Where in the world am I???
Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa that straddles the equator. I'm kind of (read:extremely) stoked to be able to go back and forth between the hemispheres! Its neighbors are South Sudan to the north (the world's newest country!) Kenya to the east, Tanzania and Rwanda to the South/Southwest (as well as Lake Victoria) and the DRC to the west. Can you find it on this map? Clue: it's light orangish.
Uganda's capital, Kampala, is on Lake Victoria's northern shore. Lake Victoria is the second largest fresh water lake in the world, behind Lake Superior, and it is the source of the Nile River. The climate in Uganda is supposedly milder than one would expect, with it being situated directly on the equator. (It's very similar to North Florida in the late spring) The days are usually in the high 70s or 80s, and the nights are in the 60s. I'm pretty sure this is due to the elevation, which is between 900 and 1500m (2700-4500ft) above sea level in 90% of the country. There aren't seasons like we have in the US, and the temperatures are consistent all year round. There is a wet season from mid-September through November, and also one from March - May. Being on the equator also means that there are equal amounts of darkness and daylight throughout the year, and it gets dark super fast... very little "sunset" or "twilight" time.. it's light and then 15 min later it's dark.
This is the flag, that animal in the middle, apart from simply being awesome, is a Crested Crane, the national bird of Uganda. I'm not sure what the red, yellow, and black symbolize, if anything. (Update: The red stands for blood, aka brotherhood of all Ugandans/Africans, the black is for the skin, and the yellow is the sunshine).
The country is 85% Christian, for those of you who have asked if I'll have to cover my head ;) I do have to wear longer bottoms, generally skirts below the knee because the legs are the sexy part and even wearing pants shows off the fact that the legs don't join at the knee. A woman's thighs are her "power" and therefore never to be shown off because it harasses men and they can't control themselves. *cough*bullshit*cough*.
This is what I've found on food so far- it's something I've been asked a lot and wasn't sure how to answer :) I will for sure miss my mexican food and sushi nights! Edit: I cook a lot of mexican food, aka refried beans, rice, guacamole, tortillas, mango salsa, etc. No sushi though.
As sad as it is to dislike a country's food, I dislike Ugandan food. I can understand why Bourdain never comes here. The main thing here is that meals need to have a "food" and a "sauce". "Foods" are the carbohydrate: matoke (boiled mashed starchy bananas), posho (kind of like very very dry grits), rice, cassava, or potatoes. Usually one, sometimes two of these are served at a meal. Then there are the sauces, the protein, which is chunks of meat in a broth, beans, or groundnut (g-nut) sauce, which is like super runny peanut butter? There are sometimes two of these in a meal, my school just serves beans, richer ones sometimes serve meat, and the g-nut sauce is mostly in the south, I haven't seen it in the north. (I think i might be allergic to the g-nut sauce, which is fine because I don't really like it.) It's sad how little influence Ethiopian food has here considering how close it is... them shits are goood.
(I promise to add more as I learn, I'm simply exhausted at the moment!)
