April 3, 2016 

 
Our first full day in Kampala “went great” in the words of one student. Another student, when asked about Uganda, said “it’s really nice”. We started the day with a breakfast of scrambled eggs served with a slice of avocado, toast, bananas, and fresh squeezed passion fruit juice. This is the regular breakfast served by the Mulago Guest House where we are staying. Although we went to sleep quite late last night, about 1:15-1:45am for the students and 2:30am for me, I made the students get up by 9am for breakfast as a way to combat the jet lag. The goal was to keep as busy as possible today so we can stay awake and then get to bed relatively early. If the plan works, we should assimilate to the new time by Monday or Tuesday. After breakfast our tour guide for our Safari to Queen Elizabeth National Park, Arthur from Econestim Tours and Travel Uganda, which will happen at the end of our month in Uganda, stopped by to meet the team and then we ran a bunch of errands to change our money, go shopping and go to the ATM machine. In the afternoon we had a long discussion about the Ugandan culture, our plans for the week and what the students should expect. We ended this lovely day with a delicious dinner at one of my favorite Italian places in Kampala, Mediterraneo. The food is great and the ambiance of candlelight while sitting outside under a large tree was peaceful and relaxing. The restaurant is kind of part inside and part outside and they have wooden decking covering the outside ground so the inside seems to merge with the outside. The waiters are very well trained and treat you like royalty. Tomorrow we will begin to meet our healthcare collaborators and partners at Mulago Hospital, Makerere University School of Pharmacy and the Infectious Diseases Institute. Now off to a good night’s sleep!