Oh Yes, I Remember

Dry season.  Here we go.  After six months of running water, it finally stopped yesterday.  Last year was a particularly hot/dry year and I had no water from January until June.  Hopefully this year won’t be that bad.  Dry season also mean dust and sweat.  The time of year when I desperately want daily bucket baths, I have to ration my water and wait to bathe until my appearance (and odor) is intolerable.  Of course, once I’m clean, I immediately start sweating again.

My electricity has been stable, but I expect that to end soon as well.  At least the power will come on for a few hours a day (during the dry season), but the water may be gone for a long time.

Now that the holidays are over, I’m getting back into my routine at school and home. There's not a whole lot to write about, just a couple a random things from my weekend: 

I was walking around Arua doing my errands and I found a caterpillar on my shirt.  Unfortunately, African caterpillars are sort of poisonous.  They look fat and fuzzy, but the “fuzz” is really sharp little pin-like points that stick into your skin and cause a rash.  So I got a rash on two fingers and my left forearm.  (I got pricked by the caterpillar before I actually saw it.  I finally flicked it off my shirt with a pen.)  I’m really tired of dealing with African bugs.

My bike got a flat tire on Saturday, so I asked the school driver to give me a ride to town.  A few other people were going – Monica, one of the nursing school teachers, was going and it had been a while since I’d seen her (she only teaches during the first semester).  So she sees me and says, “Laura!  You look so different!  Ahhhh . . . you are used to living in Uganda.”  . . . . . . What the hell does that mean??  Do I look good?  Happy?  Comfortable living here?  Or do I look like shit from frequent bus rides and constant battles with spiders? Or do I look like someone who’s been stung by a caterpillar and whose bike has a flat tire?  It was one of those moments that kept me thinking for the rest of day.

Today has been better.  I started the morning with banana coffee (that I bought in Zanzibar) and pumpkin spice granola bars (from home).  I finished the rough draft of the grant for Girl Tech, got my bike tire repaired, washed two days worth of dishes, and cooked Indian food for lunch.  And now that I’ve blogged, I think I’ll watch a movie.