After being here for 6 months...

After being here for 6 months, I finally had the opportunity to get pick-pocketed at the Old Taxi Park! I was walking with my friend Marika, and I just felt the slightest sensation of someone unzipping by bag, and instead of turning around to find my zipper just a little bit unzipped with no one in particular to claim the credit (a frequent scenario amidst the chaos at the Old Taxi Park, especially at night), I found not only my zipper completely unzipped, but I also found a guy in a maroon button-down shirt reaching his hand down into my bag and removing my wallet.

The Old Taxi Park

(this is actually the very first picture I took in Uganda)





I don't actually remember having any thought process in my mind about what might happen in the next few seconds, but I immediately spun around, my eyes flickering up just enough to catch his face and his eyes before completely focusing my eyes on my wallet. In the same moment, without even thinking, I lunged at the guy, digging into his forearm, preparing to hold on as tight as possible, and absolutely not let go, even if it meant getting dragged with him a few steps down the street, and I totally (dropped the f-bomb, sorry mom, and) yelled "give me my fucking wallet!" The guy, caught by surprise, immediately dropped my wallet and ran away, which was a wise choice. Stealing is really serious here, and similar to in India when there's a car accident, everyone gets involved, and there are constantly stories about people getting chased down by a spontaneous mob formed by everyone within range of the crime, and getting beaten, sometimes to the point of death.

I only had ~40,000/= in my wallet, which is less than $20, oh, and a photo ID debit card (not much use to a male Ugandan), a photo ID NJ driver's license (also not much use to a male Ugandan, but high in NJ sentimental value), along with a few business cards. A lot of my Ugandan friends actually only make between 5,000/= and 10,000/= per day. So yes, let's go there, that's 5,000 = $2 per day, 25,000/= per week, 100,000/= per month, and 1,200,000 = $500 per year. And just for fun, let's compare, by throwing in the fact that the frisbee team recently registered for the World Championship Beach Ultimate 2011 tournament in Italy, which incidentally only happens once every 4 years, and will cost ~$2,000 per player. So while the danger of getting caught stealing in downtown Kampala is very real, it's completely understandable that an opportunity to pick almost 1 week's worth of salary off a muzungu in less 30 seconds stands to be legitimately tempting, if you don't get caught. ;)

And after being here for 6 months, I ALSO finally had the opportunity to schmoooooze at an Accordia conference at the Kampala Serena, Accordia being one of the partners, along with Pfizer Inc, the Academic Alliance, and Makerere University, that founded the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), where I work, and of course, the Serena being the most shamelessly ostentatious hotel in Kampala.

The Keynote Lecture



(in the ugliest conference room with the worst lighting)



The Cocktail Reception after the Keynote Lecture



(with the best Australian wine, beef kebabs, and smoked salmon)



And although it was all very exciting, I also discovered, more importantly, that I am the WORST offender of obliviously wearing my name tag for HOURS after a conference. Whoops! I had been kind of suspicious of this about myself for some time (but how to confirm such a thing?), and as I walked from the hotel to Centenary Park to meet up with a friend, I didn't realize until I was almost there that I had been wandering around in public once again with my full name plastered across my body, this time it was the lower right side of my stomach. I ran my hand across my hip and felt along the edges with my fingers before quickly ripping it off, shaking my head in disbelief, but at the same time amused with myself over my obscure inside joke... with myself.