Rediscovering My Inner Mermaid

The Rock Hotel is one of the nicest hotels in Tororo (and, as everyone who has stayed there mentions - it has round beds! For what, I don't know). It also has a "health club" that has a nice pool, a sauna, a steam room, and a "gym" (some weight machines, a rowing machine that seems straight out of Woody Allen's "The Sleeper" and a nonfunctional treadmill). You can pay USh 5000 ($2.50) each time you go, or get a membership for 3 months for USh 180,000, which includes unlimited use.
We decided to get a membership, and have not regretted it. I have gone pretty much every day since to swim. We have gotten to know Hamida and Janette, the pool attendants, who hold our bags while we swim, and look bemused but unsurprised when we show up to swim every day, even when it's as "cold" as 70 degrees and the Ugandan children are running around in down jackets (not kidding).

I think swimming is my sport. Unlike running, in which after the first step I am thinking "WHEN IS THIS OVER, FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY, MAKE IT STOP," I feel like I can swim forever and not want to stop. I think I am growing gills.
It is especially nice get so much exercise because I spend all day sitting in front of my computer, which is so different from residency where I spent all day sprinting up and down L&D. After I swim, my back doesn't hurt anymore and I feel strong and refreshed.
The only problem is that the rain is unpredictable here, and a beautiful hot day can end in a chilly, rainy evening, which makes getting into the pool a little less motivating. Now I see the benefits of a heated pool.

On Friday, I was excited to go swimming, but had to wait for a short rainstorm to pass. Finally, I walked over to The Rock, but 5 laps into my swim, the drizzling restarted, and I saw lightning. I tried to keep swimming, but visions of my electrocuted self stopped me mid-lap, and I got out of the pool to shower. While I was in the shower, the rain started coming down in buckets, and I had to be picked up in the car because the rain was much to heavy to walk home in.

The Rock Hotel has other benefits, too. We can spend weekends sitting by the pool, drinking beer (USh 2000, or $1). We can even order food from the Hotel, although make a note to order well in advance of hunger. Last time, we swam and then ordered cheese nan and large passion juices. The passion juice took about 45 minutes, and the cheese nan was about an hour and a half.
We have also had dinner at The Rock Hotel. They have fried fish, chips, some meat dishes and indian food. At least it's some variety other than rice, matooke and beans.
The Rock Hotel seems like a good place to stay, with one problem. On weekends, they sometimes have huge parties and concerts by the pool until about 4am, and it is so loud that it sounds like it was outside our window at the house, which is at least a half-mile away.
Regardless, it's a welcome comfort.