Being invited for a meal is a welcome treat - but these occasions are few and far between. This desire is not about frugality but lack of motivation to prepare what to eat.
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| My breakfast tray |
For breakfast,
I have learned to eat avocado sandwich, but most often, it is these small buns where I put a bland spread and a trickle of honey to taste.
The spread is called Blue Band, whose packaging looks like a dishwashing cleanser or a laundry detergent.
I have long foregone the craving for brewed coffee. I remember that Starbucks used to advertise that its coffee beans come from fair trade Africa, so I thought I had a worthy substitute - instant coffee - Africafe or Kilimanjaro both packed in Tanzania. I am about to finish the two cans but I have yet to experience the taste of real good coffee. I am not sure whether the taste is spoiled by the water, sugar, or coffee mate.
A supermarket called Mega Shopper recently opened in Gulu and I am glad that it carries frozen bacon, cooked ham, and canned meat loaf. These are my meals on weekends, and coupled with coffee spread over rice, it is quite a feast for me. Eggs, I avoid because the egg yolk is anemic.
I have also forgotten the taste of fresh fish and seafoods that abound in the islands of the Philippines. Since Uganda is a land locked country, the fresh fish (mostly tilapia, catfish, and perch) comes from Lake Victoria, a good 8 hours travel to Gulu. Because of scarcity, smoked fish is a common substitute - but it tastes awful.
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| The smoked fish |
At present, I am already delighted with sardines - either fried or fresh from the can. The sardines are manufactured in Thailand and packed for the United Arab Emirates, and exported to Uganda.
Cooking is not one of my skills to share. To date I have burned two saucepans because I cannot fine tune the gas stove when cooking rice.
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| Tip: To avoid burning, mix cooking oil with water |
As usual, I experimented and discovered that I can cook rice in a frying pan. To avoid the ever-present stress of cooking it right, I cook rice good for one week, store it in the refrigerator, and have fried rice at each meal. (For a volunteer, a rice cooker would be a luxury, but a ref is a necessity - even if it costs more than your month's allowance.)
For the time being, I have set aside the quest for gastronomic delight. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I am in a place where the basic needs of food and shelter have yet to be satisfied. I am already happy digesting the aroma of Angie's cooking, as she is very creative in the kitchen.
