Lake Bunyonyi at Bird Nest Resort

Katrina's parents arrived a few days ago and, after a day touring Kigali, we drive 3 hours up into Uganda to stop at the magnificent Lake Bunyonyi. Katrina and I had been here back in November but this time we all stayed at the lake's premier resort: Bird Nest. A place of legend that all Kisoroan medical students dream of spending a luxurious weekend at. It does indeed live up to its reputation: Ice cream, wi-fi, cable TV, lake-view balconies off of each room, dozens of inspired menu options...

Aside from lounging at the resort, we took a boat tour around the lake. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story of this beautiful place.

Charcoal Cooking

Our kitchen is equipped with a fairly enormous tank of propane, so big it's only needed refilling twice since our arrival in September. Well, a few nights ago, part way through boiling pasta, the blue flame of the burner went out with a puff and we knew the tank was empty once again.

There was, in a far corner of the porch, a traditional Ugandan charcoal stove. It is terra-cotta, shaped like an urn with an area up top to pile in charcoal and a cavity beneath to light the initial flames that ignite the coals. When, months ago, our friend Jackie invited us over to teach us how to make some traditional foods, she insisted that this method -- over the slow, even heat of red-hot embers -- was the only way to do it right.

With some patience, charcoal, torn up scrap paper, and a lot of blowing, we got the coals ignited and just enough heat to finish off the pasta and a little sauce. Once the charcoal bloomed fully red, dinner was over but conditions were perfect for toasting marshmallows (hundreds of which had inexplicably accumulated in our kitchen). And once you're toasting marshmallows, why not add bits of chocolate and graham crackers? It was a decadent, relaxing, and decidedly old-fashioned way to end the evening.

Another Early Morning Hill Walk

I was up uncharacteristically early this Saturday morning. I put on my new hiking boots and decided to take advantage of the newly-rising sun to walk up crater hill, something I'd not done in a while.

Just past our house, down one of the main roads into town

My ultimate goal!

At the end of this side road where you turn into...

This nearly hidden-away side path

You pass a few homes, along with their cows just having breakfast

The view from the top into the crater

A rare view of our four closest volcanoes

And one picture to ensure our parents' we're alive and well. <3!

Market Day

The twice weekly markets on Monday and Thursday have been an integral part of our grocery shopping since we arrived. They are always bustling from early in the morning to well past dark when the dozens of motorcycles awaiting fares and hundreds of vendors packing up their wares kick up clouds of dust and noise and headlights.

This past Thursday, I finally summoned the courage to bring a camera down to the market (located very conveniently at the end of our driveway!) and did my best to discretely capture a few moments of market life while Andrea expertly picked out our produce for the week: pineapple, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green peppers, and lots of tomatoes. Enjoy!

Women picking out fiber for weaving

Behind a row of salt sellers. The grey salt in the foreground is added to beans to make them cook faster

The tomato aisle!

The sweetest pineapples we've ever had. (The trees in the background mark our driveway)

The odds-and-ends aisle: laundry soap, beauty products, mini flashlights...

Green plantains

Picking out some peppers and more tomatoes

Buckets and blankets of sweet potatoes

Saleswomen behind their wares

captain sparrow and other kisoro sights

it's laundry time: jack sparrow at kisoro district hospital

 hospital drying rack

one day there were cows and goats eating up the grass, awfully close to the laundry outside the peds ward. this is the only time that somehow a herder snuck his animals onto hospital property. see the volcano in the background. 

a hen warming her eggs, next to my chair in one of the VHW's houses where we were doing our CDCom. 

star wars blanket. andrew's babysitting while this baby's mother is taking an exam for her vhw certification. andrew was saying she was very tactile.

she also had her hand all up in his eyes, nose, and mouth.

outside of another VHW's compound on CDCom. pretty lambs. pretty volcanoes.

mama chicken warming her chick at our daily lunch spot, the beans place.

 

chick needed to stretch its legs. 

checking sugars (and ketones)

myles acting as a patient with alcoholism and deo, one of the VHWs, role-playing with counseling during our motivational interviewing session at the VHW CME (continuing medical education).

the professor, on teaching rounds.

in case you were wondering, our lettuce patch is thriving.