My “best meal of the summer”, in the same style as all my experiences this summer in Uganda, is not a simple story. To explain my best meal, I will take you through my “taste bud adventure”....
It begins with my first day of my internship. The Executive Director of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project with whom I was interning, Mr. Hassan Shire Shike took me out for lunch. Just around the corner from the office (and my house) there is a delightful spot owned by a Belgian man. Quality Village hosts a butcher’s and a fruit and vegitable stand, a patisserie, a wine shop, and a restaurant. Not sure what to expect in terms of food quality, after only having been in Uganda for 48 hours, I asked Mr. Shire to order on my behalf. The gorgeous tilapia and wild mushroom plate I had for lunch can only be described with one word, “delicious”!
Quality Village became my everyday retreat. I could not afford to eat there every day but I would often venture to La Patisserie for a fresh pastry and beautiful latte. After meeting two other interns that were working with another organization in the same building as mine, we decided to go to Quality for a great dinner date. I ordered the steak with mushroom sauce, Jon, an intern from Osgood Law School at York, had a steak with a coniaque and peppercorn sauce. When the food arrived and they ‘flambed’ Jon’s steak in front of us, I had a moment of food envy. But after I tasted my own, the food envy quickly faded. The mushroom sauce was divine! I think I must have eaten that steak once a week for the entire thirteen weeks I was in Uganda. It was the best sauce I had ever tasted.
Fearing getting board with the same food each time, and spending all our money on steak, Jon and I found many great spots to eat over the summer. There was a great little Greek place that Neil, the intern from the year before, had taken me to. Just at the end of the road where the office was, a collegue took me to have an Ethiopian lunch. I wish I had written down the names of the different foods we tried, but I didn’t. That was the first and last time I tried Ethiopian. It was delicious, but there was a bread made from fermented rice and it gave my stomach the worst bloating I can describe. Ethiopian coffee and I, on the other hand, became the very best of friends!
Another spot that we frequented was just in Kabalagala where all of the interns I met and I were staying. It was the best pizza around! The restaurant was called “Obama’s restaurant, cafe, beauty salon, and jet car wash”. No kidding! They had ashtray’s that said “I (heart) New York”, and all the wait-staff had President Obama’s face on the chest. It was the cheesiest and funniest place we ate by far! But we loved it and it was cheap and yummy! We ate there quite a lot come to think of it.
On what was really the only ‘touristy’ thing that I did all summer, a group of 11 of us organized ourselves and went white water rafting in Jinga, down grade 5 rapids on the Nile River. I could never re-create how fantastic that experience was... for all of us. It was out of this world. It was also absolutely exhausting. After completing most of the trek, we stopped for lunch on top of this giant hill. Sitting down in the grass, with minus 100% energy, we devoured chappatis that were freshly made and topped with shredded veggies and balsamic vinegar and cheese. Looking over the part of the Nile River that we had just conquered, and over the beast we had yet to master. It was spectacular.
A couple weekends later, we had the opportunity to go to Hairy Lemon, a small island that was privately owned and served as a camping retreat for ‘passer’s by’. Also on the Nile River, this spot was out of a fantasy. Everything was unique and artsy and showed the character of the owners and the place. The vibe was amazing. For only $26.00 for the night, we got three fresh full meals, a great atmosphere, and a bed in a cabin located just beside a babbling brook that was run off from the mighty Nile River. After a scrumptious feast, we sat on the top of the island peak and had a 360degree view of the Nile and all the trees and nature around us. Watching the sun set as we drank a few and played on the djembe (drum) and guitar by the fire. Man, Uganda was a really rough experience!
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