Crisis...averted?

You know, after Peru and the day I had yesterday, I was almost convinced that the first week of any data collection trip is meant to be cursed. I arrived in Uganda yesterday via London - Addis - Entebbe (aside - in the airport in Addis Ababa there is a small 4x4 booth where you can smoke INSIDE the airport. crazy), waited in line for my Ugandan visa ($50! sheesh), and then met my pre-arranged taxi to take me to Kampala (about a 45 minute drive). Once I arrived at the university guest house, I was in for two bits of "excitement:" 1) seems my online reservation didn't go through, so they had no idea I was coming and 2) seems Makerere University shut down the other day due to a strike over pay and the only thing currently open on the entire campus is the guest house. Gah!! Problem no. 1 was easily resolved because luckily there were a few open rooms in the guest house (basically a glorified dorm, but it's clean and has hot water, so I'm not complaining), but problem no.2 obviously threatened to derail my entire data collection plan for the next three weeks.

After an evening spent fretting and contemplating contacting the Kenya National Museum in Nairobi to see about getting a research permit there (generally NOT something that can be accomplished quickly), I eventually decided to send my sleep-deprived self to bed (I just can't sleep on redeye flights. sigh) and check on the status of the strike in the morning. In said morning (after a glorious 12 hours of sleep under the mosquito net), I remembered that the osteological collection is not, in fact, stored at the university but rather lives in the anatomy department of the medical school, which is located in nearby Mulago Hospital. So, I had breakfast (note to self: tomorrow hit the breakfast buffet earlier because the pickings are slim 20 minutes before it closes) and then decided to trek over to the hospital to see if the medical school was affected by the strike.

I had read online that the strike had led to an increased police presence on the university in case of riots, which was, shall we say, mildly disconcerting, but after seeing the police guards at the gate reading the newspaper and the others lolling about on the grass taking naps, I became much less concerned (this is another, sorry mom! moment). Everyone else seems to be going about their business as usual; people were playing tennis on the courts in front of the guest house, and I passed a huge line in front of the university registrar's office, which probably had something to do with the fact that classes were supposed to start today.

Great advice as always, Sus.

Anyway, I consulted the map in my travel guide and headed out, thinking the hospital shouldn't be *too* difficult to find. And it probably wouldn't be, if Kampala believed in street signs. Which, as far as I can tell, they don't. After wandering around for a bit and asking a city worker for directions (which helped a bit but not really), I eventually met a nice young physiology student from the university who drew me a map. In the heat of the late morning sub-equatorial sun, I continued my journey and eventually found the right building. Inside, one of the students called the person with whom I've been coordinating my visit, who very cheerfully welcomed me to Uganda and set up a meeting for tomorrow morning! So, fingers crossed I will get to start working with the collection tomorrow!!

After the expedition to the anatomy dept, I came back and had lunch at the guest house restaurant and then decided to take my advisor's advice: have a beer, relax, and work on data formatting.