Kelly drinks milk and other exciting tales...

First on the list: look at the pretty pictures below! This boy in the red jammies stole my heart when he made his courageous pose for me.

Hopeful development: peace agreement signed between the Government of Sudan and the Southern People’s Liberation Army, hopefully bringing an end to the North-South, longest standing war in Sudan (though of course Darfur is a major concern and not covered in the peace agreement). But this is good news for bringing the war in Northern Uganda to a conclusion, as the LRA will face losing Sudanese government support.

There have been a number of developments on the work front, namely that I will be transferring my labors to Northern Uganda Peace Initiative (NUPI), making me a Nupian. Lina will be working with me, as we seem to be the gender and peacebuilding go-to team (and ACORD appears to be getting some serious transplants). In addition to continuing my research, Lina and I will be organizing a conference for March on women and national reconciliation that we are hoping will include the likes of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Graca Michel (former first lady of Mozambique and now wife of Nelson Mandela) – but we aren’t sure about the funding yet, so don’t hold me to it. I am also writing a research proposal for Gulu University for a research project on, you’d never guess, gender and peacebuilding! So what research I have started will be further developed and explored, only with more resources. Quite exciting, indeed.

I admit that I am enjoying having a home life in Kampala, but it does come with its drawbacks. For one, I am not altogether comfortable having house help, although to live in a house and not hire help would be looked upon poorly as well. It is strange to always have people around your home, especially if they are working when you are not. We have Moses (the “gardener”), who is just so sweet and Rose, who does a little cleaning. Steffi and I took Moses to the movies for his first time right before Christmas and I have never seen somebody so appreciative or so in awe. We let him choose the movie (after careful consideration, he opted for Queen Latifah in Taxi) and afterwards he was deep in thought when he finally asked, what would have happened if he had chosen the other movie? Would all the other people in the theater have watched the other movie with us? He couldn’t quite fathom that there could be more than one movie playing at the same time. Too sweet.

I also find that something is eating me at night, aside from the mosquitoes. I wake up with tens of little bites all over every morning, despite attempts to sleep in long pants and sleeves. Maybe bed bugs? Do those things really exist? I better google that one.

Cuisine: Throughout my time in Africa I have tried and often enjoyed cuisines I never would have imagined (and I know those of you who knew me as a picky child are quite impressed), but there is still territory I won’t traverse. Fried grasshoppers might top that list (especially after my battles with the mutant grasshopper breeds in Gulu) and after an incident the other night, sesame seeds would have to be added to the list. Steffi and I cooked up some pasta and sauce the other night for us and another German Steffi. Steffi offered sesame seeds as a topping, and I refused thinking it a strange add-on to an Italian dish, but both Steffis gladly poured on heaps of the seeds. Midway into the meal, little moving thingees caught my eye in the canister containing the seeds. I took them to be ants and kept my mouth shut, as the meal was already well underway (one gets over ants and flies – you don’t go throwing out a good beverage just because a little critter has crawled in there). But the little movers had caught Steffi’s eye too, and on closer look - the power was out, of course, so we were examining the critters with my flashlight – we discovered they were not ants. They resembled something between tiny cockroaches and beetles. Needless to say, out guest was not pleased.

And finally, the discovery of the week is Dutch-imported low-fat milk. I had previously refused the “cream” variety that is rampant in Uganda, despite my love for the stuff, but now I am one happy gal eating corn flakes and all! I am sure you are all now in awe of the exciting life I am leading…

PS – thanks to Jessica, I am now equipped with a headlamp to battle the frequent power outages, thus revolutionizing my ability to still be productive sans electricity.