The Western (Or is it Human?) Activities of These New Friends of Mine

Hanging out on the weekends in D.C. consists of any variation of the following: sleeping in, meeting friends for brunch at The Diner or Savory Cafe. Going out to bars to watch sports, to dance, to people-watch. Playing board games with my favorite fiend ;) Going for long bike rides, runs or walks through Sligo Creek Park, getting lost somewhere in Maryland and navigating my way back by wits, alone.

Here, life appears to be so different. Dirt roads, potholes that rival the grand canyon, children running through piles of trash. But, once inside my compound, life becomes oddly western again (or is it really just normally human?). My new mates Afrah, Enity, Beatrice, Sarah, Irene, Abdallah, Pascal and Freddy (just to name a few) have tea. They stop by to say hi. They invite me over for a homemade, Ugandan lunch. We watch The Fifth Element, The Pelican Brief, The Matrix.

On the weekends we do laundry, we go shopping at the market (okay: it is a bit of a stark contrast to the farmer's market in Dupont or Takoma Park), we meet friends who have just come a long way on a bike journey. We go for strolls down the lane.

In other words, we hang out.


Pascal, Juliet and Freddy, Kyebando District, Kampala


Kids enjoy the waning sunshine