Umusatsi!!!!!

Glory days :-)

I have always looooved having hair. As a child(About 6yrs old), I wrote my first song which went something like this:
You better need to look at my hair oh!
You better need to look at my hair oh!
You better need to look at my hair oh!
Because it is very long :-)  (my siblings know the tune)

I remember crying when I had lice from nursery school and was told the only solution was cutting it all off! I cried and cried till my mother had mercy. The one time I failed to cry myself out of a hair cut was when I joined Nakasero Primary School after failing the interview for Kitante Primary school where they allowed kids to have hair. I lost it all. That was the end of hair and ribbons:-( (very sad face)

It is possible that one of the major reasons I wanted to go to Gayaza High School is because the girls could keep their hair long. I wanted it that badly. We used to even wash our hair with avocado and eggs! Thankfully, the hair grew and even became glorious. I would take time in prayer to thank God for my hair.(Sounds vain right?)

For someone like me to now be thinking of cutting my hair- that's a BIG deal!! But I'll be honest, it is just not loving this bulaaya plot. Having hair plaited here costs an arm and a leg. It is also hard to find a salon that understands my nviri. I knew that before I came so I tried to be prepared- came with hair oil and a hair iron(not enough? maybe!)

In a lot of pics of girls overseas- truth is everything else usually looks great but the hair is the biggest fox! Braids last as long as pooooossible and our hair tends to struggle. I know that there are overcomers and I look forward to learning their tips.

I have had to temporarily abandon the cutting idea cause haircuts here cost an arm- especially if you need it done every 2 weeks. And if I wanted to re-grow the hair- it would be a chore! Looks like I am keeping the hair! At least for now.

Nze njagala Dollar!

One of the first things that anyone going to any Bulaaya  is told is that when spending money, they should not convert to Uganda shillings. 1 dollar is 1(the smallest possible counting number) not 2,580 shillings. The reason for this becomes obvious after a few minutes in a supermarket abroad. One realises that tomato sauce cannot possibly cost more than 10,000ugx! 

When I first arrived, we got here after midnight and had to pass by a convenience store to grab a bite. I am really economical- ask anyone who knows me. It is sometimes a good thing but can be a flaw. Anyway, I generally really look at price tags and it helps determine what I do or don't buy. Needless to say, I was disoriented! I hadn't used Australian dollars before- had had a bit more exposure to American ones and pounds. Naye these ones.. I was confused! Didn't know how much anything really was so I just walked around puzzled and let hubby figure out what we'd eat.

Since then I have gotten a bit better. I now do the grocery shopping without fainting. 

Last week, I spent some hours in a second hand shop. It was strangely refreshing. Its the one place where my mind can freely convert currencies. I almost uploaded pictures of my purchases naye who does that??!!!!! Not even me! And trust me, one would not be able to tell the where I got this stuff :-) Its my own Owino here- without the chaos and bargaining(which I am not good at). However, it shares the perks of having to go through a whole load of things to find the diamond in the rough. 


Mel-Bulaaya :-)

Last weekend the husband and I had the pleasure of travelling to another part of our Bulaaya- Melbourne in the heart of Victoria state. Its almost unbelievable how huge this country is! I live in Queensland state which is about 3 times the size of Uganda and it is just one of SIX! That  fact annoys me! I have always perceived Uganda to be bigger than it really is. I have had to accept that many people have never heard of it before so each time I say that I am from there, I add that it is in East Africa. Most people only hear that I am from Africa.

The journey was brief however, on arrival, the sudden weather change was unbelievable. From about 24°C in Brisbane to 11°C in Melbourne! I felt like giving the guy walking ahead of us a big hug because he had traveled wearing short shorts, a vest and slippers!

It was nice being able to meet up with lovely people. I felt pretty special as the husband wanted to 'show me off' to his friends.

A couple of random pics from the trip.


Kwefula busy on the plane

I actually like this pic!

My fashionista sister-in law :-) It pays to hang with the right pips!!



Attending a 'Gangnam style' party. Horse racing is a big deal around this time of year. There is even a public holiday for a race that lasts less than 5minutes! I don't have to understand to enjoy the holiday :-) It was very cooooold by the way! I was just pretending!

Can you spot me?

 I am sure they have no idea what KTM really means :-)

Spotted UGANDA on a pole in the city erected in 2006 in honour of the countries that came for Commonwealth games.

It's embarassing that Skyfall has not yet arrived here!!!! We are waiting till Nov 22nd! We get it after practically everyone: Uganda(obviously), Taiwan, Vietnam, Libya and even Iraq! I have no idea who had the guts to publicise this!!!

