Days 18 & 19: Eggplant Croquettes and the Health Fair

June 24 & 25: Yesterday, we prepared for the arrival of James' mom and Krista (the MGH Development Officer). James, Natalie, and I wanted to surprise both of them with our improvement in the kitchen, so we all set off to the market to purchase items for the dinner menu. James went with Pauline (the MGH Guesthouse keeper) to buy three live chickens, while Natalie and I searched for zucchini. We were set on making zucchini pancakes, but when we went to the market, no one had zucchinis, and when we walked through the isles of the supermarket, the zucchinis appeared as though they were infested with diseases. Funny thing is here, the moment a food goes out of season, not a soul can find that food anywhere. Devastated about our loss, Natalie and I stood in the cheese section of the supermarket for thirty minutes, looking for vegetarian recipes on her phone. We ended up deciding on an eggplant croquette recipe, and thank goodness that there is never a shortage of eggplant in Uganda.
      Once we returned to the guest house, Krista and James' mom had arrived, and we were all surprised to see James (not the most adventurous eater) holding live chickens in his hands. While I was too scared to watch the killing of the chicken (I have previously experienced the murder of a chicken firsthand and do not wish to see it again), I heard all about it from the spectators.
      For dinner, we were hosting over twenty people, so Natalie and I set to work on making our eggplant croquettes (it was a little ambitious, I must say, although the name sounds fancier than the look). After hand mashing eggplants and making handmade breadcrumbs, for there was no masher nor breadcrumbs, we added the rest of the ingredients and placed them in the pan. The appearance of the croquettes was anything but appetizing; however, none were left by the end of the night, hence, we must have done something right (or everyone hid them under their plates). The dinner itself was lovely. Because it was James' last night in Uganda, we had a little celebration and slideshow honoring the work that he has done. I will definitely miss him once he has left, but I bet he is beyond excited to leave me and Natalie, who have filled in the spot as "mom" and "bossy older sister" (these past three weeks have had their fair share of bonding moments for Natalie, James, and I).

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Health Fair

      Early today, Natalie and I headed off for the parish, where HopeNet performs its field work. The organization is holding a health fair for the people of the parish, as a way of saying "thank you" to the villagers for allowing studies to be organized in their homes. There are ten tents, which all serve different purposes (vitals, EKGs, pulmonary tests, blood work, HIV/AIDs testing, etc.), and the participants of the fair follow a procession through the stations. Natalie and I were in charge of handling the kids, and we had planned on making paper plate masks; however, upon arrival, we learned that neither the paper plates, nor the scissors, nor the string had made it to the field. We ended up cutting used cardboard and had the older children draw with the crayons. For awhile, I was holding the cutest little baby. Caught in the adorable-ness of the infant, I started to swing her around and hold her above my lap. When I was looking up at her, she was smiling widely and twitching her eyes. I thought 'how happy this baby is. . .I am so great with kids.' A few moments later, I felt wetness seeping through my skirt, and I looked down and saw a huge puddle of baby tinkle all over my just-washed skirt. 'No, I am not good with kids. . .the baby was just so happy that this horrible, white sitter picked it up, so that it could relieve itself.' I was left with a wet skirt for the majority of the morning.

Maggie's Tinkle Skirt

      In the afternoon, Dr. David, Krista, James, and James' mom stopped by the health fair before Dr. David, James, and James' mom left for the airport. After a tour around the grounds, we bid our farewells, and Natalie and I headed back to Mbarara in the "blood car" (the car that transports the blood tubes). Once in Mbarara, Krista, Noortje, Natalie, and I went into town to buy fabric and ingredients for tonight's dinner. We also stopped in a shoe store, where all of the leather shoes are made by hand and beaded in the store. Because of our fondness for aerobics, we took Krista to the class. She did not bring exercise clothes on her trip, so she ended up wearing her pajama pants. Going into the class, we all did not anticipate the intensity that the instructor was going to bring. Throughout the session, he kept yelling at us to "work harder...move!" During the arms and abs portion, there were definitely some curse words thrown around and mumbled by us struggling mazungas.
      For dinner, we made delicious Japanese pancakes, and we all enjoyed our last dinner together before Natalie and Krista head out tomorrow.