Day Trip

A while ago I told about the day trip Amy, Martha, Chrissie, and I took with the guys up to Nakapiripirit. It was a Saturday, and we decided it would fun to get out and see the sights. We hung out at the Resort, still under construction but nice and spacious and empty, and then wandered down to the market where there were no good deals but we did get to see an exciting parade in honor of the new LC's swearing in. Then some of us went to eat in one of the local restaurants - not in the wooden building where most of the men were sitting, but a covered area next door, where one of the officials from Namalu also was seated. Afterward I stopped at a shop that had shoes lined up on the porch, and found beaded sandals for about half the price they are in Kampala (only 10,000 shillings when you buy two more pairs - about $5), which was by far my best purchase on the whole trip. Then we rode home in the back of Bob's pickup...it's a very small truck, but somehow manages to fit welding gear, a generator, steel beams, etc. and more than half a dozen people. I sat very comfortably on a rolled up piece of rope. One of the schoolboys, who was working for Bob on his vacation, kept us entertained by making up geography. When we passed Tokora, I asked if that was the hospital where my dad had had stitches (when he came back in 2001), and Lokwii said yes...that was Nairobi. Altogether it was a very fun day getting to see more of Karamoja, and is in fact the only "sightseeing" I did last year, so in spite of not seeing any elephants or ostriches, it was still pretty nice.

Posho and Polenta

I made polenta this week, and it reminds me very much of posho in texture, only grainier. The posho I had a restaurant in Nakapiripirit was actually tastier, without a cornmeal taste at all. (Well, perhaps that's because it wasn't made with corn; but sorghum is probably a very similar grain.) Hmm, the Karamojong and Italians have more in common than I thought...