It is kind of funny how I blogged so easily every day in Nicaragua. Here, life is just different. Quieter I guess you could say. It is just an entirely different way of living. Here we live on a compound that is a couple of acres in size. It is covered in plumeria trees, roses, mango trees, bananas…all kinds of good smelling or delicious goodies. Here we have to make an effort to see people though. We have the askaris (guards) that are here day and night and two house ladies, Harriet and Margaret. There is also a family, headed up by Francis that lives on the compound. I love it when our kids go out to play with his children Vincent, Joel, and Daneen. I believe they also have an older daughter that we rarely see because she helps her mother with her house work and goes to school. These are the people we see the most.
In Nicaragua all we had to do was step out our front door and we were plunged into the busy boisterous party that is Nicaraguan life. It was all we could do sometimes to shut ourselves in, close the heavy wooden front doors and hope no one would come knocking just so we could have some peace and quiet. Here, it is always peaceful and quiet. Well except for exotic bird calls, guinea hens, turkeys gobbling, chickens clucking and the rooster crowing, dogs barking, a random cow lowing at the gate, an occasional loud protest from the resident pig and, of course, crickets at night and frogs when it rains. All that and the askaris laughing or loudly chatting. Oh yeah, and inevitable yelling from the rugby/football (soccer) field across the street when there is a game. And the “put put” of a random boda passing by. It is a different kind of noise. An African symphony of sorts. I think they are all beautiful (at least the natural ones). But sometimes I get lonely. Sometimes we just have to go into town to be immersed in humanity. And going to a village, well that is always a treat and a sure fix.
The Source Cafe is the crux of Kibo Group. That is where everyone is. All of our Ugandan friends (beside the ones on the compound) and the missionaries that call Jinja home. You can always find a few of them there, lurking around. That is where we go when we need to see people. That is where we go and where we are warmly greeted. But we are making friends too with random goods sellers, grocery store managers, and restaurant owners. It will be a sad day when we have to leave Jinja. Even though I know we will return. We just will. We have to.
Life takes longer here too. I know I have said that before and I’m not really sure why or how to explain it. You just have to experience it to know. It is a mystery. I have two house ladies to help me out and somehow we are all busy all day long. And daily there is stuff that inevitably is left undone. Laundry just takes longer to wash, hang, and then throw in the dryer to kill the mango fly eggs. Just to make a meal takes a while and many hands. Take pizza. We have to make the dough, shred the cheese (if there happened to be mozzarella cheese at the supermarket that week), make the sauce, chop the toppings….it just takes longer. There are no shortcuts here. No conveniently pre-packaged foods. There are few restaurants open for dinner, so that is not an easy fall back option. No snack foods unless you make them. It is just different. More time consuming in every way. Food does taste better though since it is all incredibly fresh.
All that to say. Yes, life takes longer here. Sometimes it can be lonely. Some things can be incredibly inconvenient (such as no electricity or water or particular food items missing from the market when you need them). But I still love it. One day in the village sets everything to rights. One visit to the Source to see friendly faces. Good people. Good community. Good food. Incredible smiles. I am taking it all in. It is growing within me and growing me. It will all be with me, wherever I go.
-Dione