No! It wasn't arranged!

Some people are better than others at making new friends. And I mean friends, not acquaintances. I am having trouble in that department at the moment. I thank God that I get to meet quite a number of people but I feel like I don't know how to make new friends. How to start from scratch- eh! Its not easy being the only person in a group who doesn't know anybody. Having a husband helps. Sometimes I find that I am upset with people who share names with my friends back home but are not the ones! Maybe it is hard because I think about it and I am conscious of the fact that I need to make friends. Am I being impatient? Most of my friendships took years to build maybe I am asking for too much too soon. I guess it is just hard coming from knowing very many people to this.

One of my friends back home used to get excited about making new friends because they provided a new platform for her kaboozi(stories). Her old friends would have heard them repeatedly and stopped realising how funny and rich her jazz was- something new friends would appreciate.

Well, many people here ask how we met (my husband and I). Many of my old friends are bored with the story because they have been hearing about my husband long before we even started dating. People here wonder because he had been living in Bulaaya for years; he left and returned with a wife. When telling the story(the abridged version), I say that we knew each other from childhood because of friendship between our families and our relationship grew until marriage was clearly the next step. Once I was having dinner with someone who asked, 'So it was arranged?' That's when I realised how our story sounded!

It sounded like my husband had come to Africa, got a bride to whom he had been betrothed as a child and brought her back to Bulaaya to save her from poverty or whatever!

Anyway, just to set the record straight, our marriage was not arranged! We were in love before our wedding and knew each other's names.

Dear Future me...

Hi,
I'm guessing you are reading this 20 years from now and it may seem strange that I wrote to you earlier but I am doing it for 3 reasons:
1. Just in case time travel is possible - it would be nice to get there and have mail. You know how much we love mail.
2. I have watched the Bourne movies (Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum) - its about some guy who loses his memory. I guess it just made me want to make sure that I always remember what is important and NO!! you are not a fan of action movies - you are a romantic. Hopeless in fact.
3. Growing up, I realise that as we go, we keep changing. No one is the same as they used to be. It concerns me. I just don't want to wake up and I am someone I don't want to be. I want to be able to remember what really mattered so that even if I let it go, it has to be for really good reasons and I would be making a conscious change- knowing the gravity of it.

You love God and are passionate about your faith. You gave your life to Jesus as a child and even though it was in P.7- it really made a difference for you. Believing and walking with the Lord has changed you. You know that He is the reason for your being. You don't believe in Him just because of your parents. Their faith has inspired you but you have seen the Lord for yourself. Remember that time in your room when you called out to Him. Also those vices that He helped you fight. School stuff(Foods and Nutrition and Med school) that was hard and you didn't think you could go through but He showed up and you know it was Him who enabled you overcome.

You love your husband to bits and you know that he is the one for you. He is home for you. And Grace, he loves you- so much that it overwhelms him.

You value your family and have a special relationship with each one. Also you have many friends and are grateful to God that some have become really close- please stay in touch with them, you know you need each other.

You have many gifts and abilities- Do your best to continually seek opportunities to use them and to grow in them. By the way, you also want to be a radio presenter- good luck! And you have a passion for the underprivileged- I know that God will help you find a way to serve them. If it hasn't yet happened, just don't give up the passion because you know that He put it in you.

I guess there are many more things I could tell you but that's all that comes to mind now. I love you and I think you look beautiful with everything in the right places ;-) God is at work in you and if you remain in Him, even if everything that counts is taken from you- you will be alright.

Hugs :-)

Much more...

Sunday evening. It used to be one of my hardest times in the week. Aaaargh! I hated the feeling. Notes in my stomach because I knew that the only way I could bring back the weekend was by going through another week. Another whole week. There was no way out. Monday was practically staring me in the face with what I thought was an evil grin on its face saying : you can run but you can't hide!

So, yes, it is refreshing not having to go to work tomorrow (my love to the rest of y'all :-) May you know God's sufficient grace).

Today, my husband and I left the house for a walk in the cool of the evening. Nothing fancy. Except of course the mugafumbira in me was amazed at how there are parks and gardens in our neighbourhood for 'just'! Eh! No reason.. no celebration.. not near the minister or president..not even as part of a business venture. I can not forget to mention that walkways actually exist! Nice paths completely off the road for cyclists and pedestrians. Nicely paved with shade and flowers in some places. Anyway, I still have 'maaaaaaaaaaaaalo'!!!!!!

OKay.. this one isn't really in my 'neighbourhood' , its a little closer to the city but for now,its my favourite.

