Food Snob, Wonderful Weather, Work, Poetry

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 4^th, 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 15^th, 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 13^th, 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 13^th,  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 18^th, 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 18^th, 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.