The Perfect Fit

Well excitement is still in the air…the World Cup games are narrowing down to the championship game which will be this coming Sunday on July 11th. I am quite excited to see who will be battling each other for the Cup! Games have definitely been more intense lately and people’s enthusiasm has been reaching its climax…everyone watches the games…people even take time off from work and events to find a television, sit down, and enjoy the thrill of the game! Well anywho, things here in Uganda are still going really really well. My time here is narrowing down…sad but true. All I know is that I must take in as much as possible and live every experience to the fullest. So last Thursday completed my field research…and the day was beyond successful. I had three interviews scheduled, but ended up conducting four separate interviews with a total of seven people. I was so happy and satisfied! My PROMETRA colleague and I only had one minor “road-block,” when we discovered the front bike’s tire was low as we reached our last interview site in Kibibi Sub-county. We first decided to complete the interview and eat lunch before venturing to the nearest mechanic to fix the tire. The interview was successful, the food was delicious, and the mechanic was ready and waiting to fix the tire. Good enough we had been to this same mechanic before a couple weeks back when we had a similar bike problem. It’s funny…as I sat there waiting for the tire to be fixed, I realized that every time I ventured to Kibibi Sub-county on the bike, something happened to the bike…first time the bike ran out of fuel, second time the bike’s back tire broke some spindles, third time the bike’s back tire went flat, and fourth time the bike’s front tire went flat. Each time I traveled to Kibibi during my research excursions I experienced a bike problem…how ironic…there must be something in the air at that sub-county…hehe! So the tire got fixed just in time for us to cruise the last leg of the journey to Kampala arriving home at a decent hour. The weekend soon came and brought relaxation and a fun journey. I have realized during my stay here in Uganda that many women at one point in their lives end up having a or many dress(es) of different styles made for them. So I decided I wanted to have that same experience for me…especially since it is much much cheaper here and truly an amusing experience, where you spend time gazing at all kinds of fabrics from high class silk traditionally reserved for Gomez to simple cotton…hehe. So on Saturday I spent part of the day roaming around Kampala town center trying to find the perfect fabric for making me the perfect dress. I initially went with ideas in my head, but ended up changing my mind many times. I had originally thought of a style slightly more traditional but while shopping around with the help of one of my PROMETRA colleagues and his sister, I came to realize I wanted something a little more fancy…like a party dress…in some sense. So finally after journeying from store to store to store and looking at various fabrics, I found the fabric that would be perfect for me…a soft blue color, like ocean blue, with shapes of sunflower-like stitching on it. After finding the ideal fabric, I began explaining to the seamstress the dress style I had in mind. We decided to journey across the street, through an ally-way, and up the road a bit just to show her a dress hung a manikin that was of the style I desired. The seamstress looked it over and agreed it would look good and work well with the fabric. So we journeyed back down the road, through the ally-way, across the street and into the store to purchase the fabric we had put on hold. We made the purchase, then found our way to the seamstress’s area of operation, where she measured me from shoulder to toe, and told me to return next Thursday…this coming Thursday…to try the dress on for size :) I left feeling quite satisfied and full of anticipation. It’s funny how the ideas we plan for can change instantly in the midst of progress depending on the materials and time available. My dress idea turned out not quite as I originally planned…but I believe the final product will prove to be very nice and stylish…and a nice dress to wear to some kind of event in the future. In the end, it’s all the about the experience. So that has been the excitement of my past few days. This coming weekend I hope to journey to Entebbe and visit its Botanical Beach/Gardens…we shall see how time permits itself. I hope you all are enjoying the nice summer weather…OH and I hope you all back in the states had a wonderful 4th of July celebration! I hope the fireworks displays were just fabulous! :) Shall be seeing you all soon!

Keep the spirit alive – Ann Kyamulabi