For a brief moment I looked up at my husband and I was amazed at the man who was holding my hand. Its a bit hard to describe but in his face I saw that God had given me much more. Much more than I could ask for or imagine or think about..God has given me so much more in this man. I am grateful for this man and look forward to loving him the rest of my days.

I hope that in the midst of the hustle and bustle, you too can take a moment to thank God for His blessings and if you are still in a place of struggle, I encourage you to trust God to do 'much more' for you.

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Eph 3: 20-21

Ug Independence celebrations begin in my Bulaaya

Last weekend I discovered that there is an organisation / society of people from Uganda here! They even have meetings and of course, a facebook page :-)

In view of the upcoming Independence day, we had independence celebrations that began with a football match with our Kenyan neighbours. Our boys were wearing nice black jerseys with flag colours on the sleeves. The match was interesting with local beats of Chameleon, Radio n' Weasel (to mention but a few) in the background. It felt like I was at the Makerere pitch! Uganda led with 1 - 0 in the first half but we were beaten with Kenyans scoring 3 in the second half and our brothers only managed to score one more.

The celebrations continued later that evening with a grand dinner held at a certain 'Africa house'. Watoto was there and made a performance. There was also a fashion show, Kimere and lots of dancing.

I still haven't met another mugafumbira. Maybe I will.. who knows? :-)

Boite de Postal

Today I needed to visit a friend of mine here and I asked for her address. She did. I had not been there before but I took a bus(or two) and twenty minutes later, rang her door bell.

This was an amazing experience for me! She didn't have to tell me about the major ant-hill, 'huge mango' tree, garbage bin, primary school or billboard on the way. All I needed was an address.

You may not believe it but I learnt our actual home address in Uganda(including the name of the road, plot number etc) only a few months ago when I was filling out some visa application forms! I had lived in that home for about 4 years and I just discovered that I had been living on Grace road! It even had a fancy name :-) In my former life, address had something to do with P. O. Box... which we checked like once every 4 - 6 months. I even wonder how one gets one of those!

Well, this was another one of those days when I thank God for my phone. I'm grateful that it tells me where I am (you have no idea how useful that can be!), where I am going, how and when I can get there and how I can find my way back home.

Technology Banange!!!!!

 

Yuk.. Exercise!

Okay, maybe that is the wrong name for this post. It's just how I feel every time I think of exercise. This is not Grace the doctor speaking! It is Grace the woman.

I have put on some weight. No, there is no bun in the oven- in spite my parents desires :-) Its possibly weight of 'happiness' (assuming that there is such a thing). It is very annoying how easy it is to put on 'a couple' of kilos and how hard getting rid of one silly kilo is! I silently think that I may not have gained weight.. that maybe the weighing scale I had used at home in Kampala was different from these ones here which are not working. So maybe my weight hasn't really changed? Some of my clothes beg to differ on this point but what do they know? They are just clothes!

Before I left home, I used to tell my bff that once I came to Bulaaya, I would exercise because the streets are nice. Well, here I am now. I even have the time and the nice streets but still no exercise! Why is it sooo hard? I have failed to be consistent. I go for one day then take a break for over 3 weeks! I am so worried that if I keep this up, how will I keep in shape after the babies? I guess one of the hardest things about putting on weight is still being and feeling beautiful. I have realised that the notion I am not beautiful is a lie of the devil. I don't believe it. The times that I believed it in the past, I was very uncomfortable, self conscious, inconfident and unhappy as a result.

The benefits of exercise are very many! You know the phrase: Survival for the fittest? It freaks me out. If there is a fire and I am not fit and cannot run fast enough, I may die! Literally! There is also the medical perspective of all the illnesses one is susceptible to if they are above the required BMI(explained below).

Well, right now I have started skipping daily. I like skipping because I sweat and I can do it in the house while watching TV! I really pray I can keep disciplined and a positive image of myself throughout the process.

I know I am not the only one who struggles with this. Is it possible that you can find something that you can commit to? It doesn't help making goals which are not achievable. Evaluate your schedule- where can you start? I am going to try. I am committed to skipping at least 5 days a week and 2 spoons of sugar in dry tea. (Ayaaah! I have said it out loud!) Feel free to hold me accountable.

"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.." Ps 139:14

symphony!

Every year in my city(notice I said 'my'), there is a festival that lasts about 3 weeks. Lots of activities.

This weekend I went for a 'symphony under the stars'. A complete orchestra with some instruments I didn't know. Music was beautiful though it was free so there were loads of people- making noise for us the music lovers(as if!).

