Finish Him!!

...Like Mortal Combat huh??? This post is all about finished things!

1. Cardigan

Wahoo! I finished the cardi' that I posted about a couple of weeks ago! It's so cute! It's for my friend Kat's little angel, Esther. It's 3-6mts but it's knit up quite big. It has a very exciting moss slip stitch on the collar and cuffs that I just learnt.

2. The Last King of Scotland

I finished the book today! FINALLY!! It was VERY different from the film. Whereas the film ends during the siege in Entebbe, the book explores the what happened afterwards and the war with Tanzania. I really enjoyed it, but it's not a clear "the book was much better than the film" situation. Plotlines for the film were clearly rewritten and the film was heavily sensationalised, but if it makes a more exciting story... why not?? I would recommend looking into both.

3. My career as a volleyball player

This stems from an incident that happened yesterday. We went to the beach in Entebbe (not a sea beach, a lake beach, silly! what were you thinking??) and we were a swimming area that you had to pay UGX2000 to enter, so there was a big fence all the way round. Some boys were playing volleyball on the beach outside of the fenced area. Everyone was asleep or listening to music, when the boys accidentally knocked the ball over the fence, and so I was the only one to hear their calls to throw it back.

I got up and picked up the ball. As I did so, the fence suddenly got alot taller. I was worried that I was about to embarrass myself... infact I was pretty sure I was about to embarrass myself. It even crossed my mind to wake up one of my friends to throw it over...

I did my biggest, hardest throw and it looked like it was going to make it, but at the peak of it's flight, some kind of terrible gust of wind caused the volleyball to plummet suddenly and impale itself on the top of one of the fence posts. It burst!

Sadly, the disgruntled shouts of the volleyball players woke up my friends, who all fell about laughing (at, not with me) and everyone was sorry that they hadn't seen the incident!

White Water Rafting on the Nile!

I have just had the most fantastic weekend! We booked our trip through a company called Adrift, who, as you can see from their website (www.adrift.ug) are heavily endorsed by President Museveni, Geri Halliwell and our own Prince William... so they must be good.

We set off at 7am on an old coach and the journey took well over 3 hours. Most of us slept on the coach, but a particular highlight for me is when you stop at towns and everyone comes to the windows to sell you things. I really enjoy this drive-through service, but it can be quite intimidating when you just ask for a soda and ten million pop through the window (into your face). This picture is of my friends Beqy (left) and Doris (right) in this exact situation. We bought some barbecued bananas and they were delicious!

So we arrived at 10ish and had a disturbingly short health and safety talk... and then off we went! I always think that White Water Rafting is going to be something I'll hate as it contains so many elements that I dislike... physical exercise, extreme danger and rocks, possibility of drowning, having to look awful in a tatty life-jacket... the list goes on. But again (for the second, and I expect not final time in my life) I buckled under the rafting peer pressure and went along willingly.

The worst part for me is all the stuff you have to do at the beginning, practicing falling in and practicing capsizing. You wait on the boat, knowing it's about to happen! I hate that! But the water was so warm and the Nile is so deep that it's not really so bad at all. So now I will post an array of nice pictures for you to look at:

Unbelievably, I didn't fall out! Not once! I got out a couple of times, on my own terms, and had a swim through the flat parts. But after musing that "the Nile is very brown" and one of my shipmates suggesting that it was due to the algae and hippo poop, I soon got back in the boat. Really wish I hadn't swallowed so much!

In the evening we went to the strangest nightclub in the world in Jinja. It was a shopping centre, but at the stairs to go to the floor above there was a metal detector and a bouncer. Then upstairs, where you imagine there to be more shops there was a VERY strange room where about 50 people were sat at desks watching the Champions League Final. Another room where there again was the football on, but this one had a bar and a band (playing keyboards with the sound set to 'steel drum'), but strangely, you had to buy your drinks outside from a lady with a crate of beer. In another room was a really expensive casino. Then later we went into another room which was a proper nightclub (or as proper as you can get out here) which really reminded me of Planets in Herne Bay.

We didn't stay out too late, but everyone had bad headaches in morning. We then trotted along to Jinja Nile Resort and paid 6000UGX (<£2) to use the pool for the day. It was a really nice one where the bar was at pool level and you can swim right up and order a drink! Like on a travel show!

Then Dan, the nutter, went and did a bungee jump. It was terrifying to watch! I will NEVER do it! not in a million years.
We left Jinja at 5pm, and because of limited space in my friend, Marvin's car, 4 people had to catch the dun-dun-dun Public Bus. I volunteered as I was desperate to catch a public bus! They're called matatu's and totally fun! Especially if you're really crammed in with loads of bags! Sadly there was a by-election in Mukono which meant that the buses weren't running all the way to Kampala because of security. So we got part of the way and then had to meet up with the car that we originally "couldn't all fit in" and cram in.

