Kampala

Things really have worked out for this trip.
Finances have come through from left and right, allowing this poor student to trek across the world.  Yesterday we met with Patti, our department head.  She's a British woman who's been living in Uganda and running the OT department for 18 years.  While gazing at beautiful, lush countryside out our windows, Patti filled us in on her end of the story while we journeyed from Entebbe to Kampala.  She told us about how the head medical doctor had refused to sign the consent forms that enabled us to come, citing that the forms required the hospital to be responsible for our actions, inside the hospital grounds and out. Patti was sure that this was incorrect, but when she went to find her version of the forms, the office had been broken into and the papers were strewn across the mud-filled road - unreadable.  She tried to email Donna at the end of December to inform her that Jenn & I would be unable to come to Uganda, but twice the email bounced back to her inbox, unsent.  A few weeks later new forms came in the post, the proper forms.  Patti returned to the head medical doctor, again asking him to sign the forms.  This time he agreed!  So, while Jenn & I were at home packing and getting hit up with vaccines, there was a solid chunk of time where we actually weren't supposed to be coming here!  Patti says, and I agree, that we were meant to be here!

We're now in Kampala - what a CRAZY city!  We've settled into a guesthouse that's situated on the hospital grounds (the orphanage fell through, but we'll still be heading over there one night/week to play with the cutest kids in the world - and really, the people here are the most beautiful people in the world).  The grounds are a really nice respite from the bustling streets of the city, and to top it off it's stuck right on the top of a hill, looking West over the city.  So at night we sit on the porch, drink a Nile beer, and watch the sun set over the city.  I love it.  It already feels comfortable.
Tomorrow is the first day of work! I'm really excited about it - but keep being warned by people that this will be nothing like OT in Canada.  Patti says that this is one of the best OT departments in Eastern Africa, but if it were in the UK, it would be closed down.  Really, it's the kids that I'm looking forward to though.  The facilities might not be the best (also, apparently the whole department got flooded over the weekend after a faulty plumbing job), but it's the kids and the staff who will make the experience unforgettable!

xoxo

p.s. pictures to come when we find an internet cafe that isn't really, really slow.  I can't wait to show you guys this city! :)