(My view of Gulu street from the coffee shop - shops across the way, a brief moment with very little traffic (I didn't want people think I was taking a photo of them specifically). This is one of the main roads in Gulu and one of the best ones too. And, yes, that's our faithful little car! We praise God for this car!)I'm sitting at a coffee shop in Gulu and thought it could make for an interesting post. I don't get out very often and right now I'm out so that I can study Acholi... so I should get back to that quickly. But, for life that seems normal to me now, I thought some might be interested in reading about a simple event like getting OUT of the house to do something that many of you do every day (or week) - sitting at a coffee shop on my laptop on the wireless internet!
Gulu is somewhat flooded this morning - there must have been some significant rains early morning somewhere uphill from us - the roads were swollen with mud and muddy water as people made their way to work and school. Most pedestrians tried to walk on the pavement, leaving very little room for the crowds of bicycles, motorbike taxis, and cars. It is a dreadful thing to splash a pedestrian (you have to pay them $1-2 for soap if you splash someone!) so I drove very carefully to skirt around the puddles and people.
I wanted to see if I could find black paper and cardstock for a craft with Home of Love, so I stopped by the "stationary store" (what Americans would see as a hole in the wall that carries office supplies) that is owned by a woman who has been a friend of ACTION since the beginning. No luck. So I waded through muddy water to another stationary store... no luck. I'm glad I wore my flipflops instead of Chacos today!
I gave up, not wanting to spend my precious Acholi-study time on visiting every stationary store in Gulu, and stepped into the coffee shop (after parking on the wrong side of the road, which is fine), first checking to see if they have power and internet (never a given). Yes, but unfortunately, the outlet I chose isn't working... 'sigh!' At least there's internet.
I look at the menu but, before setting my heart on something, I ask what they have today. It's never a given that there will be a given item on the menu. In fact, some days, there may only be a few selections. Other days there may be the full menu available for purchase. You just gotta ask, "what do you have today?"
While sitting here, there was a commotion on the street, which we have full liberty to stare at openly. Street children wander by, looking for a tender heart. Old ladies bearing burdens twice their weight on their heads plod down the road to the market. A street cleaner is sweeping the gutters. The parking lady eyes my car and writes up the invoice which I will pay when I leave (1500 shillings - around 50 cents).
And my African tea arrives - spiced black tea with milk and lots of sugar. So back to studying...
Comments