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The whole family
This is hard to see... but it is the only picture I have of everyone together. The dad (Stonia) is on the left, holding his daughter, Michelle. Martin (15) is next, and then Stonia's mother (who doesn't live with us.) Jane (17) and Lillian are on the right.I'm sorry I haven't been diligent with my blogging--work is busy and, to be honest, I just don't think about it often. Thanks to my wonderful parents, I was reminded that it is something that I should actually keep up-to-date. I have been editing a lot of papers for work; some for a Parliamentary Symposium on Oil in Uganda, which I will get to attend in June, and some focusing on the best ways to distribute oil wealth. I now know (almost) everyone at work by name, and the majority of us eat lunch together every day.
Speaking of eating... The food here is good, but monotonous. Basically every meal consists of starch and a meat (or beans for me.) Sometimes there are also greens--like kale, but slightly different. The starch could be matoke, which is basically a type of banana that is steamed and mashed and has no real flavor, or posho, which is like congealed grits. There is also rice available almost all the time. You top your starch with a sauce, typically groundnut sauce, which is an odd lavender color and is made of a type of peanut. It is steamed until nothing solid is left. Then
Michelle and Me
Michelle and me in the compound where I live. there might be a side of pumpkin (which are different from ours, but good) or sweet potato (also different than ours, but similar) or yam (which have literally no flavor at all. I don't really like them.) Other than that, there is always tropical fruit around, which is lucky because I eat so much of it. I have discovered that I really like passion fruit. I'll eat 3 or 4 of them at night with half a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. I am starting to miss the variety of foods at home, and have made some grilled peanut butter and honey sandwiches and french toast to bring flavors of home here.
Since my last blog entry, several things have happened. The whole family and Stonia's mother went to a resort right next to Lake Victoria for dinner. The food wasn't that memorable, but the experience was. Lake Victoria is beautiful, and I really wanted to wade in, but couldn't because there are snails that live in the shallows that crawl into the skin of your feet and then grow and then you have to get them cut out by a doctor. So I didn't wade. But I did
Gomesi
Lillian and me in Gomesi(s?) which are the traditional wear in Uganda. We are at a wedding reception. I don't know the kid in the background. pass a soccer ball around on the grass with Martin and some other guys who joined in, as well as Lillian, Stonia's mom, and Jane. It was fun, and I looked ridiculous in a white dress running around playing soccer. (We were all a little over-dressed, we thought the resort was going to be a little more posh than it was.)
Last weekend I went to a wedding reception with Lillian. It was for one of her cousins who was getting married and was at her aunt's house. I got dressed up in the traditional style of Ugandan women, in a gomesi, which was very uncomfortable, but a great experience. To put on a gomesi, you have to wrap a stiff cloth around you to make your butt look bigger than it actually is (something that I have never needed to do before) and then you put on a slip if your gomesi is sheer. Then, you put on the gomesi, which works something like a wrap dress, but is infinitely more complicated. After you've wrapped yourself appropriately, you tie a sash around you to keep the folds in place, and you have to make a perfect knot (Lillian,
Muzungu in Jeans
Members of Stonia's family who are dressed in traditional attire to attend a funeral. And me, who is typically under-dressed in jeans. But I was in my pajamas when they showed up, so this is an improvement. of course, did this for me.) Then you shuffle around and try not to trip on your hem, which is touching the ground. Everyone who saw me thought I looked "smart" and hilarious at the same time. The DJ at the wedding reception kept saying things like "There's a muzungu looking smart in a gomesi in our midst!" But in Lugandan, so I'm not actually sure that's what he said. Then everyone would look at me and laugh, quietly. Then, Lillian took me to the front of the assembly to dance in the traditional Ugandan way--by shaking your hips and clapping. Then everyone really started laughing. Little girls were rolling on the ground because it was so funny. And I could barely keep dancing because I was about to have a laughter-induced asthma attack myself. But it was a blast.
On Sunday, I went to church (which is basically the same as a Catholic service here, except people clap after the homily.) I then proceeded to go to a hotel's pool with Patrick and Martin. This was fun and hilarious because neither of them knew how to swim. By the end of the day, Patrick made good progress, but Martin was still freaking out because he couldn't balance in the water. To Martin's credit, I think that this was the first time he had been in over a foot of water. We then walked to a different suburb of Kampala to pick up some pants from the tailor. The pants weren't ready and we ended up waiting for about 35 minutes. In the meantime, about 20 neighborhood kids crowded around me, asking me for things, and then, when they realized that I didn't really have anything to give them, they tried to teach me some more words in Luganda. My grasp of the language is still glaringly awful, but I can do more than just greet someone. I had four younger kids who held my hands for basically the whole time I was there. Patrick and Martin thought that this whole thing was hilarious.
So, that is basically what has been going on with me. I am still trying to learn my way around Kampala, but I now know at least a small corner. I am continuing to meet new people, and become better friends with the people I already know. Life in Kampala is good.
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Carol Mulhall
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Thanks, again.
It's Tuesday morning here and I have checked the computer berfore going to the gym. The report is wonderful. I'll send more this afternoon. Again, thank you for all the information. It is great to read of your adventures.