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Published: June 10th 2010
The gecko on my ceiling
When you are sick, a gecko can be welcome company. This one was about four inches long. So, not too much to report on this week, mostly because from Sunday to Wednesday I was laid up with a stomach bug (food poisoning?) (can you call it Montezuma's revenge if you are in Africa?) It really wasn't that bad, but I lost a bunch of weight over a short time span (a more defined jawline is a positive development of this occurrence,) and am still working up to the same level of robust activity that I am used to. So during that time span, I became very well acquainted with Nollywood films. What are Nollywood films? They are terribly dramatic love stories that play out very much like American soaps, and involve a lot of crying--crying from happiness, sadness, anger, or any other strong emotion. Almost all of them revolve around similar plot lines an many share actors playing nearly the same roles. The sound quality and lighting are generally horrendous and special effects are not involved. Nollywood is based in Nigeria, and after Hollywood and Bollywood, is the 3rd largest film industry in the world. What else did I do this week, other than bond with a gecko and Nigerian film stars? Well...
On Friday I attended
The rooster next-door
This is our neighbor. I took the picture from the roof of our house. This poor rooster doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in and generally starts crowing at approximately 2:00 AM. a meeting about the role of religious leaders in promoting good governance in Uganda. It was really interesting and I got to hear many of the most prominent religious and political leaders in Uganda speak. Notably, Rev. Fr. Peter Matovu, who is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was there. It was very interesting, and I felt very lucky to be a (quiet, observant) part of the meeting. I then went back to the office, where I wrote a report on a different meeting about Forest Management in Uganda that I had attended earlier in the week.
On Saturday, I went into town with Martin and Patrick and we went to the National Theater, where there are a lot of craft stands. These craft stands are primarily aimed at muzungu like me, and so the prices were high. I worked on my bargaining skills and seemed to improve as I went along. I didn't buy too many things--probably the best purchase of the day was an "English to Luganda" phrase book. I have proceeded to walk around Kampala saying things like "I see only cows and goats grazing" and "Why do you make children cry every day?" and
The view from our roof
Our roof is flat and open--a great place for star-gazing or generally looking at the surrounding suburbs. Beautiful. "The garden is bushy." There are actually some useful phrases as well, those are just the more ridiculous ones. We then proceeded to buy vegetables for the next day and returned home.
I am back at the office now, finally, and am looking forward to the World Cup starting tomorrow. Everyone here is excited about it. I'm thinking about going to watch the first game at a local restaurant instead of watching it at home so that I can be surrounded by the general festivities... We'll see.
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Carol Mulhall
non-member comment
Another report. Thank you.
Evan, the report is, as usual, interesting and delightful. I was sorry to hear about your illness. I am glad that you have regained your good health. I am giving my Mother copies of these reports. She loves them. She is keeping them for my brotherr and sister-in-law to read when they come to Louisville. Thank you for all the lovely writing. Cousin Carol, who loves your emails.