Then we drove straight into LOTS OF JAM!!! And sat in it for 5 hours!
Marvin, however is the most cheerful driver in the world and smiled as we were overtaken by presidential vehicles, ambulances and riot police, whilst cheekily trying to undercut the big lorries in transit.

When I got home, I was ready for bed.

As I am now.

Sweet dreams!

We're Jammin'

"The Jam" is a noun used to describe the traffic in Kampala. Here are some examples of how it can be used in conversation.

How is the Jam today?
Whoa the Jam is very bad!
On Fridays is lots of Jam!
The Jam today is very big!
Today there is no Jam.

So as you can see, the Jam can be big and bad, there can be lots or none at all. But certainly, the state of the jam is the first talking point of every day.

Let's go to The Hop! Oh Baby!

THIS POST IS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED! WATCH OUT!!!

So Dan (my housemate, colleague and extreme vegetarian amigo) returned from "the west" last night. I had asked him to bring me back some grasshoppers, but when he asked at the villages that he passed, they brought out huge bags of them, live. He couldn't bring himself to buy them, but, lucky for him, his driver bought a big bag. To keep them them nice and fresh on the long journey, the driver pierced some airholes in the bag, and after a couple of hours along the bumpy road, Dan fell asleep in the back. He then woke to find 10's of grasshoppers, all over the seat infront of him and round by his feet on the car floor. They had gradually been making a great escape from the confines of the bag! Being a vegetarian of the highest variety, Dan let as many as he could go free out the window before the driver noticed! So sadly no grasshoppers from the west for me, but Dan did manage to pick up a tonne of fruit on the roads into Kampala.
Here is the selection of oranges, mangoes, sugar cane and passionfruit that now adorns out table! Not ripe yet, but I can wait.

Now in case you're feeling worried that I didn't get to try grasshoppers, fear not! My friend Marvin went out and bought me a bag this afternoon! I thought he had gone out to get a scart lead to plug my laptop into my TV. So when he told me to hold out my hands and shut my eyes for my 'present' I gladly did... little did I know!

I have prepared the following, just for you.

Grasshoppers a la Michelle

1. First you need some grasshoppers. My bag were still alive, but had their legs and wings pulled off. I imagine that this is a very upsetting activity, so would recommend that you get ones that have already had this done. My bag cost 1,500 UGX which is about 45p. There were alot in there as you can see.
2. If you have to travel in the car home from the office, and you have to hold the bag a wriggling, legless grasshoppers on you lap, I recommend you talk to them. This could be the last conversation that they have. Try to say something nice.
3. Wash them throughly. This very important as they have a funny sand on them. I put mine in a collinder and washed them for ages. It seems a bit like Water Torture because they have no legs to get away with. They also may wave at you with their remaining arm stumps. Try not to let it make you sad. They are just waving goodbye.
4. Get the oil nice and hot (you don't need much) and fry them for 10 minutes. Add in some onions and some green peppers and you've got yourself a yummy dish!!
5. Eat! They taste like heaven, but sadly, for this malicious torture that you have put them through, you are probably going to hell!
   

They taste quite nutty. I ate about 4 then I thought I was going to be sick.

Who wants the rest of the bowl??

XXX

Hopping Mad!

Another lazy weekend! I'm getting used to these! I spent some time finishing and blocking my knitting. I'm sewing it up now. I showed it to Neale on the webcam the other day and he said "isn't it blue? I thought it was for a girl?!". So I would like to take this opportunity to stay that this is in fact MINT and not blue. A perfectly girly colour... and there is a pink trim! so there!

So anyway, here's the state last night, and I hope to have it finished by the end of this week.
Anyways, I had a free house on Sunday so I had all the girls round from the office and we cooked up some roasted tandoori chicken and some other excellent treats. Then I introduced them to the world of Twilight. I'm happy to say that the film truly does transcend and they enjoyed every moment... New Moon next!!
Here's a picture of the food, it's not too exciting, but it was delicious.
I'm just about coming to terms with the strength of the sun here. I got BADLY sunburn a couple of weeks ago and I have FINALLY, just about, almost stopped peeling. Here are my knees at the weekend at the height of the peeling! Mmmm Yummy!! Pretty gross!
I promise to take better care of myself from now on! This is just not good enough. It's grasshopper season and that all that's on the menu at the moment. I'm desperate to try some... I think tomorrow is the big day... I'll keep you posted. I'll just leave you now with a picture of one that was on my window this morning. Sorry the focus is all out, I need more practise.

Mzungu! Mzungu!

Mzungu is a derogatory term for a white person. It is a racist word that I have rarely heard adults say, without a look of embarassment if you meet their eyes afterwards. The children shouted it as we drove past in our work cars, when we went to Western Uganda, "Mzungu! Mzungu!" with beaming smiles and hands waving.


