Bananas and Dirt

In my last post I misspelled the popular national dish of Uganda and may have left a false impression. The dish is matooke and it is made from green bananas, the skin of the bananas is green not the fruit. However, matooke is made from the fruit, not the skin of the banana.

I've mentioned that we have a housekeeper who comes three days a week, mostly to do laundry, which is done by hand, and to iron. Without a dryer, clothes are much more wrinkled and definitely need to be ironed. Specioza is a wonderful woman. She is patient with my difficult to understand American accent and just smiles when I talk too fast--as I tend to do when I get excited or confused. (Often these days.)

Specioza usually comes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She washes on Monday and Friday and irons on Wednesday. She also mops everyday she comes over. My floors have never been so clean. I could probably pay her less, but between Marie Ester, for whom she works on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and myself, she makes the same as a primary school teacher. This isn't to say we pay her a lot, but it's a good wage for Uganda. She has three children, a girl of 9, and two boys, ages 7 and 4. It would be wrong to pay her less than it takes to feed her kids.

Tuesday she washed as usual (there was a mix-up on Monday). She hung the clothes on the line and, as usual, I took them down in the evening when they were dry. However, the bath towels were not dry. When they still weren't dry in the morning, Bry'Chell and I used them anyway and then I hung them back on the line. Evidently, they weren't clean enough for Specioza, because she washed them again and hung them out to dry. It's sort of like having your mother around, OK, my mom would have told me to wash the towels, but you get the idea.

Things do get dirty here. When it rains it's muddy, when it doesn't rain it's dusty. The dirt is red, the color reminds me of the Grand Canyon. Since the roads are mostly dirt, except for the main highway, everything gets covered with dust, or mud depending on the day. The school kids carry a handkerchief to wipe off their shoes when they get to school so they look nice. School kids here are somewhat different than school kids at home. They like to look "smart" as they say. Translate that as clean and neat--sort of preppy, minus the brand names.

Sr. Sanyu, the Head Mistress at St. Mary's sent Bry'Chell home with some beautiful eggplant the other day. I wasn't quite sure what do do with them. In the past I put them in the fried rice. Thanks to Anji I know you can put just about anything in fried rice. These were too many and too big, so I figured I go on-line and get a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan, only I couldn't access the internet. I did my best guess based on my two restaurant experiences. I didn't have any Parmesan, but I did have fresh Mozzarella and I had leftoever sauce from spaghetti the night before. It was a hit! Bry'Chell scarfed it down and had seconds.

My books have been a hit with both faculty and students. The students come over just to stare at my bookshelf and tell me that nobody here reads that many books. I don't have the heart to tell them that these are just a few of the books I have. The faculty comes over to borrow books, specifically research methods books. This is clearly an area that needs some improvement. Fortunately, I brought several research methods books.

I haven't been able to post pictures because the internet connection has been so slow, but I'm going to try again today. The country is beautiful and I would like to share some of the pictures we've taken.

Hurray ! My Books Have Arrived

Yesterday, I was in Kampala to get my books from the embassy. They arrived, hurray!!!!! One box was missing at least one book and I have a few books that I've never seen before. I know I did not pack a book on Accounting, nor one called Standard Letters for Building Contractors. I would really like to see volume 2 of Weber's Economy and Society, the one volume I know is missing. Oh well, everything else arrived in pretty good shape.

I stayed up late putting them all on the bookcase that a local carpenter built for me. This morning I put them in order. It's wonderful to have books! Of course, I will give them all to the library. Those with multiple copies and some classics I will give now, but some of the others will have to wait until the end of the year when I'm finished with them.

I might have mentioned in another post that I've started reviewing Master's theses (they call them dissertations here, but that's too confusing--dissertations are for Ph.D.'s in my book). Folks at CSU can be reassured that these students write worse than CSU students. Of course, English is not their first language. However, it is the language of instruction from about 4th grade on.

One thing I will say, their topics appear to have real significance for the society here. I've been absolutely fascinated by the topics. They do seem to have written about topics that truly contribute to the knowledge available in their region of the world. I say region because their writing encompasses more than just this country.

Change of subject--I ate lunch at the Staff Club today. They have lunch there everyday for the staff. It's usually pretty basic--yams, casava or sweet potatoes, and matoke--made from green bananas (skin, not the insides), mashed and cooked--and a sauce made from peanuts. I don't know what kind of peanuts, because it doesn't taste anything like peanuts as I know them. By the way, peanuts are called "ground nuts" here. I must admit, I can only eat so much matoke. It's served at pretty much every meal here. It's a staple in people's diets. I'm sure it's good for me, but I'm discovering just how Western my pallet is.

