Case of the Mondays

I actually don't have a case of the Mondays-- I just happened to watch Office Space on the satellite TV last night. That movie never gets old.

Today is a national holiday in Uganda, so most people are not going to work. A week ago the Kyabazinga (king) of the Busoga kingdom, Henry Wako Muloki, died of throat cancer at age 87. Busoga is a Ugandan kingdom (like Buganda) that is west of Kampala, near Jinja. There has been a processional all week long, and he will be buried today. The president designated today a holiday out of respect for the former king. Joy, Pierre, and Sophie were all in the lab with me today, which goes to show that no matter where you are in the world, scientists work on holidays.

Because it is a holiday I had a hard time finding a ride to work. The driver who was supposed to be on duty (George-- the super nice guy who doesn't stop talking) called off. This weekend he went home to the village to visit his brother whose wife is expecting a baby. His sister in law died during childbirth. So did the baby.

After work I had the diver Henry drop me at a pub called Bubbles O'Leary. The place was beautiful-- exactly like what you would imagine if you were in some British romance movie that took place in Africa. They also have free WiFi. I neglected to take a picture because I didn't want to look like a total tourist. Maybe next time. And my meal was really good-- even for British food! Two drunk British ex-pats bought me a glass of Dom Perignon and kept coming over refill it. It was really annoying. I wish there was such a think as idiot repellent.

The pictures I've attached are of the lab facility at the JCRC. Too bad the Case campus doesn't look like that. The tent in the second picture is the pediatric ward.