What I enjoyed most : The conductor-He kept doing this really cool thing with his hair. My neighbour said he had used mob conditioner :-) At some point, he conducted us(the audience) in clapping- it was cool; felt like we also had instruments.

What I didn't understand: couldn't really tell many of the instruments apart.

What I didn't like: The guy who did a solo dodged a high note. Who does that?!!

What I learnt : I like being the centre of attention(sometimes!). It was humbling watching so many people with immense talent, all playing together. No individual supper stars or people trying to be louder than their friends and fight for 'katala'. The music was beautiful because everyone played their part well.

Aaaaaaargh! You tap!!!

I got quite upset with this tap. I had finished doing my business in this nice public toilet. (I like that public toilets are not stressful here- there is Toilet paper(the white kind :-) ) and they get cleaned often so they don't smell and I don't have to pay shs100(is it more expensive now with inflation).

Anyway, I put soap on my hands then... I could not get water out of the tap! Tried 'swiping', touching, hitting.. all in vain. Just as I was about to give up, water came! I still don't know how! Washed my hands quickly. I will be avoiding this toilet in the future!

Everything works!

Thanks to y'all who have stopped by to read my random jazz. The jazzing continues..

When I got here, I felt overwhelmed. I looked around and the city had huge buildings and proper roads. The roads are so proper that the cars don't even get dirty kubanga, hakuna murram. Hakuna!!! 

There are like ten million road signs- a sign for everything!! The roads are very well marked - the different lanes are clear with arrows and some lines that we studied in driving school which I only saw on Entebbe road, northern by pass and highways. (You know the lines which show when it is ok to overtake or not or change lanes etc). I wonder if they keep re-painting frequently or we just use fake paint at home so the stuff keeps getting off?  As for the traffic lights and cross signs! They all work and they are very many- which all work (did I already say that?). I grinned (just a little) when I remembered the chaos at the Wandegeya lights when the lights have slept and there are no police during rush hour. Talk about survival for the fittest!!! 

Well, I find it very hard to wait for the pedestrian crossing lights. I feel like telling the light: I have been crossing streets all my life without you and have been very fine. And where I come from, we even have bodabodas going in the opposite direction on one way streets, cars driving fast past someone crossing at a zebra crossing, confusion on the roads with taxis parking right in the middle of the road- and I have crossed those streets fine without you! I can even cross Jinja road during rush hour and come out of the old taxi park alive! Who do you think you are to tell an adult female like me when to cross? HUH?!!!

Anyway, I got a little overwhelmed that everything works!!! The lifts, escalators.. name it! Everything works! There are even government systems in place to cater the needy, homeless etc and the money reaches them- no one 'eats' it! I was once in a bus and the automatic doors started jamming to open so the driver had to do it manually. He made a call and in a few minutes, a service van came. We parked, a guy came in, touched a few wires and the doors were working again. The problem recurred(but the doors could still open manually) then the bus driver apologised to us and told us not to worry, another bus was on its way to continue the journey with us. We could not proceed with this faulty bus. I was thinking- are you kidding me?????!!! The doors work! 

I know it may sound silly but the reason I felt overwhelmed is because it made me wonder what I could add to this place. I felt a little useless. I felt like people had already thought of all the needs and met them- what else could I do? What could I add? Now I realise  that I actually liked being and feeling useful back home. There was so much I could add that I would get confused about how to channel my energies. So many 'projects' going on where you can help, slums, rubbish you can pick, kids to help feed etc. Where ever you look, it was not hard to see problems which needed to be addressed. It seems like it was easier to make a difference. Sometimes even just complaining about the problems felt nice because  we were speaking out for the sake of future generations!

Don't get me wrong, this place is not perfect- its just different. And sometimes it takes some time to find ones place in this world. Clearly the Lord did not bring me here to fix any roads!


The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
    for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.. Ps 138:8

So.. Its here. The famous 'blog'. 

This is my 'Bulaaya'. Some people call it Brisbane. Its in Queensland, Australia. Australia is a country, an island and a continent! Looks pretty fancy, huh? I guess it is in some ways. I am discovering it 'mpola mpola'. Came here with the wonderful husband. 

Coming here was exciting and somewhat scary. The only person I knew here was... the husband :-) Its nice to know that God is also here. (Like duh?!)

I still have no idea what I am doing(blog-wise), will figure it out as I go. You are welcome to my world. Seeing things through my eyes will hopefully be enjoyable, enlightening and sometimes maybe even a little bit inspirational. Thanks for popping in!!! Enjoy!!

Ps 139:9&10
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.