I should be writing about water, but... (Kampala bomb blasts)

I would love to say that all is as it was here in Kampala. I should be writing about the meetings I had with water officials, or even an entry about the rooster calls emanating from the kitchen of the restaurant I am in. But the news is the July 11th bombing during the World Cup match and the reality is Kampala has changed. It’s timid.

For the one-off visitor to Kampala the change would be unnoticeable, but the bars are quieter, the roadsides at night, a bit less active, and the talk is about how many people are choosing to stay home at night. Third-hand metal detectors have sprung up outside restaurants and all security guards seemed to have a metal wand (detector), that they rub over strategic parts of your body to detect coins. It’s for show really, I thought as they jabbed the wand against my leg assuming the detector has to actually touch the object in order for it to beep. I wonder, would they really jump to take down someone who just burst past them? But security is not much different at many places at home.

Don’t think for a minute, though, that Kampala is quiet. I still get stuck in monstrous traffic jams and see throws of people walking up and down the streets day and night, bopping in and out of road stalls. The welders are still welding, the traffic police still are policing and the motorcycle drivers are still eerily dangerous.

I went past the main bombing site, where many were killed. Although some foreigners were there that night, the crowd was far more local from what I hear. Most people I interact with seem to know someone who was there and have a story to tell, at least hearsay.

I try to keep a low profile. Hard to do really, but I shy away from crowded places, like markets and bus stations. Fortunately, they are not on my route. There are rumors of another attacks in such spots. In a sense, it is easier to be secure here by avoiding those places. But in New York, all places are those places.

We had a crude bomb attack in Times Square this year and threats on various subways always seem to be thwarted. But NYC is not alone in security fears, Madrid and London all had far larger attacks over the past few years and Istanbul -- where I was at for a day previously -- has had more numerous deadly attacks in recent years than those cities combined. The reality is that terrorism happens where I live and travel. But I am far more susceptible to the more mundane, the less hand-line grabbing car accident or bout of malaria. And to avoid those, I use cars, swallow Lariam and hope for the best.