Mubende and Soda

Mubende in the morning

I am spending a few days in Mubende again and the photo is the view as I walked from my hotel room to the office this morning. Morning fog, rolling hills, everyone starting their day... gorgeous, right?

My hotel room comes fully equipped with its own self contained bathroom, HELLO FLUSHING TOILET!!! And a king-size bed. I am now committing myself to someday owning a king-size bed for the sole fact that I can do a complete 180 while sleeping! And since I'm back in Mubende, I get to enjoy my favorite Mubende meal: chips and egg. Yay!

Soda in the Uganda makes my life happier. It tastes better than American soda. I think it has something to do with the fact that they use real sugar and they have fun flavors. There are the standards: Coke, Coke Lite, Fanta, Sprite, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew. The unique ones I never seen in the US include:

Krest Bitter Lemon- it’s like tonic water but with lemon added. A Coca-Cola Product.
Stoney Ginger Beer- Not alcoholic, strong ginger taste. Another Coca-Cola Product.
Mirinda- there are many different flavors to choose from. Here in Uganda it’s mostly grape, lemon, orange, pineapple, and the new apple. A PepsiCo Product.
Novida- A non-alcoholic malt beverage. Available in orange and pineapple in Uganda. A Coca-Cola Product. I’ve only ever tried the pineapple.
Alvaro- Another non-alcoholic malt beverage. Available in pineapple, pear, and passion fruit. I’ve tried all three. They’re all great, but my preferred order goes: passion fruit, pear, and finally pineapple. An East African Breweries Limited Product.

After trying every kind of pineapple soda available (as far as I know), my favorite still has to be Mirinda Pineapple. Absolutely delicious. Now if the US could only carry it… And if Alvaro could be something carried in the States, I'd be all over the passion fruit one.

Expert Bug Killer

As is typically my habit before going to bed, I turn off the lights (if we have power), sit inside my bed net, turn on my head lamp or a flash light, shine it at the wall, and wait. Inevitably some bug (whether mosquito or otherwise) will be attracted to the light and will then succumb to the unavoidable death via my hand squashing it against the wall. It’s most gratifying when it is a mosquito but any bug will do. I currently have giant mosquito bites that look more similar to small tumors on my legs; very attractive. No malaria yet though!

Our organization has a new program manager (PM), which is very exciting since now there is another go-to person for any and all questions I may have during my stay here. As for work, I have been all over the place. We’ve come pretty far in our initial M&E data collection process. I have to sit down with the Sembabule data and go through it. Microsoft Excel and Access are really difficult to manage all the data in, but it’s the only system we have right now. I’d download CSPro or at least something else, but the internet is way too slow for that. I was in Mubende for 2 days, meeting the new PM and attending regional meetings. It’s a little difficult to coordinate between the two sites since I spend most of my time in Sembabule, so I worry about data a lot. But it looks like next week I will be heading back to Mubende to spend some time there, helping out with the M&E stuff. While I was in Mubende, I attended and Legal and Human Rights for OVCs meeting. It was really interesting to see the different stakeholders come together and discuss the problems they face in Mubende for OVCs. We had speakers from the District, the Police, the Prison, and another organization working with OVCs in Mubende. It was really eye-opening, and I really see the challenges that need to be dealt with so that OVCs know and exercise their rights.

The cell phone I have here is less high-tech than the cell phone I use in the US, but it does come with a feature I wish I had on my phone in the States. This would be the torch (aka flashlight). At the top of many, even the most basic, flashlights, they have a built in flashlight that you can turn on and off. This proves to be very helpful rather than using the bright screen of the cell phone to illuminate whatever you’re trying to do. Love it. What I love less, the lack of a full keyboard on which to text on. I never learned that skill since I wasn’t able to text until after I got a phone with a fancy keyboard. Thus texting takes me about 10 years...

A little about my work and my weekend

We have done a survey of private practitioners who offer family planning services in hard-to-reach areas in the Sembabule District and I have been compiling all the information to write a report about it. It's been awesome to find that though most of these practitioners are not licensed by the District Drug Authority, they still make services available to people in their areas, and though many of the nursing assistants don't have formal training, they do have experience on the job and can still help women with family planning services.

I have also participated in a few supervision support visits where the Nutrition/OVC and HIV/AIDS officers go out into the community and talk with the community caregivers and their supervisors about the paperwork they are filling out to track the number of PHAs and OVCs they are offering services to. Unfortunately, my Luganda is horrible so I cannot understand any of their conversations. But the car ride brings me to remote areas of our district I have never been to. And I once again have to say, Uganda is amazingly beautiful. The countryside is so gorgeous, and now that the rainy season has arrived, everything is green and lush. While we were driving, I even saw 3 crested cranes. The crested crane is the Ugandan national bird and is even included on the Ugandan flag. Actually, the three colors of the Ugandan flag (black, yellow, and red) are colors found in the bird's plumage. It's a beautiful bird.