Fortunately, Sr. Sanyu, the Principal or Head Mistress at Bry'Chell's school is sending lettuce from the school garden home with Bry'Chell on a regular basis. I really, really appreciate being able to have salad. The lettuce is way better than anything I see in the stores at home. Fortunately, produce is quite inexpensive here. I bought an avocado this morning for 200 Ugandan shillings (Ush). It's huge--about two to three times as big as I would find at home and for only 16 cents.

Of course, there other things that are more expensive than at home, but the basics are pretty reasonable.

Sue Pietus is still on my mind and heart. She has been a real gift to the community and her absence will leave a big hole.

Feeling Far from Home

I just checked my email and found out that Sue Pietrus died Saturday afternoon. Somehow, I didn't expect that news so soon. I knew she had advanced cancer, but I didn't realize it was that advanced. This is one of those times it's really difficult being so far away from the Woods. I can't imagine what the loss is like for Dawn, Jeanne, Lisa, MaryAnn and Wendy. My thoughts and prayers for all...all of us.

Sue was one of those people who was very supportive when Judy Shanahan was dying of Ovarian Cancer. I've been very conscious of Judy's presence since I heard of Sue's diagnosis.

Shopping in Kampala

Thursday I got a ride to Kampala with Marie Ester, IHM. She has an appointment in town so Sr. Prisca and I tagged along. Of course, we did not do the driving--Peter, the same driver I had last time was driving. Fortunately, he is a safe and careful driver. Given the potholes, lack of lines for lanes and overall craziness of the drivers between here and Kampala, Peter's caution is a wonderful attribute.

One great experience about this trip was Marie Ester. She knows where to find American-type food. Now, I've been doing well with local food. Believe me I haven't gone hungry, but it was fantastic to find cheese and good quality meat. Stanray with his chickens have been just fine, but I've had a taste for hamburger, or more accurately, things I can make with ground beef. Thursday night we had cheese burgers, last night I made chicken casadillas (the store with the meat had flour tortillas) and tonight I'm making spaghetti.

All the meat here is organic. With the chicken, free range organic is just another way of saying scrawny. The chicken isn't worth baking. I've found that if I boil the chicken and take the meat off the bone I can make things like casadillas, soup and casseroles, but there's not really that much meat. The way I'm talking you'd think I'm a big meat eater, I'm not, but I'm trying to make sure Bry'Chell gets enough protein. When I asked if her school served meat to the students I was told, yes, on Sundays. That means the boarders get meat once a week.

By the way, Bry'Chell left for school at 6:30 AM this morning. Yes, it's Saturday. They have tests this morning and soccer this afternoon, at 2 PM. The boys play, the girls watch. Bry'Chell wore her soccer shorts under her skirt. She plans to play. However, I wouldn't be surprised if she chickens out.

Back to Thursdays shopping (sorry for the stream of consciousness writing style), I was able to find a stabilizer/step-down machine, so I can plug in my stuff that won't accept 220 volts. Surprisingly, there are only a few things. Unfortunately, one of those is the battery charger. I charged one set of "D" Batteries last night and have some "AAAs" in right now.

Marie Ester and I went out to lunch. It was the same restaurant Bry'Chell and I ate at the night we arrived. The food was good. It wouldn't be exceptional at home, but I enjoyed Western style food for a change. We splurged and shared a banana split for dessert.

At the Embassy Market (so named because it's across the street from the US Embassy and sells quasi-American food) I found a small sauce pan, so I have an alternative to the big pots for heating up leftovers.

Bry'Chell Started School

Bry'Chell started school on Monday. I was a bit anxious Monday evening while I was waiting for her to arrive home. I figured she'd drag in after such a long day (7:15 AM to 5:40 PM). She didn't!!! She came in happy. Hurray!! She made friends and had fun. Since they're taking tests this week, there wasn't a lot of learning going on, but she thought the English grammar test was way too easy. Yesterday, however, she couldn't say the same for math. Today was OK--literature and stuff that she's good at. She also had biology, which she knew more than she expected, but not everything. I guess Ms. Berry and Ms. Cheers do know what they're talking about. Remember, these are 8th graders. I should have mentioned that Bry'Chell is in the high school. High School in Uganda is six years, beginning with 8th grade.

Now that Bry'Chell's in school I have more free time than I know what to do with. Fortunately, Sr. Cecilia brought over some Master's Theses for me to read and critique. The students here don't write any better than the students at CSU. I made liberal use of my red pen. However, the topics are interesting. It's a great introduction to Ugandan culture. Did you know that only about 4% of Ugandan's own a television? I like the place better already. Most do own or listen to radio.

I have found a good spot in the library for an internet connection. It's still not fast, but at least it's managable.

Sister Sanyu, the headmistress at St. Mary's sent Bry'Chell home with some lettuce yesterday. It was great to have salad again. It's the first time we've had salad at home since we arrived.

