Monday, March 21, 2011

Random Information

My feet are always dirty. Even after washing them.

The currency here is the Ugandan shilling. It's roughly $1 = 2,400 shillings. I am literally a millionare here. 3,500 shillings will get you a nice big plate of beans and rice at our local lunch spot. 500 shillings will get you a ride home on a picky (motorbike)...that's about 20 cents.

The wet season as begun...mostly. They had a very long and hot dry season this year, so the rain has been a very welcome sight. It is considerably cooler now than when I arrived. But still warm.

The price of beans doubled around the time I arrived. No, not because I ate an usually large portion, but because of the lack of rain. These people are very much at the mercy of the natural elements and seasons.

I try and walk to the office and back everyday rather than getting a picky. It takes about 12 minutes each way.

There is a hotel here with a swimming pool and grass area that has quite a breathtaking view of Mount Elgon. The food and drink costs about 3 times what you would pay at a local place, but is still very cheap compared to back home. They also show English soccer matches on their TV. We go there often.

There are three padlocks plus a normal door lock on our two front doors. There is also a padlock on the inside of our big metal gate, which you have to unlock by sticking your hand through a small square hole. I'm getting better at undoing it, but it's a pain in the butt.

We have three dogs and one cat living with us. We also have a "house girl", Martha, who does our washing and cleans the house, Peter, our gardener who works on the property mon-fri all day and another Peter, who is our night guard from 6pm to 6am. They are all lovely.

We have two avocado trees, a mango tree and a few banana "trees" (?) in our backyard.

The only fresh vegetables you can buy in Mbale at the moment are tomatoes, cabbage, potato, onion, green beans, zucchini, carrots, corn & green capsicum. I think that's about it. I try to be creative with my meals, but there's only so much you can do really! Ooh mum, can you send me your recipe for zucchini slice? Ta :)

It's considered very rude in Ugandan culture to not individually greet people you come into contact with. If you walk into a room of 20 people, you don't just wave and say hi to everyone at the same time, you go around and shake each persons' hand and greet them individually.

Everything happens in slow motion here. It took over 30 minutes to have two pieces of paper scanned and attached to an email at the post office this morning.

The power cuts out often. We have lots of candles in our house.

The matches here are the most pathetic things I have ever seen. The brand is called Krishna with that blue boy god thing on the front. The stems are made from a plastic-type material that bends when you strike the head along the side of the box. They are the bain of my life.

Our dogs love burnt ANZAC cookies.

That is all for now.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Lou, love reading your blogs. Just as well I don't live in Mbale- can't eats beans or rice :) I will send you those recipes you asked for. Love Mumma xxxxx

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