It's a Swahili word that (according to my friend) means "one who wanders aimlessly drunk" and refers to early Europeans' love of alcohol and exploration in colonial Africa. My mzungu friends and I tend to use it playfully when refering to each other, and find it hard to take any real offense from the word as it is so rarely said to us nastily. However, this in itself seems to offend my Ugandan friends.

In some gift shops here you can buy t-shirts that say "My name is not Mzungu", and when I was in Zambia my friends and I had shirts printed with Mzungu on the back.

It is a bad word, that I feel completely desensitised to. I think I should better just stay clear of it.

Sorry if you're offended!!

xxxxx

The Feast and Bujagali Falls at Jinga

Finally! I can upload a picture of the jumper I finished! Yey! other knitting is going very well... I will update in due course!It's been a very busy week at work, so I've been a bit shoddy with my updates! sorry for that, but now I should have things under control!
Somewhat optimistically, we invited 7 people from work around to our apartment (where we have only 6 sets of cutlery and 4 glasses) on Friday evening. We promised them an "Italian Feast" and eventually (gone 10pm) were able to serve up Garlic Bread, Meatballs and Spaghetti and a Tiramisu . We had completely overlooked that fact that we had to go to a really important meeting on Friday afternoon, which completely overan, and then fight our way through the Kampala traffic to the supermarket at Kisimenti. Then we had to do our shopping (I took goat mince all the way to the counter before I realised it wasn't beef!) before arriving home to begin the cooking!It all turned out alright in the end, and no one seemed to mind that the dinner was so late (probably because I was plying them with Ugandan Waragi Gin).
On Saturday, a group of 6 of us from the office went to the "source of the Nile" at Bujagali falls in Jinga (pronounced "Ginger"). Even the Ugandans hadn't been there before! It was a slow drive from Kampala, not particlarly far, but the traffic was really bad. The Nile was really smooth and calm, it was my first time seeing it, so I made sure I dipped my feet it.The Bujagali falls are at formed at the point were Lake Victoria meets the Nile and are widely claimed to be the "source of the Nile".

We ate in a restaurant there and almost everyone (except me, but I regret it now!) had tilapia, which is a white fish caught from Lake Victoria/the Nile.While we were there someone said "Isn't it mad to think that all this water eventually ends up in the Mediterranean Sea". This water flow is astounding. Also during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, dead bodies that were dumped in Lake Victoria, were carried by the tide of the Nile and ended up on the rocks of the Bujangali falls. They were collected and buried by the Bujangali people.
We took a boat ride out on the falls and our guide explained how the dam that is currently being built (similar to the one at Owen Falls, also in Jinga) will affect the people and wildlife living in the area, as well as the attraction of the falls to tourists. But Uganda's electricity crisis and growing population have meant that any reasonable sources of electricity have been readily expolited over recent years. I'm glad to have seen the falls before the dam is finished. Upon completion, the falls will be gone!

They also do bungee jumping, (called the Nile High Club!) and White Water Rafting over and along the Nile. I think I'll do the rafting in a couple of weeks... but I watched a few people doing it, and I think I'll give the bungee a miss!

On the way home, it was getting late, but we dropped in to see my friend Marvin's 3-week old niece Elizabeth. I said "Marvin, won't your sister mind? it's 10 o' clock and there are 6 of us! surely the baby will be asleep!". He just replied, "Michelle, this is Africa!".
And it was true, she was delighted to have us, and she woke the baby up to say "hello". Really sweet to see that she had a sleeping bag with a pop-up mosquito net attached, that we passed her round in. She was so pretty!

She had the right idea though, I currently have 4 mosquito bites!!

Today I went to a traditional African Sunday Lunch at my friend, Robbie's Auntie's House. It was amazing, and we watched Chelsea win 8-0!

xxxx

A Lazy Weekend, with nothing to to but knit...

Despite my hopes, it rained almost all weekend. This is not something to be too sad about. When it rains here it truely pours, to the extent that you just want to open all the window to hear and smell it to the fullest. It always comes down really straight too, so it's good to grab a book and sit on the balcony, you don't get wet, but you feel like you're sitting in a thunderstorm.

And books were all I had this weekend as the power kept going on and off and on and off, and my laptop wasn't charged. I woke up on Saturday morning with the mother of all hangovers, all the makings of a fry up in the fridge and no electricity to cook it with!

The heavy rain meant that my plan to go to the National Museum of Uganda had to be abandoned, but I'm sure I'll get to go some other weekend.

I was however able to complete some knitting for my lovely nephew. A 4-ply jumper in age 1-2 from a knitting book that my dad picked up in charity shop. And, in a happy coincidence, the pattern was called "Freddie".

I went for a little "F" in the middle rather than the snowflake on the pattern, but I still think it's pretty cute. I think I'll probably give it to him for christmas (yes I know, VERY EARLY), so if you see him, please don't spill the beans! I wanted to upload a picture, but the picture uploader thingy isn't working!

I've just started another little project for a new arrival that came on Saturday... It's knitting up fast as it's in double knit - I'll never go back to 4-ply!