Today we all sit around a big table as we work. The Africans who actually work here have their own desks, but the mzungu sit next to each other at the table in the middle of the room. I like it. We collaborate, reiterate, discuss the goals of the survey - there's no really mentally tasking work, so the distraction isn't a problem.
The wall sockets (plugs? chargers? outlets? Kyle tried to explain this word to an African over the phone yesterday, and only got as far as 'we have a generator'. helpful, maybe?) are more of an issue - Allen spent the morning leaning strategically against his to keep it in just the right position to charge.
It has dissipated some now, but the smell of burning trash (today, kind of a mix of burning-tires-on-the-freeway and smoke-on-the-fourth-of-July) caused us to physically stop as we turned into the wind down the hallway to our office. Even the huge stork-like birds that populate the hospital roof opposite us were turned away from the wind.
Ugandan's have wonderful accents. Still difficult for me to understand unless there's (a) no ambient noise, (b) I know what the person is talking about already, (c) the person has a pretty good grasp on the English language, and (d) I have time to process what he/she is saying. So far the only time all these conditions are met is at the office; I average about one word per sentence when I ask a question in a shop on on the street.
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