For those of you who have not been keeping up to date with my blog (shame!), I am the newest resident of the village of Kibwona, following a long line of other muzungus. I have moved from Busingiro to Kibwona, and trek into the Kasokwa forest fragment each morning to observe the 14 chimpanzees that live here.
Village life is interesting- I always have an entourage of kids following, poking, and prodding me, and inspecting the contents of my backpack. Here’s a rundown of the usual crowd:
Edigar- the two year old son of our cook, Prossy. Spoiled and entitled. Never naps, always cranky during dinner. But the way his face lights up every afternoon as he runs towards me when I get home from the forest makes up for it.
Moses, aka “Where are your pants?”- this quiet klepto’s typical garb is a tweety bird vest, and that’s all folks.
Jossy- cute little girl whose natural rhythm is a dance.
Dennis- parents are on extended vacation in Kampala (euphemism: they died of AIDS). Has weeping sores all over body; cant help but feel sorry and give him a hug.
Kelvin- quiet girl who stutters, and tags along with the older kids
Patrick, aka “the smart one”- older boy, maybe 9, who understands my miming and translates the rules to hide and seek.
Helen- older girl, maybe 8, held back in school for sucking her thumb. Only removes it to slap others.
I’m also making friends my own age- Lucky, the 22 year old girlfriend of my 34 year old- married with two kids- field assistant Joseph. This situation is completely normal and in fact Lucky and the wife are good friends. And Prossy, a girl working at the internet café who I see often; she pulled me aside and asked in all seriousness if I would be her friend, she seemed as nervous as if she were proposing! But “making friendship” is a big deal, and you want to be able to bring friends home to mother.
You might think that hiring a cook would reduce your worries, but in fact it is sometimes stressful communicating your order. Everything has tomatoes, and we average a half dozen a day, even if we are only having rice and beans. I dont know where they all go! Also, the food pyramid here is drastically different. Meals consist of a carb-rich, flavorless base, such as cassava, posho (maize flour and water), rice, irish (teeny potatoes), chapatti (like a greasy tortilla) or muzungu pasta. It is apparently normal to eat, though I wont allow, two of these in the same meal. The base is served with a "sauce" or "soup"- any combo of cooked veggies resembling pasta sauce. anything uncooked is "salad," even if it is only an avocado, or only a cucumber.
The other day in Masindi town, I tried to order a vegetable curry entree, and the waitress explained I had to also order something else because what I wanted was "a small cup of sauce;" So I'm imagining it will be like ketchup, and order a side of potatoes. Of course the curry was this huge bowl of delicious spicy veggies, and then I had a plate of bland potatoes I didnt know what to do with. Perhaps she was new, but I suspect the traditional meal plan requiring a "base" forced her to advise me against only curried veggies.
And of course what would an update be without more on the chimps?! We had a busy week documenting the disturbances to the forest- 3 fires, 1 person chopping wood, and 1 snare. Despite this, the chimps have been relaxing in the same tree all week, enjoying ripe antiaris fruit. A quick intro to some of the chimps:
Koojo- "the spy" always notices our arrival on the scene and watches us closely for several minutes before returning to his own activity.
His younger brother Elvis is independent and playful, with ears as big as his personality.
Their mother, Kemoso, is easy to identify by her missing leg. She often climbs up trees using her two hands, one foot, and her knee.
Kangeye was miss popular for a week due to her large estrous swelling.
her son Makosa is a steadfast playmate to Ajabu, and it's hard to tell the two apart when they are wrestling in the treetops!
Kaija Alice is a pudgy, squinty-eyed female, older sister to Ajabu. Their mother Kakono is missing a hand, so when she scratches those places she cant reach with her remaining hand, she contorts into the strangest positions!
Ruhara is a balding female with a newborn infant. Whoever determines the infant's gender gets to name the baby. the competition is fierce!! Her older son, Ritch, was recently caught in a snare, and it is still tightly wrapped around his hand.
The adult males include Abooki, Sukari, and Komuntu. It is their job to raid the sugar cane and bring the spoils home to the women.
I have FINALLY posted some pictures onto my website so you can get to know these personalities from afar, and more are on the way!! (sorry internet is so slow!!):
http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg223/MsKatieHall/UGANDA/
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