I am holding my breath here in Uganda watching certain international events unfold. (By watching I mean listening to on the radio and reading about in the newspaper.) I can't bring myself to feel happy about this considering the repercussions it has the potential of sparking. I do feel somewhat relieved, and proud that as a country we never gave up, but looking at the last ten years and seeing what hatred and division has taken over my country, I can't help but wonder what the next ten years have in store.
On to happier things, like my turquoise walls. I went on Sunday to pick out paint, feeling pretty sure I was going to have to chose from one of nine generic colors, but was totally blown away by an actual wall of paint samples like in the good ole' US of A. My eyes zoomed in on the brightest, most obnoxious deep turquoise there was, and I bought two cans of it for 90,000/=. I spent all afternoon slopping up three, nay, four coats of the stuff, and there are still streaks in some places. I broke my own rule by putting such a cool color in a place where I look in the mirror, because now my face always has a greenish-bluish tinge to it and I have to remind myself that I'm not sick or choking when I'm getting dressed in the morning. Tomorrow, fingers crossed, I will be venturing back into the town to pick up a cabinet that I put a deposit on, along with a sofa and a table. I have things to hang up but don't want to do that until I have furniture in place to gauge where everything should go (I'm hanging things with giant nails that don't like being repositioned, and duct tape that has all the intention of peeling my pretty paint.)
I had a staff meeting today, my first real Ugandan meeting on my own with no other Americans to sit near and commiserate with. It was supposed to start at 9, so I got there at a few minutes till, asked where it was, and was told by the secretary that no one was there yet, so to wait in the staff room. I sat there until about 9:30, thankful I'd brought my book, when I decided to wander to the library to see if maybe they'd just forgotten to tell me it was starting, but no, they hadn't. I was the first one there, and slowly some of my colleagues meandered in. At about 10:30 the principal started saying things like "Eh! Have they forgotten?" and "This rain, it has delayed them, surely," and making phone calls. We started around 11 am, opened with a prayer, covered two items in the agenda, and then took a tea break. I got lost in all that was discussed, but a lot of it seemed like things that could be decided in private meetings or among the administration rather than in a general beginning of term meeting. Five prayers, one lunch, and six hours later, we were done. Just like the laundry, I have very little sympathy for any of my friends who have to attend staff meetings, sorry. The list is growing.
On to happier things, like my turquoise walls. I went on Sunday to pick out paint, feeling pretty sure I was going to have to chose from one of nine generic colors, but was totally blown away by an actual wall of paint samples like in the good ole' US of A. My eyes zoomed in on the brightest, most obnoxious deep turquoise there was, and I bought two cans of it for 90,000/=. I spent all afternoon slopping up three, nay, four coats of the stuff, and there are still streaks in some places. I broke my own rule by putting such a cool color in a place where I look in the mirror, because now my face always has a greenish-bluish tinge to it and I have to remind myself that I'm not sick or choking when I'm getting dressed in the morning. Tomorrow, fingers crossed, I will be venturing back into the town to pick up a cabinet that I put a deposit on, along with a sofa and a table. I have things to hang up but don't want to do that until I have furniture in place to gauge where everything should go (I'm hanging things with giant nails that don't like being repositioned, and duct tape that has all the intention of peeling my pretty paint.)
I had a staff meeting today, my first real Ugandan meeting on my own with no other Americans to sit near and commiserate with. It was supposed to start at 9, so I got there at a few minutes till, asked where it was, and was told by the secretary that no one was there yet, so to wait in the staff room. I sat there until about 9:30, thankful I'd brought my book, when I decided to wander to the library to see if maybe they'd just forgotten to tell me it was starting, but no, they hadn't. I was the first one there, and slowly some of my colleagues meandered in. At about 10:30 the principal started saying things like "Eh! Have they forgotten?" and "This rain, it has delayed them, surely," and making phone calls. We started around 11 am, opened with a prayer, covered two items in the agenda, and then took a tea break. I got lost in all that was discussed, but a lot of it seemed like things that could be decided in private meetings or among the administration rather than in a general beginning of term meeting. Five prayers, one lunch, and six hours later, we were done. Just like the laundry, I have very little sympathy for any of my friends who have to attend staff meetings, sorry. The list is growing.
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