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27 May 2001

I think I got a nice cut this time, which was a pleasant surprise after four years of bad haircuts in Germany. No matter how many pictures I brought in, how many ways I explained it, and how many different hairdressers I tried, I was unable to find someone whose repertoire went beyond a bowl cut. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the language barrier. And it wasn't just me. I saw a woman on the verge of tears leave the beauty parlor with Ronald McDonald red and the promise that she could return the next morning to have the disaster fixed. Askan had trouble finding someone who would give him a good cut and hated going. The hairdresser that I finally settled on was nice, stylish, and had been cutting hair for several years. She recognized me as her client and seemed to want to please me with a good job. I adapted to getting a bad cut every 6 weeks. Who would have thought I would get a great haircut in Uganda?

Didn't get to see Colin Powell. On Saturday night, we went to the Sheraton to check that the 56 phone lines installed just for his visit were making the embassy staff happy, but he wasn't scheduled to arrived until Sunday morning. It was quite a production. Askan noted that the German counterpart to Powell, Joshka Fischer, hasn't put such a personal emphasis on HIV and Africa. I guess it's typically American to "roll up your sleeves" in bilateral discussions and offers of aid, versus operating through the UN. It does make a better sound bite. The CNN coverage Monday morning showed the former General participating in a dance with Ugandans at an HIV clinic. It's going to be interesting to watch him in the next few years.

I killed one morning this past week by calling a bunch of hotels and campsites at the different game parks to ask about their rates. One person on the other end was not too friendly when I said I was just calling for information. He sarcastically asked if I was a resident or a tourist (the rates change.) I said I didn't know, explaining quickly that we're here for two years, and as is typical for foreigners we'd like to see as much of the country as possible. I added that as an American, I'd never been to California. He laughed at that point and said he'd not seen some of the parks in Uganda, but he has seen California. And then he kindly gave me the resident rates.

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