These days

It is good to know that we have the passport in hand, as we’ve been wearing thin at times the past few days.  The unknown of when we'll be able to go home and what to do about our flights has been hovering.  We are tired of many of the inconveniences of living here.  I realize, though, that they are truly just inconveniences, compared to the real struggles going on with almost everyone we’ve encountered.  Someday soon, we will be going back to a land that's flowing with perforated toilet paper, kitchen tools that suit our every whim, electricity that stays on 99.9% of the time, tap water that's safe for use in brushing our teeth, and cars that we can drive anywhere and any time we want. 

Even though it's our new normal, there are so many unusual things about our life here.  One of the elements that's most disorienting is the concept of time, or at least the passing of days and weeks.  It feels a little bit like we're in an isolation chamber experiment. We have very little interaction with anyone outside the 5 or 6 other people in this walled and gated 1/3 acre compound.  Mark has things from his job to try to keep up with online and by phone, but otherwise we don't have many responsibilities other than keeping the three of us alive.  Saturday is like a Thursday is like a Monday.  Some weeks feel like months and then I'll realize that something that I thought happened just a couple days ago was actually two weeks ago.

It's strange to think that while we've been gone, leaves have turned color and fallen off the trees, a presidential election occurred, and winter holidays are approaching.  Meanwhile, the palm trees sway gently in the hot sun here and we wish we had brought more warm weather clothes.

I also don't really have much of a concept of where we are in relation to anything else in the city. This morning I told one of our housemates we were going to the American Recreation Association (more on that in a minute) and he asked where it was. I realized as I replied to him, "You know, I don’t really know where anything is here. I just get in the car and hope we end up in the right place."

Anyway, as you know if you've been reading this blog for very long, one of our primary activities here is kicking the ball in the driveway. Yesterday morning, yet another ball went over the wall.  We walked down to the little market where there's a netted bag of colored rubber balls outside. Mark pointed to a red ball, and the clerk looked at us and said, "Another one?"  I think that's a sign that we've been here too long. :)   Later that afternoon, while I was inside trying to figure out our bank card debacle, Robert came in to our room saying, "Tell Mommy.  Tell Mommy."  I couldn’t get him to elaborate, though, so I kept on working. At dinner, Mark said to me, "You know the new ball that we bought today is gone, right?  I told Robert to go tell Mommy he wasn't being careful and bounced it over the wall again." Ahhh, "Tell Mommy."

Yesterday we decided it was time to show Robert what life with us is really like … so we ate popcorn, fruit and slices of cheese for dinner.  He was into the popcorn and some of the fruit, but not so much the cheese.  He is definitely not an American yet.

Last week we got a tip from our new friends Alicia and Abdul about something called the American Recreation Association. It is kind of like a country club, where Americans and other Western ex-pats pay an annual membership fee and have access to a swimming pool, tennis courts, playground equipment and a restaurant that serves salad!  Once a month they open their facility to the public for a small fee and today was that lucky day.  It's hard to describe exactly why, but the once we were inside the aesthetic and vibe felt like we were in a Wes Anderson film.  While there were plenty of Ugandans there, it was strange to be in a place with so many white people, hearing voices speaking in American and European accents. It turned out to be a great place for kids, as they have slides, swings, monkey bars, a trampoline and a blow-up bouncy house. As we walked toward the playground area, Robert had the same tentative, pensive look he had during our first few days together.  He climbed up to the top of a 12-foot slide and sat there for a minute or so, not quite sure of what to do or whether he wanted to do it. He scooted forward a couple inches and sat for another minute. Eventually he mustered up the courage and slid down with a look of terror on his face.  It must not have been too bad, though, as he went back up. After the third or fourth time, he had relaxed and then went on to gleefully slide down about 20 more times.  It was fun to watch him watch other children on the playground and in the bouncy house.  At first he didn't know what to do in each spot, but after observing other kids for a few seconds, he'd slowly follow their lead and give it a try.  We also bought a soccer ball from Abdul at a booth there.  Hopefully we'll be able to keep it on the horizontal and hang on to it until we leave.