It has been a couple of crazy weeks in Kampala with a move last weekend, a new (well, to me that is) car purchase, and lots of interesting work. I no longer live off Semawata Road (reasons for the move - better price, better location, nicer house), but Lower Kololo Terrace isn't a nice blog name, so I think I'll stick with this one. Some highlights from the past couple weeks:
I hosted a dinner party for about 20 people in the new place last night which was quite an adventure. At 6:30pm everything was running very smoothly and the food was on track to be ready at 7:30/8.... then the power went out.... then 5 minutes later, the stove ran out of gas. After considering serving people bread and raw vegetables and sending my roommate around town looking for a gas refill (apparently there is a shortage and there won't be any gas until next week), the power came on at 7:40 and a friend brought over their gas tank. By 9:15, we had a meal on the table, and thankfully friends had brought plenty of side dishes to tide people over. Despite the chaos, it was a lot of fun and something I was never quite able to do in my tiny New York apartment.
One of my co-workers introduced me to the "Muzungu Market" (muzungu is the word for white people/Europeans that originally meant wanderers) - basically a farmers market with wonderful food of types that are generally difficult to find in Kampala. Top finds: great bread, amazing eggs with yellow yolks (most yolks here are white and the eggs are flavorless), doughnuts, sun dried tomatoes, basil, goat cheese feta, and much more. They have a little cafe that serves the best breakfast in Kampala, pictured below.
Finally, a few pictures of the new place (bedroom pre-bed net) - it's a neat older house (well, large apartment as it's part of a 6-apartment compound) with a lot more character than my last place and a beautiful big yard.
I hosted a dinner party for about 20 people in the new place last night which was quite an adventure. At 6:30pm everything was running very smoothly and the food was on track to be ready at 7:30/8.... then the power went out.... then 5 minutes later, the stove ran out of gas. After considering serving people bread and raw vegetables and sending my roommate around town looking for a gas refill (apparently there is a shortage and there won't be any gas until next week), the power came on at 7:40 and a friend brought over their gas tank. By 9:15, we had a meal on the table, and thankfully friends had brought plenty of side dishes to tide people over. Despite the chaos, it was a lot of fun and something I was never quite able to do in my tiny New York apartment.
After a couple months of getting frustrated trying to get around Kampala without riding boda bodas (motorcycle taxis that are very cheap and convenient but very dangerous) or driving, I decided it made sense to get a car as used cars maintain re-sale value quite well here and CHAI will cover a good portion of gas money. The expat car of choice seems to be the Rav4 because they are small and fairly cheap, but still have high clearance for Kampala's monster speed bumps and potholes. With the of CHAI's wonderful driver Paul, I found a blue one that even in just the past 4 days has been great to have.
Ann Marie, What a feat to host such a fete! I recall trying the same once in Barcelona, but instead of running out of gas, my roommate's dog ate all the sausage I'd purchased. No sausage for sale during the dinner hour, of course. So glad you were able to make all these changes--and at the same time! How fun to see you behind the wheel of a car.
ReplyDelete