This past weekend, I went to Kampala. I made a few new friends and said good-bye to one (the awesome British girl who is in the picture with me and Lake Bunyonyi in the background). It was very relaxing to just hang out with non-Africans, speak real American English, and eat some delicious food. I was introduced to Cafe Pap, which is this fantastic cafe in the city center. The food is amazing. They have REAL tortillas for burritos and fajitas, which I have never seen in Uganda yet, so I was impressed. I really recommend this place if you're ever in Kampala.

PS Cafe Pap serves real Heinz Ketchup! If you've ever tried to use the other ketchup or tomato stuff the restaurants give you when they serve you chips here, you'll understand why this is so awesome. I've never been a total fan of ketchup but mmmm I do appreciate it here!

It's been almost 2 months in Uganda

(Written Sept 1) The one frustrating part about being in Sembabule is the Russian Roulette we play with internet and electricity. Sometimes you have network for the internet, but then you don’t have electricity for your computer to work. Other times, there is no network for the internet while electricity is on. Then there are the times when you don’t have either one, but you need to get things done at work. Internet is all done through SIM cards and the cell phone companies in Uganda, so it really depends on if the company you are buying internet through has network in your region. In Sembabule, MTN works best, but it is still comes and goes without warning. And as for electricity, our office, unlike the one in Mubende, does not have an inverter, so we are at the mercy of the electricity in the district.


We still do not have gas for the gas stove here in the office so I’ve been subsisting off of the smorgasbord of crackers/cookies/random things I picked up at grocery store in Kampala. The Haribo gummies in Uganda are imported from England, so though they are a little pricey, they taste fantastic! I had a Snickers bar the other day too; it was a gift and there’s no way I pass up any kind of candy while I’m here in Uganda. Not as sweet as the ones sold in the US, but still delicious. Thus far I have not been able to find any Kinder products, which makes me sad. Two years ago, we bought Kinder Buenos in the grocery store by Makerere University and hoarded them like starving children. This year, I’ve only been able to find Cadbury products.

The rainy season is officially upon us, which means temperatures actually cool down here. I write this wearing a jacket and wishing I could be wearing pants (must wear skirts in the office). It’s actually a great change of pace from the normal dry heat and avid amounts of dust. The rainy season has also brought many strange bugs to the office, which I have had the great pleasure of stepping on as I walk from my room to the office. Unfortunately for me, little did I know that some of these bugs omit a very odd and unpleasant odor when killed. Oops. Then I was able to watch ants move the carcasses of these dead bugs back to their homes, under the cracks of concrete in the office. I believe my coworkers think I am about 5 years old because I managed to sit and watch ants for about 15 minutes during lunch. I was extremely amused. I also chased a gecko around the office compound for fun after work, which made my supervisor laugh. Bugs, lizards… the things I do to stay entertained when there is no power and no internet and after reading three books in a row.

Update for today, Sept 2, finally got a little internet. As soon as it came, power shut off... TIA

Day 50 in Uganda has come and gone

I got to enjoy the weekend in Kampala. For the first time, my ride from Sembabule to Masaka took less than two hours. WOOHOO!! No stopping and starting every 5 minutes. I was very happy with my driver. Once in Kampala, I found a small, clean hotel to stay in, right in the middle of the city. It was convenient but a little noisy. But the best part about it is the bathroom: real toilet and a stand up shower. YES!!! The water for the shower was cold, but it was amazing to be able to shower standing up for once. See? I enjoy the little luxuries in life these days. After I dropped my stuff off at the hotel, I went in search of food. During my search for food, I passed Aristoc, a pretty decent bookstore in Kampala, so I popped in and bought Kate Mosse’s Sepulchre. I never read her first book, Labyrinth, but I’ll let you know if I like it or not. I found dinner at a small pizza place in the city center called Domino’s, no affiliation to the US chain. The vegetarian pizza was pretty good! One of the plus sides to being in Kampala is that the internet is much more stable, which means I had the guilty pleasure of playing Youtube videos and reading celebrity gossip websites after I got back to the hotel. Let me tell you, it was very satisfying.


