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.