The Bugolobi Bungalow!

Never one to sit still, even when in the same place, I recently relocated from Kololo to Bugolobi, taking up residence with Meredith at the cozy and quaint Plot 74 Luthuli Avenue.

The relocation process, however, was slightly less cozy and quaint. Rather, 'twas accompanied by all sorts of unneccessary stress. Just to liven things up, really. “My house is going to be right next to my office. Everything else is far away. I don’t have a car. What if I get stuck in a Bugolobi bubble and NEVER LEAVE THE SPACE BETWEEN PLOTS 74-77 LUTHULI AVENUE???” “Light wood or dark wood for my bed, LIGHT WOOD OR DARK WOOD??” My neuroses over that ~2 week period earned me the title of Drama Queen. I consider the fact that I’ve been here over a year without anyone picking up on this until now a major accomplishment ;-)

While the light v. dark wood decision was a very real consternation in my world, it didn’t stop me from having an absolute blast scooting around Kampala on the weekends, looking for my perfect 4-poster among the piles lumber – cut, sanded, stained, assembled or otherwise – in the city’s many roadside carpentry shops.

The winner turned out to be what has become known as “the sled bed.” Let the record show dark wood, with no cognitive dissonance a month after the purchase.

The personal effects reshuffle, it turns out, was astonishingly simple. I would be remiss not to profusely thank Meredith, Sarah, Scott, Som, Ian, the Rav4 and the Prado for accomplishing effortlessly in under one hour what I was convinced was going to end only in disaster.

The Bugolobi Bungalow, as you can see, is warm and welcoming and wonderful and everything that Harsh Lighting and Mismatched Furniture was not. Not only do I now have a real fridge, stove, oven, and shower, we also have exposed brick, cool art, a yard, and a POOL!

The nightly mosquito quotient has increased about 1,000-fold, but it’s nothing that a couple gallons of Skintastic and a heavy duty long-lasting insecticide treated bodysuit can’t fix. There used to be sheer navy blue curtains in my room, which blew gently in the breeze and facilitated air circulation. However, I decided they made my room look too dude-like, so I replaced them with these:

My room is now about a million degrees and I can’t really breathe, but I’m viewing this as a challenge to my homeostatic and lung capacities, respectively.

Which reminds me – I electrocuted myself the other night. Quite a peculiar sensation that is, having an electric current run up your right arm. As much as I would like to blame this on something house-related, maybe I shouldn’t have stuck my hand in the socket. I am no longer allowed to operate appliances while home alone.

I realize, by the way, that social norms dictate that I’m supposed to want to live by myself at this point in life. Bah. Everything’s twice as fun/two times as funny when there’s someone else to laugh at/with you. Especially when that person is Meredith, who laughs really, really loudly.

As in, you can’t even IMAGINE how loudly.

Plus, she makes a killer fresh fruit smoothie.

I’m quickly learning The Ways of the Roommate. My water consumption process, for instance, used to consist of two steps. Pour from water jug into glass. Drink. I now embrace the assembly line approach. Fill kettle with tap water. Boil. Cool. Transfer to big jug for temporary storage. Transfer to Brita. Refrigerate. Pour into glass. Glug.

Perhaps best not to blog about some of the other rules of the house.

In other bungalow news, one of our neighbors (there are four houses on the compound) has a German Shepard, Luna, who is, in a nutshell, awesome. It’s fun to have a dog but not really have a dog. Luna!
I’m also waiting for the opportunity to take a picture of Kevin, the a b s u r d l y lovable 2-year old son of Nicholas and Catherine, the Ugandan couple that lives on the compound, and sister of Fiona (who’s 4). However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen lil’ Kev with any pants on.

As for the transport situation, check out my new wheels:
It’s a Marin, FYI. Apparently I’m supposed to know that. Fortunately, Kenny, of Julia and Kenny, the couple I bought it from, put the front wheel back on after he dropped it off. I’m not so mechanically inclined. He said something about making sure I re-attach the brakes…