Then on Saturday, I enjoyed the movie Salt at Garden City. It was my first time seeing a movie by myself second time at the Garden City movie theater (first time was Sex and the City two years ago!!!), and I even got a free soda with my movie ticket purchase! After the movie, I pursued one of my favorite Kampala activities: wandering aimlessly. The city is pretty safe, so when done in daylight, I never have any problems. I don’t know the city that well but I know where certain big landmarks are (like the Sheraton Hotel and Makerere University) so I usually wander until I see something familiar. And when all else fails, there are always boda bodas to hop on who know how to get you to where you need to go. As I wandered away from Garden City, I happened upon the UNDP office and the Speke Hotel where they have a restaurant called Mama Mia’s. I couldn’t pass it up when I saw the sign mentioning half price pizzas every day before 6pm. So I ended up trying their pizza as a late lunch/early dinner, paired with a delicious Alvaro Passion fruit Soda. I ordered the mushroom, ham, spinach, artichoke pizza. I thought it would have all these toppings all over the pizza. It ended up being a quarter mushroom, a quarter ham, a quarter spinach, and a quarter artichoke. It was still yummy! I’d have to say Domino’s and Mama Mia’s are pretty similar. No complaints either way, only observation is that Mama Mia’s has a bigger pizza for a better value if you buy it before 6pm for the half price discount. Oh and PS half price pasta on Wednesdays and half price ice cream on Sundays at Mama Mia’s!! And yes I realize I just ate pizza for a meal 2 days in a row… but there is no pizza in Sembabule and my favorite Indian restaurant doesn’t open for dinner until 7pm, so you’ll have to forgive me.

After eating, I wandered a bit more and found my way to the African Craft Market. If you’re ever looking for sensory/shopping overload, that’s the place to go. Stalls and stalls of African crafts and souvenirs. Very fun but very exhausting. I picked up a few fun things but seeing as I’m going to be here for a little while longer, I restrained my gift buying urges. (But Joy and Jodi, if you’re reading this, get excited. I already found something for you guys!)

On Sunday, I picked up a few much needed snacks from Nakumatt, including some overpriced candy, and headed back to Sembabule. It was a nice, chill weekend in the capital city. Now the trip back was an entirely different story. I wasn't feeling great and had to go to the bathroom... for 3 hours in the back of a matatu. Let's just say it was not the most fun I've ever had on the insanely bumpy road from Kampala to Masaka. In Masaka, it was pouring out, so that made the drive back to Sembabule a lot more eventful.

Now as the rains pour down in Uganda, we are reaching the rainy season. And I've come to understand that rain equals no power. Another week begins in Sembabule!!!

Shopping and Chapati

Shopping here in Uganda can be done in many ways but my favorite way is when a vendor shows up at the office door with different products to sell, like purses, pants, and skirts. For example, today a man stopped by the office with 15-20 bags and purses. The women who work at the office looked over the different bags, trying them out, opening them and seeing how many pockets there are. Finally upon finding one they like, they bargained with the guy until they reached an agreeable price. Shopping brought to you at work; it’s fantastic!

What do you do when you run out of snacks to eat and you are in a remote location? I turn to street food. I always frequent the same chapati stand for warm chapatis in the morning or the afternoon. I provide my chapati guy with plenty of business. He told me his name once but I honestly cannot recall what it is. He always greets me with a “hello JesCA,” which is how most people pronounce my name here. Drop the “i”, emphasis on the “ca”. So several times a week (this week it’s been more like twice daily), I pay a little less than 10 cents for each chapati. Bet you can’t find something as good as chapati for 10 cents as a snack in the States! In the afternoon, my chapati guy often has samosas filled with rice, which he sells at a little less than 5 cents per samosa. I prefer samosas filled with veggies or meat, but I haven’t been able to find any like that here in Sembabule.

I have noticed that everywhere I go, all the chapati stands are staffed by men. I happened to ask one of my coworkers about this once. Her explanation was that selling chapati is physically taxing, since you stand by the side of the road, rolling out and frying chapati. It is also just more common for men to be selling chapati. On the other hand, I’ve noticed women sell gonja, roasted sweet bananas. The reason I got for this is because roasting the bananas can be done sitting down, so it is less physically taxing for women to sell gonja. I wonder why you couldn’t find a stool and sit while making and selling chapati…

Nkoko

It’s so easy in the US not to think about where our meat comes from. We can go to a supermarket and just pick up some fresh or frozen chicken breasts from the produce aisle. Here, they don’t have the luxury of picking up pre-slaughtered meat. Instead, for around $5 US: you buy your own chicken that has been raised locally, take it home, listen to it cluck for a while, slaughter it, pluck out all the feathers, and DINNER! The former country director of the organization I work at is visiting, so in her honor, the staff in Sembabule slaughtered a chicken yesterday. It was a rather eye-opening experience; I’d never seen a chicken get slaughtered before. I have only heard stories from my parents about how they had to slaughter their own meat before they moved to the US. Let’s just say I’m glad I don’t have to slaughter my own meat. If I did, I think I’d consider becoming a vegetarian. But due to the amazing privilege of living in the US and having plenty of Shaw’s, Pick n Saves, and Whole Foods around, I can just pick up my meat at the store.

RIP Molly the Nkoko. You were delicious!