night" and not with the food but we decided to give it a try.  I understand why it is better known as a bar than a restaurant due to its set up BUT the food was yummy.  The steak was good and the side of veggies was amazing (cooked in butter!).

On Saturday a rather large group of us went to The Lawns for dinner.  Most of had not been there before and I think we were all pleasantly surprised.  While it is a bit more expensive than most Kampala restaurants the setting and service were amazing.  They even have Game Meat and I tried Crocodile.  I think that may need to be repeated - I actually tried Crocodile.  It was a bit chewy!

Earlier today I went to a new supermarket.  It was big and most importantly cheap!  They had coke light (still have not found coke zero in Kla) for only 1000UGX (around $0.50) and Skippy Peanut Butter.

Other than my new Kla discoveries there is not too much exciting to report on.  I think I have been experiencing bad weather karma ever since I posted about it on FB - it has gone from ridiculously hot to cold and rainy and now back to hot.  My poor body has gone on strike and I have been suffering with a nasty head cold for most of the week.

Below are a few pictures from recent visits to the field.

Children listening to the R-C-A post activity

little boy that I was next to during one of the games

very young girl (with a disability - birth defect left her with one shorter leg) an activity for a group of 20 or so

same girl - smiling and playing away

younger children watching an activity in Soroti

(this is from my November visit to the area)

The next few weeks will be busy as we prepare for the Regional Planning meetings starting at the beginning of March.

Olympic Fever

My bi-annual Olympic Fever has fully set in.  The two weeks of Olympics every two years is always a highlight for me.  I think it should be a world-wide holiday so people can sit glued to their tvs and support their Country.  I must admit that I am not at all patriotic....until it comes to those two weeks.  I think it is more than cheering for your Nation - it is all of the heart warming stories that the TV-Networks find and use to keep people like me glued to the television.


Over the past 6-months I think I have complained a fair bit about the sports coverage I receive on my numerous sports channels.  At this point I am still a little concerned that when I wake up at 2am on Sunday night/ Monday morning to watch the Superbowl that I may find synchronized swimming instead.  That being said I must admit that the ESPN coverage that I get has done a good job fueling my fever.  Every morning I have been able to watch heart-warming and heart-breaking stories from past winter Olympics.  Now I just hope they don't disappoint and that the coverage of The Games is good.


Now it was important to get me going this year, as I must admit I became quite disenchanted with the whole Olympic Movement over the past 18 months.  Between the Games it is easy to get caught up in the corporate battle, as while the Olympics does bring some spectacular sporting moments, it does come down to dollars and cents.  I was quite distressed to learn in early 2009 that Right To Play would be banned from the Olympic Village in 2010.  See some articles about this here:Right To Play banned from Olympic Village.  


There is of course much speculation about why RTP lost the privilege of being the only charity allowed in the Village and on what the effect will be for the organization.  There is the issue that Mitsubishi Canada is one of our Corporate Partners and over the past two years has donated over $1 million to us -  (In April, May & June - 2008 and 2009 they have donated $100 for every car they have sold in Canada) - and that GM is one of the sponsors for Olympics.  But that comes down to cold-hard business.  I understand that companies pay HUGE amounts for the Olympic rights and it is important to protect what they are paying for but to me it goes against the whole spirit of the Olympics.  Today it has almost become a game for some companies to see how they can ambush the Games and I think in some cases they spend as much money as those that have paid for the rights.


How this will affect RTP is still unclear.  At past games our presence in The Village has been a way to educate athletes about the cause and spurred giving from athletes such as Joey Cheek and Clara Hughes (the athlete chosen to carry the Canadian Flag at the Opening Ceremonies).  As a side note - this is the second consecutive Olympics that a RTP Athlete Ambassador has been selected to carry the Canadian Flag at the Opening Ceremonies!!  These athletes then help us spread the word about RTP and raise the much needed funds to carry out programs in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world.  Our Olympian Athlete Ambassadors also protested the ban as they have found inspiration from visiting our booth in The Village at past games.  


Over the past year there has been a group of people working very hard to determine what type of presence RTP would have in Vancouver and how we could engage not only the athletes but also the millions of fans.  Just yesterday the plan was unveiled: RTP Vancouver/ Whistler Activities.  If you happen to be attending the games I encourage you to check it out.  If you, like me, won't be making the trip out you can follow all the action at http://twitter.com/RightToPlayIntl or on RTPtv starting February 12.


I will be watching The Games whenever possible and look forward to wearing my Roots Canada T-shirt from their Canada Collection supporting RTP.  Roots has also created an RTP line so you can go out and buy RTP gear.  While I do love the lines that Roots has created for various Olympics in the past they are no longer the official supplier for the Olympics - but they do produce amazing gear so go out and support RTP if you are trying to be patriotic (they have gear for a variety of countries) this February.


I also need to make a comment about Lulu - my favourite clothing store and probably the reason my savings are abysmal.  I came across a great article yesterday about how they have managed to get around all of the branding regulations (2010 and Vancouver cannot be used) - Lulu - Genius!!


In non-Olympic fever news - last week I experienced weather Karma.  After seeing people all over facebook comment on the cold I decided I would mention the nice warm weather in Kampala.  I think within an hour of my post the mercury rose and we had 4 - 5 days of hot, humid, brain frying weather.  The office is not air-conditioned and I must admit I had trouble getting anything done.  So of course I was complaining about the heat and then the weather changed again - the temperature is back around 22 (cold for Kla) and the grey skies accompanied by occasional downpour is back.  So I guess the lesson I have learned - I need to just adjust to the weather and there is no need to remind people that I am not wandering through the snow!