Blog Fail

Yes, I’m aware that I haven’t kept up with my blog.  I’m not really sure what happened!  I got so busy with finishing up my RUMPS project and planning for GLOW, I didn’t really have much time.  Plus, I spend copious amounts of time on my computer for GLOW, so I started to develop a love-hate relationship with my computer anyway.

But, I think it just came down to this: I didn’t really have anything more to share.  I have been living in Uganda for almost two years.  Nothing seems to phase me anymore.  Nothing really seems newsworthy.  Now, it’s just been life.  Although there are a few volunteers that rock at updating their blogs, I think a lot of us fall into this blog slump.  The crazy things, the interesting conversations, the culturally shocking moments- it becomes completely normal.

The only exception in the last three weeks:

In the evenings in Mbale, there are rows of jackfruit tables set up along the main street.  The vendors are cutting jackfruit, peeling the fruit from the rind, cleaning the pieces of sap and sticky gum.  Jackfruit has the most unique, pungent smell, and I can smell the stands from a few blocks away. 

As Audrey and I shopped the stands, taste tasting here and there, we pushed through the crowed streets.  A man stood in our way, wearing a backpack backwards, with the pouch resting on his stomach.  “You want to buy?”  He reached into his backpack slowly, shielding his precious commodity.  His hands gripped a ball of needles.  Audrey and I both were very confused. 

“What is that?”  Audrey asked.

“Oh my GOD!  Is that a hedgehog?!” I was practically screaming at him.  The crowd standing on the street watching the football game through a window turned their attention to stare at us.

“WHAT?!  THAT IS A HEDGEHOG?!”

“White people don’t want hedgehogs!!  Where did you get that?!”

“From the forest.  You buy?”

“NO!  We don’t want.  Take it back to the forest!  It must be hungry.”

“No no.  Eats everything.  Greens, fruit, food.  You feed it.  You buy?”

“NO!  Oh my god!  We don’t want it!”

“You don’t want?  Ok.”  He replaced the hedgehog into the front pocket of his backpack and disappeared into the busy streets.  The crowd turned back to their football.  The jackfruit men were still yelling, “Taste!  You buy!!!”  To everyone else, it was a completely normal situation.- one that still managed to shock Audrey and I!

With only eight weeks left in my service, I want to revitalize my blog.  I realized that I have a few more stories left in me.  So forgive my abandonment, and read on.