The Chronicles of Giardia

So my gut has not taken so well to the Ugandan food/water/environment. Something about it is rather upsetting to my system. However, there is a bit of humor in it all thanks to the brand of toilet paper sold in the market. It is none other than JOY...! Coincidence? Perhaps. But I found it very ominous the moment I read the label. All the symptoms I am having fit with a mild case of giardia. Butt (yes, pun and typo intended...ha!), it comes and goes and is not as severe as the horror stories I have heard from survivors of that vicious parasite. So realistically, it's not giardia but gah, is it unpleasant. I feel, though, that I am on the road to recovery and my pseudo-giardia is passing through.

Well, I don't want to completely gross you out. So sorry for the unpleasantries. I will shift gears now and show how great some of the food is. Check out this fabulous meal Kara made us one night:


Pan-fried tilapia with caramelized onions and garlic, mashed potatoes, toast, and coleslaw with cucumbers, carrots, and bell peppers. Mmm mm!

And one day we stumbled across the most fabulous avocados. They were HUGE! Perfectly ripe, sweeter than normal, and $0.40 a piece! An unbelievable bargain.


Something that I have discovered since being here is that I love curry. I used to think it was just 'ok' but now it is my stable spice. There is a big Indian population in Mbarara and along with that, tons of curry options. Vegetable curry, goat curry, you name it, put the spice on it, and I want it. Curry seems to liven things up a bit. Our staple foods have been eggs, bread, and...yep, that's about it. I have eggs and bread almost everyday (sometimes they are found at every meal) and feel spoiled if my taste buds get much variety apart from these. I have only had one frustrating day where I just wanted delicious food and felt trapped in a country that didn't have any. I took the frustration to the extreme, found some curry, and got over it :) But, I don't want to be misleading. There are a lot of really tasty restaurants and we have made some good dinners here at home.

I think this will be a good end to what started as a bad chronicle, so I will leave with the 'cado, curry, and commodities.

Cheers!