OK - I take back what I said about rainy season being a good thing. Today I start home at a good trot, having brought only my umbrella and seeing black skies moving in. Big fat drops - up with the umbrella. Three school girls in the blue uniforms appear under my arm and giggle about walking with the Munu - and openly admit their friends will be jealous. This is the big time - walking under an umbrella - the Munu is just an added attraction. I stop at Uchumi, but am told I have to check my bag and NO ONE keeps my bag when the computer is in it, so I forego shopping. Now it's pouring and already muddy streams are covering my shoes. Up the hill, jumping over puddles already, I finally give it up and stand under the awning of a bar. No one is on the streets - Uganda stops when there is rain and this is torrential. Soon people move inside and off the porch because the porch is flooding - the ditches overflow and bring boxes, bottles, school books, crates, large pieces of wood - screaming down the street. The water continues to rise and this is a real frog strangler - thunder and lightning. I wait this out about 30 minutes and head out when the rain abates and I can jump across river and slog on through. I follow a gaggle of boys as they navigate the least flooded parts.
So, Geoffrey, my counterpart is traveling to Amaru tomorrow and I'm invited to go see what happens in the really rural village home learning centers. It's all day - I told to bring food, water, toilet paper, rain gear and boots. OK - that means I have to shop for non-perishables: eggs to boil, large bottles of water, Peanut Butter (hope it's not rancid) and jelly - and another store for bread. I continue on and hope I make it without breaking any eggs - no cartons here, just all piles in a plastic bag and thrown in with the hard stuff.
Through some fairly deep puddles in my sandals (and I have chose this day to wear long pants - bad move) dreading the access to my house, I am relieved that most of the mud I was anticipating plowing through has actually washed down the hill where I witnessed it roiling down the street in front of the bar. The point is - I have now made it home without having to take my shoes OFF and have incurred no major damage. My big worry was that the computer would get damp. All else pales in comparison - even the broken egg.
Still raining - had power for 10 minutes. Will see what I can conjure for dinner. Something I ate today (Rolex - the Ugandan version of a breakfast taco cooked on an iron skillet, in a way that one tries to trust - and is usually OK - but today maybe not so much) did a number on my stomach. Friends, I cannot tell you what a luxury it is to have bathrooms in every office or at least nearby. Here, if you're caught out with tummy-troubles, pray that you can FIND a toilet or a latrine. TP is a plus and like the American Express Card - "never leave home without it..." My trouble began as I was borrowing the power across the street from the office which is also across a different street from the only toilet in the vicinity. No fun...
But all warm and cozy now - under my net - clean thanks to a cold shower. Thinking of dinner and hoping for power.
N
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