FOOD SNOB
I am learning that Peace Corps is not for the faint of heart,
nor for the food snob. I am doing OK on the first test, but failing miserably
on the second one. Seems my New Orleans upbringing makes me love food more than
the average PCV. Not just food, but good, well-seasoned, food – and, it seems,
I require variety….silly me!
I say this because I have lost a lot of weight over here –
so much so that I went to Peace Corps medical in Kampala for a slew of tests to
see what was up. Good news is that I have no worms or parasites or water borne
illnesses – I just seem to not like the food enough to eat a lot of it. I
definitely try – but almost all my meals necessitate me forcing myself to eat
and swallow as nothing taste good to me over hear. I also saw a therapist in Kampala because the
medical team wanted to see if I was depressed….which both the therapist and I
believe, I am not.
I am however very isolated and too removed from enough food
sources to meet my food snob needs. I have been lucky to have a restaurant
(called a Hotel over here) open up across from my school in the trading
center. They have boiled goat, stewed chicken,
rice, Do-Do (greens), cabbage and fried eggs. Yesterday when I crossed kampala road I was greeted by a baby monkey tied to the rail of the restaurant. It was just a few weeks old and was kind of cute and kind of scary. They caught it in their garden and decided to keep it as a pet - and most likely marketing gimmick. But I kept imagining it carries rabies so i stayed far away.
So I am now trying to eat one
meal a day at this restaurant at least 5 days a week. So far I have made it 1 week….but the
lack of variety is beginning to make me less excited with each passing day.
This is big news as there was no place to buy cooked meals in the trading
center until they opened. So now I am
getting meat a little more frequently – I am also trying to take it home and
doctor it up a little. So far so good – though I can’t say I enjoy the food
much. SO THAT’S MY BIGGEST HURDLE in Peace Corps. The minor task of eating is a
major effort for me. Who knew? I thought I was pretty low maintenance, but here,
I am considered a very picky eater.
I also suffered a big cold after returning from Camp Glow
and that inspired my Poem below – it was just a common cold but it still
knocked me out. I am now fully recovered so don’t worry. I am out of danger!
The Best Thing About Uganda
A friend asked me the best thing about Uganda and after thinking about it I said - well its not the food....its the weather! Sunny and beautiful everyday. I am getting spoiled with all the sunshine and warmth. Rarely too hot anymore and almost always short sleeve weather - occasionally requiring a long sleeve sweater in the evenings. I have not had a winter since Jan-Feb 2011 - its like endless summer here. Of course the dry season was the worst this year in memory, so I have suffered. But really, it was not that bad. Tennessee summers are more oppressive, as the humidity is tougher to manage. Here its a dry hotness. Which is tolerable. Anyway just want you to know I am not suffering in the weather dept at all! We have rain at least every other day for a couple hours and then it moves on. The storms are fantastically strong and powerful .....and then back to the lovely weather.
Work
Lately my work has been less than challenging and mostly boring and frustrating. All my ideas are waiting approval from various powers and so I spend much of my time trying to surf the internet - when there is power (see poem below); and thinking of work to do. I redo forms and type up lists of action items. So I presently don't have much to do but write poetry - so today you are inundated with new material. Some is pretty good. Some is probably not. But its here for your enjoyment....and mine.
Poetry
The
Common Cold May 4th,
2012
A dry pinched catch in the upper throat
Still hoping to escape the arrival
Of a full blown cold
Knowing it is rare to fend it off
Once you reach this stage
Spreading soreness
Heralds the coming foe
Stock up on the meds
Emer-gen-C, Sudafed, Benadryl, Ibuprophen
In the mirror your head looks the same
Inside it feels a mile-wide and filled
with rocks
Too heavy to hold up
For the entire day
Married to the tissue box
Unable to separate for more than a few
seconds
Itchy eyes, scratchy throat, burning
nostrils
Every second a momentous effort to
breathe
Weak and dizzy with weepy eyes
Leaning against the wall for support
Amazed this is a minor illness
And not a major disease
Retiring to bed to wait it out
Feeling ridiculous for being such a baby
When it is just a common cold
Butterflies May 15, 2012
Being struck
By the conflicting impression
Of the magnitude of my life
And, at the same time, its inconsequence
Like a butterfly
Trivial in its impact on the world
But still able to captivate
Catch the eye
In her instant of living
Bringing joy to those who take time to
watch
Then passing beyond their reach
To the fields just over the fence
Dilemma May 15th, 2012
Caught in the paralyzing moment
Of holding on ….or letting go
Something enticing
About both
Holding on
Not releasing
Not giving up
Believing
The effort will save
The rewards will com
If our grip remains tight
Alternatively
Letting go
Surrendering
Trusting the light
Believing
Goodness will protect
Clarity will follow
If we loosen our grip
The hard part is knowing
When to do which?
