Empty Fridge

An empty fridge means it’s time to go to the grocery store and stock up. I’m infamous for going to the grocery store without a list – something my mom did NOT teach me. You know the grocery store rules: buy off your list and don’t go when you’re hungry. Yea, I break those all the time!

An empty fridge in Uganda means the same thing in this house – time to go to market (fyi … many Ugandan families do not have a fridge. And many can go hungry much of the time. The children in this home do not take their meals for granted. They thank God for each and every morsel!).

So, off to market we go. It’s so colorful, with all the fresh fruits and veggies. And Ugandans certainly know how to make a display. I LOVE the way the tomatoes and potatoes are stacked. Buying for 18 children + mamas + aunties means a lot of food. Thankfully we have our usual vendors that look forward to our coming each Saturday. I remember my first trip to market. We had potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, green pepper, watermelon, pumpkin, eggplant, onions, greens and more. I stood looking at our loot thinking “how on earth are we going to get all of this on a boda?” 

Alex tethers our loot to his boda boda.

If you read my last blog, Ugandans know how to transport almost anything by boda, huge piles of groceries included. You would be amazed at how many items can fit in a burlap bag and then strapped to the boda for the ride home.

I get a lot of stares and “Hey Mzungu” at the market. One day, I was waiting for Sarah at our potato vendor and a man came up to me saying something and “Mzungu”. We was waving his fist at me and I had know idea what he wanted. I just said “no thanks”. He finally walked away. Only later, when I shared the story with Sarah, she laughed and said “He wanted a fist bump.” To which I responded, “Do all Ugandans think that Mzungu’s fist bump?” Apparently the answer is yes. So on your next trip to Uganda, please remember the fist bump!

Once we are done at the fresh food market, we hop in a taxi to the supermarket (Capital Shoppers, Quality Supermarkets or Shoprite) for the rest of our weeks supplies. We fill 2-1/2 carts and quite obviously THAT won’t all fit on a boda, so we call our trusty driver, Ivan.

Now depending on what time of day we go or what is happening in town, this trip may take as little as 2 hours or 4 hours. And if I’m lucky, we may stop and get a chapatti and samosa (my favorite Ugandan treats!) for lunch.

P.S. To all my faithful readers, this concludes my series on “Ugandan living”. So many had questions about day-to-day life and I hope I covered them all (if not, let me know). Hope you enjoyed. Coming up next year, is something I’m really excited about. I’ll just leave you in suspense and hope you keep reading until then.