Feed Me, Seymour!

Oh, crap.  I still have two weeks left until my first payday, and I’ve already gone over my food allowance.  Not that it’s much of an allowance: broken down, I can safely spend 3000 Ugandan Shillings a day (about $1.25).  Now you might be thinking, ‘Well, it’s Africa, so food must be cheap there!’  Well, actually, it’s not, especially now that it is dry season.  The average cost of eating a local lunch here (rice and beans—drinks not included) is 3500 UGX…it doesn’t take a brainiac to see that I’ve got a real problem then! 

So what to do then?  Well, I could go on a severe diet/fast/I wanna be America’s Next Top Model weight loss plan, but honestly, I like eating way too much.  Even if I’m not such a fan of Ugandan food, I’d still rather eat bland food than starve.  I’m thinking that I’m going to have to use all of my “salary” to eat for the rest of the month.  Or take from my phone and transport allowance.  I figure I can use this first month as practice. 

I’m already eating very cheaply and simply: bananas for breakfast, local lunch, and veggie stir-fry for dinner.  I don’t even buy bottled water, instead, I use chlorine tabs to purify (boiling may clean the water, but it still tastes awful after).  Sometimes I splurge and buy juice with my lunch, but really, a girl’s gotta stay hydrated, right? 

Now, I took this job for the experience, not for the great pay and benefits.  However, I do need to be able to live off of what I’m given each month--I just spent 6 months in Kampala volunteering.  That plus the expense of moving (twice…once from Bangkok to Kampala, and once from Kampala to Hoima) and furnishing a home has really left me in need of a paycheck. 

And this job will be great experience: I’m managing a staff, training, setting up systems, and creating a really great livelihood project.  I just have to survive it.  

This is more extravagant than I usually eat: rice, beans, posho (cornmeal sponge), matoke (plantain mash), dodo (pungent greens), g-nut sauce (ground groundnuts)