Big Sky+ Raging
Winds = Rainy Season ….and My night buddy, Kindle!
Rainy Season it is! We had amazing amounts of rain the last
week – it rains on and off during the day and then in the late afternoon the
high winds and heavy rains descend –the sky darkens and the temperature drops
to the low 60s, and then it can rain all night. This coupled with lack of
electricity in the evening s often leads me to skip my evening outdoor bath – the
rain and the unheated water is too uninviting for me to care about my B.O. I just wash my face in a basin and then cover
myself with powder to mask the unpleasant aroma, and I plop right into my
mosquito net bed and jump headlong into my Kindle. Rainy Season comes twice a
year I am told. This one began in late September and runs through most of December – though I hear the dust is
more difficult to manage – I will let you know my preference after living
through both seasons here in Koro.
YES – this week I am bragging about my relationship with my
electronic buddy who delivers to me the most interesting and exciting
adventures – I must also thank my friends the solar lamps that charge all day
and then allow me some light at night. I read Kon Tiki this week along with the Four
Agreements (Thanks Chitoka!) I enjoyed them both but the challenges of the 6
men who crossed the Pacific on a raft kept me captivated. The book is like a
history lesson / anthropology detective story / adventure novel. Since it is a true story I found it that much more interesting.
Poisoning Attempt
Well cooking this week was less successful. I actually got a
little depressed with some of my attempts to be creative. Seems they were a bit
too creative!!! While I was Thrashing the waist high grass
around my home…thrashing is manually cutting your grass with a machete like
instrument with its tip sharpened on both sides and the top third bent at a 90
degree angle so it cuts as you swing your arm….I saw this vegetable like bush.
I though it looked like a veggie had
seem in the market and later asked my supervisor if it was edible. She said yes
– its Otula. So that night I picked three little buggers from the bush and
minced them up nicely in my Mexican/taco seasoned beans along with the usual
suspects of onions, bell peppers, and okra. Well The new little veggies didn’t taste
so great, but I figured they were good for me and just ate a full plate of
beans over rice like a good little Peace Corps Volunteer. The
next day my system was slightly out of sorts but I didn’t think much of it as
this can occur every few days here. However at work I mentioned to my
counterpart that I didn’t like the Otula and she asked where I got it. When I showed
her the bush, she said it was a poisonous plant that all parents warn their
children about from a young age! She was
surprised I wasn’t sicker. Later at lunch she told the entire staff about my
mistake and everyone was incredulous that I was feeling OK. I must not have
eaten enough – or perhaps the Taco Seasoning was an antidote!
I was somewhat successful in roasting my first batch of
Groundnuts. Groundnuts are actually peanuts. They are the small red ones you
sometimes see in the states – not the large ball park peanuts we get at the Titans
games. I walked to our local market which is pretty weak in its offerings and
saw that a lady was selling raw groundnuts – so I bought a kilo for about 35
cents and took them home and roasted them over my gas flame and then sprinkled
them with salted water – the water evaporated and the nuts were covered in a
white salty film. I felt very proud of my little nuts!
Latrine Lizards
Well I have never had a phobia about reptiles, and kind of like
lizards, as I grew up with the bright green ones in NOLA. So when I noticed a couple of them moving into
my latrine, I thought they are my allies in killing mosquitos and spiders and
their buggy cohorts, so I was not worried. However one night I ventured out
around 9pm in the pitch black, misty, rainy night carrying my solar lamp and
was greeted by 4 lizards in various locations around me in the 3x3 latrine. I
decided not to panic as I talked my way down because I knew they were my
allies. However, mid-stream the largest one perched above my head decided to
leap to the ground next to my foot, and I must admit this scared the piss out
of me! J
There was nothing I could do – as I was in mid-stream and unable to change the
direction of the process, so I just breathed in and out while he scurried under
the door into the night. So we are still
friends but I am less excited about sharing my latrine with them now that I
know they can jump like that!
The Road to the
Cuk Madit
The Cuk Madit (Choook Madeeet) is the large main market in
Gulu (It literally means big market). The
road to Gulu is like a never ending trail of people migrating to and from the
market to buy and or sell items, while busses, freight containers on 18
wheelers and every other type of motorized and non-motorized vehicle shares the
road. Well my bicycle and I are part of
this scene and yesterday I headed into town for my weekly shopping trip. It was
a great ride as I left at 8am and enjoyed cool sunny skies the entire way there. I yell out a greeting to all those I pass which
are about every 15 pedals and most people smile and greet me back. We all speak
a mixture of bad English and Acholi but the mood is cheery and it makes me feel
I am part of the local scene.
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| My Bike - lettering says "Egg's House" no idea what this means, but Brand is normal to Ugandans |
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| My purchases-powdered milk, eggs, plastic shelves, veggies galore, TP, Napkins, sugar, bread |
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| Green avocado picked from tree at my friend's home |
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| My new plastic shelves with veggies etc under calendar of favorite photos from home! |
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| My cooking stove and dish washing station - I wash in the basin and pour dirty water into the bucket on the far right |
My Job
The School is in National testing mode this week as our students
undergo their exams on the various vocations they are studying. Out term will
end in late Nov and then things should quiet down a little until next term
starts in February 2012. I am still working on the Agriculture Business Plan
and enjoying the research of pricing and costs related to these endeavors here
in Uganda. I hope when the financials are run it will actually be a profitable
business plan!
Kisses from Uganda to all my friends, relatives and
supporters! Karla
