In which I best Ugandan men in pool and barbecue with the best of them

Halloooooooo!  That's what virtually every stranger I chance upon on the street greets me with, so now I do the same and I sound like my German housemate, Regina.  I'm just starting to learn the local language, Rutooro; Moses, one of the workers in the archive, is giving me five words/phrases per day.  This is a good thing--not only will I feel less silly in the marketplace, but I'll be able to communicate with my 3 year-old neighbor, Nino!  He doesn't speak any English, so the only thing that he understands is tickle monster (although that's because I run after him growling and he knows what to expect!).  He is the son of Doreen, who is a historian here at the University.  She will actually be at UM next year for her PhD in history, so I get to see her and Nino!  So exciting.  You guys can meet him!

I've been a bit frustrated as of late with work.  I finally got the scanner working and showed the employees how to scan/digitize/etc., but now they're the ones doing it, and I have nothing to do!  So, I've been trying to conjure up  ideas and suggestions for the archive, perhaps drawing up some sort of collections policy, etc.  It's rather frustrating, as I'm to be here for a month and my work is essentially finished after one week.  I'll certainly act as an advisor, of course, but that mostly entails sitting in the small room that constitutes the archive and answering any questions that come up, as I make futile attempts to occupy myself.  I inevitably end up trekking over to the marketplace...I don't like feeling useless!

And now to the title of this post:  We had a barbecue at the Lodge last night, in which Ciaran grilled pork and I made my world-famous guacamole with the amazing avacados they have here.  I attempted to make corn tortillas, but to no avail; they were really just fried little pancakes.  Oh well, once you heaped enough guac on them they weren't so bad.  We then went out to one of the local hangouts, where Ciaran and Felix began playing pool with some of the locals.  I asked if I could play--wasn't sure if it was appropriate for a woman--and they let me, although the Ugandans were snickering at me behind their hands.  Ciaran and I teamed up and I SHOWED THEM!  We won two games, and, for not having played pool in a very long while (and not having been good at it in the first place), I did very well.  Rah rah rah gender equality!!!!!!!!!  One point for women.

My first weekend is coming up, and I am going to the local hot springs with Jonathan (UM PhD) and his wife and two children tomorrow.  Maybe I can get Ciaran to drive me up into the mountains on his motorcycle...we'll see.  Always an adventure, my friends!

Love you all.

N