Staying in Bubandi

Last week I was able to spend 4 days in Bubandi with my Ugandan mother, Joyce. She and I got to know each other pretty well when I was in Bundibugyo before and I hadn’t spent much time with her since I’ve been back. I was excited to not only spend time with her but stay at her home “out in the bush”. When I returned 4 days later, Nyahuka looked like an absolute, buzzing metropolis. My time spent with her included:

• Learning how to cook over an open fire. And struggling to withstand the wood smoke in her chimney-less, windowless kitchen. I think I smelled like a campfire for about 2 days after getting back but I was proud of myself when I made lunch for us on my last day.

• Wearing Joyce’s shiny, silky too-big-for-me long sleeved shirt. It is rainy season here and the mosquitoes were relentless but I had forgotten to bring a long sleeved shirt. Thanks to Mama Joyce’s shirt I didn’t get completely eaten!
• Visiting friends and being introduced as her daughter. People were warm and welcoming (as Ugandans are) and were duly impressed by my limited Lubwisi.
• Chatting while washing a mountain of dishes and leaving them to dry in the sun.
• Listening to rats rustling around her house and night and telling Joyce that I was terrified of them. She found this quite hilarious. She told me her great fear was of chameleons. I found this quite hilarious. After getting very little sleep the first night, I wore earplugs the following nights and tucked my mosquito net in very tight. I slept better :)
• Realizing as we talked how it really is true that everyone is related here. I thought small-town Maryland was bad but it’s crazy!
• Listening to one of the two local stations that broadcasts in Lubwisi—the Voice of Bundibugyo, 93.0 FM. The radio was on a lot. Most songs I didn’t recognize, let alone understand. But at one point Maroon 5 came on. A nice surprise.
• Shading with Owen and Marvin, two little boys that I think are Joyce’s nephews.

• Laughing with Joyce about Nabalongo’s picky eating habits. She is Joyce’s elderly mother and after her many years on this earth, she knows what foods she likes and how she likes them. She is an incredibly sweet lady who only speaks Lubwisi. I wish I could talk with her more and hear her story—she has lived in the bush of Uganda her whole life, was a co-wife, survived Idi Amin and a war. And those are just the things I know of.

• Explaining a microwave to Joyce. Not sure how we got on the subject but she was shocked by the idea of it taking less than one hour to cook a meal!