Sidenotes

Interesting information I wanted to share.

Concerning food: Matoke is boiled plantain. It is a bland starch that reminds me of poi in flavor, but potatoes in consistency. Yams so far have been white with purple spots. They have a little more flavor than the Matoke. They are good plain or with gravy or peanut paste, which is also purple. Sweet potatoes are the white variety and are a little sweet. I like them. You can also put gravy on them.
Rice is served at every lunch along with chicken, Irish potaotes, cooked chicken livers, a little beef cubes, and fresh pineapple. Meat here is cooked to well done always. Anita didn't like the meat at the resort because it was about medium/ medium well.
Samosas are triangle shaped and deep fried like a wanton. They can be stuffed with meat, beans, or vegetables. Very tasty!
Mendazi is a slightly yeasty, deep fried donut, but not sweet. It's square shaped. Not bad.
At the resort we had Katoogo. It is stewed bananas in mixed vegetables, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, etc. in a tomato based sauce. The banana flavor is gone and tasted like the sauce, which is yummy. The bananas take on a potato consistency.

Birthdays: On Shari's Birthday, they dressed her in traditional clothes and slowly walked her into the church, in front of everyone, to the wedding march song. Todd and her cut the cake together into lots of small pieces and passed it around to as many as they could. She was so embarrased! Alex was the culprit. This is pretty typical of Birthdays.

About names here: I asked Alex about why people don't have the same last names as their fathers. He said that when a child is born, they are given 2-3 names that are from a list of acceptable names that each tribal clan has. When the child becomes closer to marriageable age, they can change the order of their name, add a name, or take their fathers name. First and last names are interchangeable, so it doesn't matter which name you call your child, in case the letters are unclear about it.

If you have a child like us with a "Ky" combination in their name, it is pronounced as "ch".

I met a man named Mugisha Francis Bekunda at Melembe. He gave me some information about being a chairman. He is the elected chairman LC1 of Melembe. He is the communities link to government activities and is in charge of mobilizing the people for projects like clearing a field, etc. Chairman LC2 is at the Parish level. Chairman LC3 heads the sub-county. Chairman LC4 is at the district level, which Uganda has 69 of. Chairman LC5 is the president.

Love in Christ, Danelle Chase