Whimpy American

I confess, yesterday I bought a small microwave oven. I swore we were going to live without a microwave this year, but I caved and bought one. My main reasons were two. First, on Tuesday and Thursday nights when I'm not home I leave dinner for Bry'Chell to heat up. Usually it's leftovers from the night or two before.

When Bry'Chell gets home from school she's tired and hungry. She leaves home at 6:30 AM and returns about 6:15 PM. For lunch she usually has a peanut butter sandwich or a chapatti. By the time she gets home she's pretty darn hungry. Yes, she should eat more for lunch, but she gets too much attention if she brings other stuff. The other students think she's a rich American, so anything out of the ordinary just confirms that belief.

When I'm not home she often just makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for supper and ignores the lovingly prepared leftovers that need to be heated on the stove in a pan that will have to be washed.

Last night Peter, my driver, dropped off the groceries and other stuff--including the microwave--that I bought in Kampala, while I stayed behind to teach. Bry'Chell saw the microwave, unpacked it, set it up and heated the refried rice I had left for her dinner. Hurray! She had a reasonably balanced dinner.

The second reason I got the microwave is actually two-fold. The dollar is stronger against the Uganda shilling than when I arrived. Yesterday I got 1990 shillings for each dollar. That compares to the 1585 per dollar I received just two months ago. The weaker shilling combined with a sale on the microwave at Game (the local Target-type store) induced me to take the leap.

Although the improved exchange rate helps me, it's really hurting local folks. Fuel prices continue to go up, so food prices are going up. Even local food has to get to the trading center. Some farmers bring their produce by bicycle, but many use a boda-boda, the ubiquitious motorcycles that transport everything from people to food to charcoal and lumber. Boda-bodas are pretty efficient, but they still take petrol--as gas is known locally.

I know from the news I read on the internet that the economy is bad at home, but as bad as it might be, it's worse here for the local people. The average annual per capita GNP here is $267 compared to $43,743 in the US. The US is the 6th wealthiest country in the world. Uganda is 211. That's out of 224 countries.

Oh well, I'm a whimp.