The Market and a Chameleon

Over the weekend, I asked Solomon to bring me to the market. Its not the store. Its outside, and there are stalls of everything. There was food: tomatoes, pineapples, avacados, mangos, potatoes, carrots, casava root, cabbage. There was a butcher and the choice is very limited to whatever he has for the day. He had some pig hanging up on a rope, but Solomon said it was too expensive. About a pound of pork is 5000 shillings which is almost $2. There was also smoked fish from Queen Elizabeth Park. We got some for dinner and it was so yummy. There was also two things I cant wait to eat again. One is what we know as fried dough. They call it amarari. Its basically sugar, flour, oil, made into a ball and fried. Yum! The other is called bans, we might think of it as mini-pancakes. They have banana in them but they are also deep-fried. I hope Solomon teaches me how to make them so I can have them whenever I want! Everywhere I went there were little kids, maybe 3 or 4 years old, waving and saying hello!! There were all kinds of people there. Women making baskets, selling clothes, cooking. There werent as many men there buying or selling. The clothes they sell are ironically not Ugandan. They are american or european name brands just passed down. They are kept in good quality though which is amazing. You could also get phones, or headphones or radios there as well. Everyone was very nice to me, and when I bought some bans, the woman gave me extra because she wanted me to like them. I told her I did and that I would be back for more. I also saw some children playing jump rope, and tag which of course made me want to play but they are always so shocked by the Muzungu that they either just freeze or run away. The market was a lot more than I thought it would be and I plan to go back soon.

Yesterday I was sitting with a woman I have made friends with, Monica. She is teaching me how to basket weave and I will definitly be sharing pictures of that soon. Suddenly she asked me if I liked Chameleons, and I said of course!! And then she pointed up, they were in the trees right behind where we were sitting! I had no idea! I knew that there were many species of chameleons here, from research, but I didnt know where to find them. I was so excited. Then the guys I was hanging out with as well, Curtis, and Simon, showed me this fence with bushes growing around it because after it rains, thats where they see them. Funny enough, the locals dont like them. They are creepy – even evil to some people because they can change color, and they have creepy eyes. So they were shocked when I told them that people will buy them for hundreds of dollars as pets in america. I always wanted when growing up, but I know that they are very picky eaters and die easily without the right environment. Uganda is the right environment for them! I was so happy, that when Monica was taking my picture she said my happiness came through. It sure did.