I will say the food has been good. The only difficulty is that everything is cooked from scratch. There are no mixes to make life easier. Still, I can't complain. A lot of little tricks that I remember Mom doing have come in handy--like salad dressing using Mayo, catsup and a little milk.

I went to the store today to get sugar, rice and milk. The store was out of all of them. I finally found a stall down the road in the trading center that had sugar and rice. Still no milk.

Tomorrow I'm going to Kampala for some shopping. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few things for the house that we still need. A mixing bowl and a small sauce pan are high on my list.

New Adventures

Yesterday I called Stanray, the farmer who sells chickens and eggs. I knew I wasn't in Chicago when he asked if I wanted the chickens dressed. I confirmed my suspicion with Kenneth, Bry'Chell's math tutor, that if I had not asked to have them dressed they would have been delivered either alive or dead, but not plucked. I asked to have them dressed and sure enough he showed up this morning with three dead and plucked chickens in a bag and a flat (two and a half dozen) of eggs in another bag.

Last night I went to a gathering of local sisters and priests at the neighborhood parish. I should take some pictures. The church is large, but very simple--pictures kneelers without any padding--yes, bare boards. While Mass is usually in English, this time it was partely in Lugunda and partly in English. This isn't a big deal. It's not like the liturgy is all that different no matter what the language.

The party afterwards was the fun part. We met outside the rectory. There was food and drinks for all. Actually, the food didn't arrive until about 9:30 PM, but there was beer and pop. The local beer is good. Since Bry'Chell doesns't like when I drink, I usually can't have a beer, but last night she was at home so I enjoyed my beer. I did have to listen to her lecture when I got home--something to the effect that sisters and priests shouldn't drink. Ah, life from a 12 year old's perspective.

I met several sisters. I sat between Sr. Elizabeth who is probably about my age, maybe a bit younger and the campus chaplain. Turns out he went to seminary in Camarillo--the L.A. archdiocesan seminary. What are the chances that the priest who lives in the house next door to mine, went to school in California? It gets better. One of his classmates was Bill Barman--who I went to school with in grade school at OLG. The world is way too small. We were both a little freaked out.

Sr. Elizabeth was great. She supervises the distance learning program with some 1200 students. She's really amazing. She's from the north of the country, not Gulu, but somewhere nearby. She confirmed what I have heard elsewhere, that the violence in the north is much less than it used to be.

Well, dinner will be late, but I want to get this posted.

Two Weeks Plus

I tried to get on-line yesterday to see if I could post but the connections wasn't fast enough. The way it is, to use the internet connection on my computer, I have to sit outside. While the weather is beautiful, the glare on the screen is awful.

Classes have started, but the classes for the new social science program don't start until September 29th. Even more, the classes are at the campus in Kampala which I didn't find out until I finished unpacking at the house we were assigned to in Nkozi. The undergrad classes are in the evening in Kampala which makes commuting almost impossible. Saturday there is a meeting of the administrative folks to sort out the details. The challenge is having Bry'Chell with me. Here, they would just put her in boarding school. I explained that Americans don't do much boarding school, especially not for a 7th grader.

I'm working on syllabi for the new sociology program. It's not a big deal since I have written plenty of syllabi in my time. I take the ones I have and adapt them to the local needs. The challenge is finding books since there isn't really a library available with sociology materials. My stuff won't be arriving for a few more weeks. I have a few books, but not many.

I have learned how to navigate the local market. There's not a lot of selection, but I found carrots today. One of the stores said they would order low-fat milk for me. Right now all we can get is whole milk unless we go to Kampala. The next time I do to Kampala I'm going to buy LOTS of low fat and skim milk. The available milk is that ultra pasturized stuff that can stay on the shelf without refrigeraion for months. It tastes fine. It's what most of the world uses, if they pasturize at all.

I have a phone number to call a local farmer about eggs and chicken. I need to do that soon. The only meat we have left is something I bought at the Embassy Market called "Hungarian Salami". I put it in the omettes I made the other night. Turns out Hungarian Salami is just another name for bologna. Oh well, live and learn.

On the other hand, avacados are about the size of a small cantelope. They are huge. Unfortunately, I don't have any tortilla chips to eat with them. Maybe I can fine some in Kampala. All they have around here is Pringles, which are totally disgusting.

We did get a housekeeper for three days a week. She does all the laundry by hand, which is the only way it can be done around here given the lack of wash machines. We pay her 60,000 Ush a month which is way more than the going rate, but still not much. She works for the only other American sister on campus two days a week for 40,000 Ush giving her a total of 100,000 Ush a month. That's as much as a school teacher makes. To know how much that is in US dollars, divide by 1600.

Well, I have to go, Bry'Chell's math tutor is coming over shortly and I want to be there when he arrives. He's been a big help, all the more important because Bry'Chell doesnt especially like math.

Until the next time...feel free to leave comments.