Miles away and missing home

It’s been three weeks since you last heard from me. Yours truly humbly apologises. I have been running up and down for the last couple of weeks and haven’t had time to touch base with my people. I have been on something like a rollercoaster ride this past month, transiting through airports, changing planes and cities alike. My professional obligations have kept me away from Kampala and as you can imagine I am quite homesick. I miss those crazy boda boda chaps and Wandegeya’s TV chicken. But I miss my fiancée more than anything. I miss her scent, her sweet kisses and warmth.

When you travel away from home into a whole new environment, you begin to appreciate things about your life that you apparently took for granted. Take food for instance. Only when you leave Uganda and venture into new territory is when you begin to understand that our country is such a blessed land. Only at home do you find such a variety of food. From fruits to vegetables and dry food; everything is grown at home.

I love posho, rice, beans, matooke, chicken, and all that organic food we produce. In my journeys, it has all been a hassle finding a decent meal. Of course, rice and chicken is food you will find all over the world but well, you cannot feed on rice and chicken alone. I have had to settle for junk; fries (chips as we know them), burgers, pizza and all that oily stuff. I miss my woman’s cooking. I have gone to several restaurants here hoping to grab a decent meal only to leave disappointed. If the meat is not coated with sugar, it is soaked in pepper. The fruits here don’t taste as nice as those back home. I ate a banana last week and it was plain and tasteless. No more bananas for me. The other day, I went out with friends and we ate a pepper dish of chicken, beef, mutton and pork. It was tasty actually but Lord, I regretted why I ate that food.

My early morning routine on the toilet seat was a burning affair. Hot, hot, hot. After that bizarre episode, I said, enough is enough. I went out to the supermarkets and hunted for all types of food that’s closer to what we have at home. I got a pack of dry beans, a pack of Irish potatoes, onions, tomatoes, some pasta, and a couple of eggs. Obviously, I didn’t forget to buy some rice. Madam is a fine cook and whenever she’s in the kitchen, I’m basically taking notes learning a few tricks here and there. I am not a bad cook myself and yeah, I cook at home when time permits me to. So for now, things look like they will to be getting back to normal and I won’t be venturing out to eat soon.