Cake and chickens

2/15/08

Today was David’s birthday. Birthdays aren’t that big of a deal in Uganda, which is such a travesty if you ask me. We celebrated with chicken for dinner (I have a few to spare these days) and cake. The cake came from Mbale and was most likely made a week ago. We bought it from a vendor who had it in the same case as watches and jewelry. It looked like the top of a wedding cake! The icing is rock hard – enough to keep it fresh for a long time. The cake tasted similar to a spice cake, but it just isn’t the same. I haven’t eaten a lot of sweets here, so the treat was actually a not so delightful addition to my diet. Too sweet for me – or maybe just too weird.

This evening, I checked out Robert’s idea for a chicken coup. His idea is good and I would love to help. He needs 80 hens to produce 60-70 good eggs a day which is enough to sell in Mbale. A hen runs between 3,000-4,500 shillings a piece depending on how large and mature it is. They generally take about 3 months to begin producing so it is difficult to pay back a loan from a microfinance group, which usually entails up to 50% interest and payments begin after a month. Any way, I think Robert thinks I’m going to pay for this endeavor. Negotiating here is interesting – it’s like a dance. My genuine interest is interpreted as genuine interest in funding the project. Uh oh! Before I knew it, Robert named the coup after me and mused about making a sign with my name on it. YIKES! Back to the dance, I’m learning that showing any interest is almost equivalent to showing that you want the item. I told Robert thank you so much for honoring me in that way but that I prefer that he does not tell people my name – that way the whole neighborhood will not approach me for micro financing. Needless to say, Robert and his family are so generous and delightful. His wife, Mary, makes the BEST stewed tomato sauce that is so good on chipatis.