Growth
Measurements May
17, 2012
Impossible to quantify growth
With so many dimensions
Never linear
Not just a timeline,
When you must consider
Personal-Spiritual-Emotional-Physical-Intellectual-Interpersonal
The concepts of Maturity, Development
With countless variations
Trying to review and analyze a life-line
Gets overly complicated
If dissected
Tough to ascertain improvement
An assessment seems warranted
What is the process?
Surely the Divine knows
Peering down innumerable paths
Confusing myself when taking measurements
Gathering data, unsure of the figures
Preferring to believe
I am progressing forward
But inwardly doubting
Am I focused on the right information?
Wishing to be like Siddhartha and other
enlightened souls
Will my evolving qualities
Finally converge
In a land of understanding?
Still stranded
With all my queries and quantifications
Hoping that asking the questions,
At least
Brings me closer
Fickle
Gods May 13th,
2012
In the African bush
I have a tenuous link
To my former life
My real life
The majority of these days
I exist in a surreal state
Where poverty is palpable
Clean running water is not
Electricity erratic
My bathing room a concrete block
My toilet a latrine
This state is acceptable
As long as I can reach
Across the atmosphere
To my life support system
Attainable through fiber optic threads
When the bandwidth is enough
And the network is up
And my battery is not dead
To connect, I travel to the road
Holding my PC up like an offering
To the Gods of the internet
Hoping they will smile
At my sacrifice
And allow the transmission
Raising my arms above my head
With a prayer
After every click or press of the enter
key
That I am worthy
That the data transfer is approved
The request to send and receive is
blessed
And communication occurs
Apprehensively
While lowering my arms
I hurriedly check for signs of success
Sending out gratitude
Or a curse
To the fickle gods
That hold my sanity
So precariously
Answering my prayer for electronic tonic
As if by whim
Teasing and taunting
With intermittent access
To the far away Heaven of Home
Mothers
Day May 13th, 2012
It astounds me
That a child, a teen
A grown man
Can influence my state of being
With a comment, a note, call or email
Not just any child-teen-man
But my child-teen-man
Why am I under this spell?
How can they so easily control?
This strong intelligent tiger of a woman
That is a kitten in their hands
How grateful to find
They wield this power
With affection and prudence
Knowing my each breath
Depends on their gentleness
Understanding our happiness
Is tightly interwoven
Bus
Ride May 18th,
2012
A crowd of human cattle
Pressed against each other
For 6 hours
AKA
A Ugandan bus ride to Kampala
Squeezed into my seat
Between the large African man
And the mother and baby at the window
Sweating thigh to thigh
Calf to calf
Silently waging
A territorial war of elbows and hips
To maintain space
Enough
Stopping intermittently
To receive offerings of African fast food
Raised up to the open windows
Fried pork and goat meat on sticks
Chapatti, green oranges, mangos,
pineapples,
Roasted banana, milk, water, Cokes
Commerce at the basic level
Live chickens and plastic milk containers
Stored under the seat
“Short call / long call”
A euphemism for necessary bodily
functions
Just 200 shillings
To
access 3 filthy stalls
Of human waste
Holding all your belongings ….and your
breath
As you squat
Humiliated
The mood however is unperturbed and
resigned
Music videos blare at punishing decibels
Lovely African melodies
Insufferable 1980’s Christian hymns
Vying for attention,
While kids play on the floor
Under the dirty feet
Life is what it is
Each traveler moving
Towards some pressing destination
Job, marriage, funeral, school, lover,
hospital
Praying for safe travels
To pass un-hassled by the police check
points
And loaded tankers headed for Sudan
Along the narrow ruined road
To the bustling city
Kampala
Reptilian
Emotions May 18th,
2012
Anger
Part of the anthology
Of our reptilian emotions
The baser side of mankind
Anger-Hatred-Jealousy-Envy-Pride-Sloth
Humans slide effortlessly into these
Destructive reactions
It is easier – by some twist of creation
To
embrace the evil
Ignoring the divine
Composure-Love-Faith-Goodwill-Modesty-Effort
Overlooking the rich rewards
That come when electing
The more difficult route
A challenge to convince ourselves
To persevere
To follow the journey of the hero
Deciding to choose
Kindness and compassion
As trusted guides
On the voyage
To a settled soul
Hugs to everyone! Karla
PS I did not get trained as a “victims advocate” last week
because the training has been postponed until a final curriculum comes out of
Washington DC. So stay tuned on that issue.
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