Wednesday, August 30, 2023

News of the week is that I decided to end my Peace Corps service in Uganda before embarking on my Ugandan home stay.  I returned to Minneapolis Saturday afternoon.

There were many reasons to stay; however, the primary driver for returning was that my work had changed and, as important as it all is, I just wasn't excited about it.  I had originally been hired as a business or economic development advisor (I don't recall which exactly) and that kind of morphed to Agribusiness and then hands-on agriculture.  

The Uganda Peace Corps staff was quite understanding and supportive.  In fact, the entire experience left me feeling better than ever about the Peace Corps -- I'm just sad my assignment didn't work out for me.

So what's next?  I need to put on my thinking cap and get back to you.  Peace Corps is still on the table (in addition to 2-year assignments there are 6- and 12-month assignments) as is full or part time volunteer or non-profit work.  Who knows?

But enough about me... I had one more blog prepared about food and wanted to close out with something of interest.

This is not embellished in the least:  Three different Ugandans asked me, "John, why don't Americans think we have any food?"

Enter Sally Struthers.  For those of you under 40, Google it 

Of course, Uganda has a segment of the population who are poor and struggle with food security.  But at a macro level, Uganda has many agricultural assets and a very long growing season.  They are expected to be a major food provider for all of eastern Africa for decades to come.

The coffee, for instance, is both a large export and perhaps the best I've ever had.  The pineapple is second to none and the avocados are fresh, XXL and oddly inexpensive.  Watermelon.  Papaya.  The list goes on.

Most meals are similar to what you might see in the US.  Meat, vegetables, rice with another starch or two and fresh fruit.  Although I'm vegetarian the others in my cohort reported the meat was similar to what we might have in the US.

Of course, there are a few regional differences -- enter matoke (pronounced ma-TOKE-AYE).

It looks like a banana.  In fact, it is a banana (an East African Highland banana to be precise) -- it's just not like a banana we buy at a US grocery store.

These are peeled with a knife, the fruit is steamed in banana leaves and then it is mashed.  It ends up with a look and consistency like acorn squash; however, it is quite bland on its own. It is typically eaten with a sauce made of vegetables, ground peanut, or some type of meat.

Last, and certainly not least, Rolex!!  Not the watch, the Ugandan street food.  I love these!!

It's basically a veggie omelette rolled in chapati bread.  And if you get one hot odd the griddle, heaven!

The name allegedly comes from saying "rolled eggs" really fast.  "Rolled eggs," "Roldeggs," "Rolex."

But don't let the internet fool you about one thing: It is NOT just a breakfast food.  People love them any time, day or night.

Which leads me to the intersection of food and Ugandan terms:  Break tea.

For us, Break tea came promptly at 10:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  I can only surmize the English introduced Ugandans to "tea" and someone along the way mentioned a "coffee break" and the next thing you know it's "break tea."

Despite it's name, there was a nice selection of coffee and hot chocolate along with tea and snacks to keep us going.  I was particularly fond of the donuts.

I think I'll close there.  Please send happy thoughts as I work to find some new purpose and direction.

John