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July 16, 2006

Disappearing Act

I'm about to disappear for awhile, a week in Kampala, followed by two weeks in Europe followed by some more time in Kampala.

See ya when I see ya! (probably 5 weeks or so).

July 10, 2006

Functions

Going to functions is a big deal here, they are usually long drawn out affairs that start hours late. I seem to get invited to random ones where I have no business even being there. The good news is that they are always followed by free food!

This weekend I went to a hand-over ceremony for students from a local college organization. I think the purpose is that the outgoing president is supposed to hand over duties to the incoming president. Why I was invited, I have no idea!

I was was told it was to start at 1:00, it started at 6:00. We arrived about 4:00. It took place at a local hotel that has some very nice grounds with some statues made by local artists. So we spent most of our time hanging out in the gardens drinking sodas.

Here's Susan with Moses's children: Mavis, Shalom & Moses Jr. out on the grounds.

Susan, Mavis, Shalom, & Moses jr.

This fuction was similar to others I've been to as it consisted mainly of people giving long speeches while the audience looks bored. This went on for a good three hours. I somehow got seated at the head table so I spent most of the night trying to look interested.

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This function had a couple interesting twists though. In between speeches someone would come up and lip sync to a song and people would come up and put money in their pockets.

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Then at the end someone came up with a package and people were supposed to bid on it. I'm still not quite sure how it worked but it took about an hour and somehow they got about 4000 shillings out of me (about $2.00).

Finally we ate!

July 2, 2006

The Grill is Open

Today we fired up the grill for the first time. My hut is complete (except for a hammock) and I invited a few people over for a test run.

Here's a picture of the completed hut:

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We cooked up 5 chickens and a couple kilos of goat meat along with plantains and potatoes. Everything came out great.

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The big hit came after we finished eatiing, last time I was in Kampala I picked up a bag of marshmallows and we roasted them over the fire. No one here had even heard of marshmallows before but they were all quick converts. Soon we had dozens of kids hanging over the fence as we roasted and gave them marshmallows. I think I may need to pick up a whole bunch more next time I go to the city.

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