Uganda

On the drive to Van Nuys to try Ugandan food, Raquel, Robert, Anthony, and I played a game where Anthony would choose a country from a map of Africa, give us hints, and we would try to guess which country it was. I thought after all this blogging I would be pretty good at it, but Raquel is better.

When we arrived at the address for the restaurant, we were in the middle of a neighborhood. I drove around the block and returned to the same address. No restaurant. I called. The woman who answered the phone said, “Park on the street and walk down the driveway. We’re in the back yard."

Los Angeles has quite a few home restaurants, but Jaliz Cuisine of East Africa was my first experience. There are picnic tables in the back yard. We were the only ones there, so they invited us inside where someone was watching TV and someone was cooking in their home kitchen. They fed us the meal of the day which included chicken, vegetables, and chapati. My nephews now have a story about their crazy aunt and the time she took them to a stranger's house to eat. But read the Yelp reviews. There are a lot of people who love it there.

From the home restaurant, I thought Ugandan food was a little plain. Cooking with Perry, Andrea, Mike, and Walt in January added a little variety. We worked from this webpage: http://www.stmalachi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Ugandan-recipes-2.pdf

I made Ugandan smoked fish stew; cabbage with onion, carrots, and green pepper; and Acholi sugared peanuts. I tracked down the smoked fish at We Yone African Market in Rialto. Andrea made matooke, chapati, rice balls, and roasted corn. It was a nice meal and I was glad to spend time with great friends.

I’ve read three books for Uganda, one fiction and two non-fiction. The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden is fiction that reminds me not to be sucked in by the charisma of an unethical leader such as Idi Amin. I listened to it on CD from the San Bernardino County Library. The narrator is great! I still want to watch the movie.

The first non-fiction book was Wait for God to Notice by Sari Fordham, a professor at La Sierra University. We read it for Michael and Raewyn’s book group and Sari participated when we discussed it. This is her memoir about growing up in Uganda and what it is like when missionaries feel so called that they can’t remove themselves or their children from danger.

The other non-fiction book was The Price of Stones by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri about building a school for his village. I’ve read several books now about people from Africa who want to support schools and the difficulties involved.

A short story called Baking the National Cake by Hilda Twongyeirwe looks at the inner workings of government: https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2013-10/baking-the-national-cake/

DisneyPlus is currently showing the biography of Ugandan Junior Chess Champion Phiona Mutesi in the movie Queen of Katwe.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Wakaliwood Films, and I thought Who Killed Captain Alex: Uganda's First Action Movie is laugh out loud funny (and violent): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEoGrbKAyKE

There is a great variety of music in Uganda. Here are just a few examples:

· A collection of famous musicians from Uganda who have put together a song to address the AIDS crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRKtG8_wA84

· A luxurious music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvBs4rH-9fI

· A traditional dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a33ztAwGAY

Here in California, Oakland Zoo has a partnership in Uganda for conservation of chimpanzees: https://www.oaklandzoo.org/wildlife-conservation/chimps

If I visited Uganda, I would want to see these places: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-uganda/. I would love to go! I hope for a time when broad travel gives us new perspectives. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Uganda and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Francesco Ungaro https://unsplash.com/photos/Li1aC1AJ7Ak