Jam and butter - Saturday

Weekend Rest  (Sept 26-27)

This weekend offered a great rest time for me as the girls headed to Kampala because Brooke has a flight Monday morning to head back to the US. So they took off Friday morning and I was home alone. I took advantage of my Friday evening and watched ‘The Proposal,’ probably staying up later than I should have, but shoot, I used to work weekend night shift. A friday night to do whatever I wanted was unheard of until about a month ago! I tried to sleep in Saturday morning but a text from a wonderful friend woke me up and I decided to get ready and go to Cafe Larem to have breakfast and get on the internet. 

When I got to the cafe I looked over the menu and decided on the “American Classic.” Eggs, sausage, and toast with jam and butter. I could have cared less about all of it except the jam. That sold me. I didn’t realize how much a good peanut butter and jelly sandwich satisfied my hunger until I came here and found that jelly is really expensive. Bananas are good with peanut butter, but every once in a while you gotta splurge, even when in Uganda. So I ordered that breakfast and enjoyed EVERY second of my toast with jam and butter, since I hadn’t had jam in at least a month. I actually took a picture and the waitress laughed at me, but I didn’t care. And ya, I’ve now been here for a month! That was really crazy to realize.

After spending some time chatting with friends and family and enjoying my breakfast I headed to the open air market to get a few things. It smelled a lot like fish that day, which I found out was because a huge load of smoked tilapia came in from Lake Victoria. Not the best smell in the world, but not horrible either. I found some small bananas, an avocado and a mango and was satisfied. I decided I’d save the adventure of buying smoked tilapia for another day. Before I left the states I had been told to check out the market but also to realize that it can be overwhelming. However, as I was in there I loved it! Its very busy, and lots of people selling lots of different things, but at the same time its amazing and I love the colors, smells and sights. I talked with the vendors, asking them which fruit was the best and other questions about the market. They were all very helpful and welcoming. As I left I sort of began laughing because to me this is so comfortable. This controlled chaos is exciting and wonderful to me. Not sure where that comes from but its reality. I love it.

I spent a lot of time writing and reading on Saturday, as well as cleaning. I hadn’t realized the plug in the floor was clogged and water was running out into the hall while I was taking my shower until a substantial amount had escaped, so I ended up mopping the floor. Then, in typical Jamie form, I went on a rampage. I spent a couple of hours doing little chores I had though of doing in the past week and it was wonderful. It made me feel like I was at home, and that I was investing in this house that is home for me while I am here in Gulu. Saturday was well spent in my opinion.