Namugongo

So, it's monday evening here. I'm sitting outside at the Speke Hotel using their *free* wireless internet (for the cost of a Coke Light - definitely worth it!). It's a bea-u-ti-ful evening, and I'm taking advantage of every minute of it. The hospital was super boring today, spent about 3 hours drawing lines in various record keeping books with a ruler. I'm getting pretty good at it actually. Too bad it's not much of a marketable skill except here in Uganda. People really like using rulers here. It's kind of an odd cultural phenomenon to me. But, whatever floats your boat, you know?

Anyways, the more interesting update is that I spent the weekend in Namugongo. It's culturally and historically significant because it's where 25 Christian martyrs were executed in 1886. 1/2 were Catholic and 1/2 Protestant. Sister Claris, her order has a convent there, so I went with her to visit for the weekend. I went to both the Catholic and Prostestant shrines on Sat...it's quite a story, google it if you're interested in more about it. I'm still kinda fuzzy on all of the details, not surprising since they differ from source to source. The funny thing about it all (there's not really anything else at all funny about it actually) is that I've never really thought about the word "protestant" before...but the sisters said "pro-TEST-ant" as in "one who protests", and I put a few things together and realized it's more than just a matter of cultural pronunciation differences.

It was a good weekend. The sisters treated me royally and I even got to watch a few short snippets of my beloved Olympics. However, Sr. Claris wanted to come back this morning instead of last night, to her it's like being at home, with family, you know, so she likes to make it last as long as she can. That meant me setting my alarm for 5:15am to get on the road at 6am...a couple of matatu rides later I got back to my room at the Center at 7:30 with just enough time for a shower.