Today and yesterday I have been marveling at how far we’ve come. Marveling
at what we’ve adjusted to, at what has become commonplace, normal and
acceptable in our lives in just a few short months. For example:

-being careful to never use our home tap water on our toothbrushes, mouths,
or wounds

-washing and sanitizing every fruit or vegetable that enters our home,
before handling

- learning to drink when we will be near home or school . . . . Otherwise
not, unless we want to find a jungle path to pee on.

-coordinating our water usage, including switching our valves to collect
either rainwater or Ngite (upper river) water, pumping water once or twice
daily to our overhead gravity based tank, filling our filter twice daily at
least so that we ALWAYS have potable water.

- killing dozens of ants every trip into the kitchen

- picking beetles out of pasta before devouring the next bite; when you have
sauce, you just accept the extra protein, because they’re too hard to spot

- sleeping under a low-hanging mosquito net, despite the claustrophobia and
heat factors

- protecting items in various parts of the house from the ever falling bat
guana (especially my hairbrush, that was yuk!!!)

- planning ahead ever so carefully to always have meat and cheese thawed for
meals that include them(no microwaves here!), always have bread made
(keeping in mind that our freezer is always full with meat/cheese from
Kampala so we can’t freeze anything else, like bread for emergencies), etc.

Food is one of the biggest planning challenges. One of the problems is
accessability and planning ahead. Unlike in America, where I had my several
grocery store lists (Trader Joe’s, commisery, Costco) and would travel once,
twice, three times a week to wherever I needed to; here I have several lists
also, but a bit different. I have my Nyahuka market list which comprises
items I buy locally (available some days, depending on market and requiring
a 20 minute walk each way plus bargaining and shopping time), my Bundibugyo
town list which has items that David picks up for me when he travels to the
bank town 1/2 hour away, and then items that I have brought by trader from
Fort Portal (three hours away over the mountain). And last but biggest, my
Kampala list which includes my case goods and stock up items. The issue
comes in when you forget something important in Kampala (theoretically of
course, can I say “honey” for granola?!), you’re just screwed for the next
three months. No pressure.

But the mere coordinating of these foods is quite an undertaking. With
fruits and vegetables I have to try to bring in a decent selection, keeping
it fresh, and available when I need it. If for example, I want to bake my
husband a birthday cake using carrots, I’d better have thought of that at
least one to two weeks ahead or have some great alternative ingredients in
mind. Creativity is everything.

Coming tomorrow, some typical from-scratch recipes, more from-scratch than I
ever thought possible!!