1. Changed where I'm staying in Kampala. It was a little too far away from the action (and by "the action," I mean this one café that I really like). Also, the "hot water" I was paying for was not reliable (By "not reliable", I mean nonexistent. Hell, I felt lucky when I didn't have to bathe with a bucket and a cup.) Prostitues coming to the door didn't help, either. Or the maintenance dudes coming in without warning when I was walking around with no pants on. So yeah. New place. A little bit more expensive. But, there's free wi-fi. Which appears to be working at the moment. And even though I'm now in the heart of the city, it's a lot quieter. Except when the evangelical church in the building is having services.
But at least pentecostals here sing on key. Unlike Guatemala.
And "a little more expensive" is still like $15 a day. I can afford that. I'm an assistant professor.
2. For the last couple of days, I've been drinking this locally manufactured instant coffee. Don't ask my why I'm drinking instant coffee in a place with such excellent local beans. But the stuff doesn't taste too bad for instant, but man, it is weak on the caffeine. Although it almost makes up for it by coming out of a package that looks like homage to Mao and the CCP.
3. A couple of days ago, I tweeted about the security guard I saw with the street sweeper. That is, the fully-automatic 12 gauge shotgun manufactured in the 1980s, called the "Street Sweeper." Most of the security guards and police here are armed with old Russian rifles (AKs and SKSes), with the occasional (really beat up) pump shotgun thrown in for good measure. And every once in a while you see some guy with an old M-16. But today I saw a security guard with a genuine Springfield 1903-A3 bolt action rifle. That was unexpected.
Mostly, the security guards with guns make me nervous. Those Kalashnikovs are fully automatic, and I have no illusions that those guys know how to operate them, let alone handle them on full-auto. In a crowded city with hundreds or maybe thousands of people in the immediate vicinity at any moment, any security guarding that involves a magazine full of 7.62x39 is not going to be good news.
Okay, I know that there are a lot of Ugandans who have been soldiers. In fact, there are a huge number of military contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan that mostly hire East Africans. Still. It's freaking scary. Does Barclays bank really want those guys lighting the whole city up when somebody comes calling with their own assault rifle?
When I was walking into the new lodging today, one security guard was heading off his shift, and handing the 12GA pump over to another guy. Which apparently involves reading the serial number and writing it down in a book. Which, of course, you do while holding the shotgun horizontally, pointed at the little shop at the back of the building, right? At least his finger wasn't on the trigger. I hope he didn't have a round in the chamber. Actually, I kind of hope he didn't have any ammunition at all.
On the amusing side, many of these old AKs and SKSes still have the spike bayonets attached. I will leave it to your imagination how that would work.
4. There's another Westsail 32 in Juneau, up on Craigslist. A little tempting.
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