So yes!  I got in my new digs today.  A whirlwind of activity – two trips in a pick-up.  I know, you wouldn’t think one could accumulate anything in such a short amount of time, but remember there is a double four poster bed (necessary for holding up a mosquito net), a desk, two chairs and a bookcase.  Then there are sundry and assorted bathing buckets, laundry buckets, night buckets, a two burner gas stove and the mega-ton propane tank that goes with it.  Add a fan, two sort-of shelving somethings, three suitcases, kitchen paraphernalia and well – you’ve got STUFF.

Have the windows partially draped, but curtain rods come tomorrow (re-bar cut in lengths), so it’s a little weird.  And the housemate is no-where.  He probably has a life…  Young people are like that.  I used to be one.

So, I got in, started putting things together and realized at way past dark-thirty that I had no drinking water, no toilet paper and no dinner.  Two of those three are pretty essential – you can guess.  So we were severely cautioned not to venture out after dark but dark happens at  6:45 or so.  By 7:00 PM it’s darker than the inside of a cat (don’t ask me how I know this – but it makes sense – really dark).  I can’t be a wuss and wait for my house mate – besides, how can I admit that I’m scared to go out after dark!!!!

Therefore, I put up my “don’t mess with me” psychic energy shield, grabbed my headlamp (gee, could I get more conspicuous?), personal alarm, keys and set off.  Nearly blinded a few Ugandans with my headlamp…  They never use flashlights and are always out in the pitch dark, dodging pot-holes and mud fields, not to mention bikes and bodas. There are a few vendors at the edge of the road with their lanterns, but otherwise, not a torch/flashlight in sight.  I don’t get it, but honestly they have much better night vision than we do and a helluva a lot better hearing.  That’s probably the price we have paid for so much light and noise pollution.

Having survived the trip, I feel a little like that third grader who just swam the width of the pool and “passed” their test.  Still, I won’t make a habit of it.

That’s the report from the Pearl of Africa….   I’d sure like to know who came up with that description.

Dong maber larema!

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