When I woke up Christmas day, it took me a moment to emerge out of a sleepy daze. No snow on the ground. No decorated tree. But it was Christmas! And I was just as excited as I was for snowy Chicago Christmases!
We first went to church at Kymbogo, which lasted about 3 hours. We had to leave a bit early, however to head to Jayan’s home for a Christmas feast. When we arrived to her family’s house outside of Kampala, we found a banquet waiting for us.
A spectacular display of meats, Irish (potatoes), noodle dishes, matoke, g-nuts sauce, greens, beans, peas, cassava, apple pie, and brownies overwhelmed the table. I visited with Jayan’s mom and sisters for a while until the coffee table was cleared and the African music videos turned up. Yes, a dance party broke out. How amazingly perfect for me!
It didn’t take long for me to realize that my dancing stamina was miniscule compared with the Ugandans. I kept trying to sit back down on the couch to catch my breath and hope for some level of digestion, yet the sisters and neighbors would not allow for my absence on the dance floor.
We danced and celebrate Christmas well into early evening until we realized the time and had to depart in order to get to the cinema at Garden City for a seven o’clock showing.
Seven of us stood in line, holding a level of self-defense. I tried to form a pick to gain some space to breath against the crowd that increasingly filled the corridor. This is how a queue works in Africa. One stands in line and is shoved mercilessly to go to church. One stands in line and is shoved mercilessly in the supermarket the day before Christmas. One stands in line and is shoved mercilessly while waiting to enter the movie theater. Too bad our first attempt in line turned out to be the cinema for Indian translation!
When we finally elbowed our way through the hallway to the cinema, we took our seats in the second row to see Avatar. It was a perfect and relaxing way to end a Christmas celebration that was so physically demanding of my stomach’s capacity and leg strength!
Merry Christmas from Uganda!
1 comments:
Merry Christmas Dani! I just saw Avatar in 3D- awesome movie! :)See you soon back in the states.
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