this is africa

Land of the purple dragonfly and the pure white bird. I found a catus almost covered by a flowering bush. The muslim call to prayer rings out of loud speakers at 530am and the actual prayer begins at 630am. A video-screen billboard faces piles of garbage on the side of the road (the garbage is the usual sight of that combination). They make the pop with real sugar here. Incredibly ugly marabou storks replace crows as the city nuisance. However, it is quite amazing to see 50 or so of the 5ft tall storks circle in the air above the city. The people grow, carry, and sell huge stalks of green bananas. MTN, which is cell phone air-time, is sold literally everywhere. Many buildings are painted the yellow of mtn, or the hot pink of zain. I sleep under a mosquito net which resembles those princess canopies from my childhood memories. Termite mounds line the more rural roads. There is never no people within sight, even in the “remote” areas. Hummingbirds may be the only birds that can fly backwards, but the kingfishers here hover over the water before diving after fish. The dirt is red, not brown. The oranges here have the coloring of limes and they don’t taste the same as what we get in the US. I don’t recognize any of the flora or fauna here. I mean absolutely none. Oh, and Ugandans don’t believe in hot water heaters.

This just in. I have found…(drumroll please)…the microwave. And it works. The fridge half of the fridge/freezer still doesn’t work, but my edible food menu has just doubled. Yay.