This just in….
There is an auto-cade of about fifteen cars right outside my office building and they are all hooting and making me extremely annoyed. The truck is blasting music really loudly!!! They are advertising/promoting for an upcoming event, Oluwombo.
The sad part is that they just docked in next door (i work next to a radio station’s office building) and I have a feeling it is all just starting. 
WHY WHY WHY??? Today was the day I was meant to do all my work so that I can find time over the weekend to pamper myself!
Love sickness – 1: Pms – 2
I woke up this morning thinking it’d be like yesterday. Yesterday was a good day. I came to work relatively early, I felt nice in the clothes I was wearing, I got some work done before two friends came by. We had lunch and i laughed so hard at one of my friend’s jokes. Apparently he rode a boda boda for 30kms trying to catch a bus to Rwanda that he’d missed at 2AM! He is not one to have lunch with, one might just choke on their own laughs.
I went back to work, got more things done and then left the office, went and got my hair and nails done and then went to a jewellery launch cocktail. It was something that i’d never been to before, not here at home or any of the places i’ve visited and or lived. The idea was a good one and the jewellery was unique and beautiful. It is based in paris and their website showcases some of their pieces. Anyway, I was there with a fun friend of mine and it looked good so we enjoyed it. Some of Uganda’s ex-top models came round to show off the jewellery and one of them was so into it she looked like she was about to snap her metal pin self into half. I guess that’s what they call catwalking round here.
Because it was a cocktail, free drinks were flowing easily, even the crowd (the event was invite only and don’t ask how I got invited of all pple, that’s an entire blog on its own) over indulged. Those who understood what a cocktail truly signifies grabbed a drink, viewed the jewellery, asked some questions and maybe purchased one or two items and left. Those were the smart ones.
Now here we have the not so smart ones that came for the jewelery but somehow got lost in the rotating drink trays, their high heels beginning to bend outwards because they were fixed in one spot for more than two hours. Some jewelery was seen but not really appreciated. I don’t know what happened to those in that category because I left but I was told that there was an after party (cocktails have after parties?? ) at rouge. Of course the whole air conditioning issue always has me debating on whether or not I really want to get my jiggy on that much at that particular time and last night it was a definite no.
I instead opted for a nice drink (lemon tea with honey) with two of my relatives (as I came to learn just last night) and the friend that had invited me. They were obviously not drinking lemon tea so it made for a more entertaining 45 minutes for me. We talked about so much and the laughs were good. I learnt a bit about my culture so nothing lost, plenty gained.
My eyes began to turn a little red from the tiredness so I left and made it home in record time. It must have taken me ten minutes to get from kampala to munyonyo. Yes, i flew, with Alicia Keys ‘tell you something’ blasting as my soundtrack.
I found that my sweet Jessi caught the flu but I couldn’t stop myself from hugging her and babying her when she cried herself awake. She’s doing better today because she managed to be the reason why I didn’t leave as early as I usually do and in turn, my whole day was delayed.
Mama traveled, Jessi is sick, there are too many people in our house. It feels like there’s almost no space to breathe. But I say all this because I am 1) pms-ing 2) i am a loner 3) i get panic attacks when there is either too much noise or when someone just goes on and on about something that doesn’t particularly cocern me but when said with such great importance leads me to breathe heavier and get congested all around my chest area.
The distance issue is running its toll on me and although i am trying really hard to be strong, i am one of those spirits that roam the earth wandering in a perpetually dreamy mode. I don’t know how to handle the questions in my head or the irritability that comes with not getting a text or a call, or when those do come through, the frustration of not being understood. I have tried to keep busy but its hard to not stop and dream. Maybe the time we spent together wasn’t spent doing the important things that would help us now (or rather me because he sounds alright). I shouldn’t have taken it for granted… but hey, now i know what i’ll do when we next see each other.
All this to say, my days seem to be getting crappier because it is nearly that time of the month and i am love sick.
unorganized
Weddings have become a colloquial trend in Kampala these last couple of years. In fact, they are now my personal, regular proggie. I love weddings and I am a firm believer in the institution of marriage. For someone who doesn’t particularly like dealing with people in general, I enjoy sharing a table with strangers and reveling in someone else’s happiness on such ocassions.
Straying completely from my topic on weddings, I realize that I am not in the best mood to write about happy things.
So complaints here we come;
I want my space
I want time alone
I want to know that everything he tells me is true
I want organization
I want to know what I am doing and when i am doing it
I want to get what I need to get done done….
I need to stop, breathe, think, and set my ways….
Random Coherence
On Saturday night I was with someone that made me want to write again. He is one of those exciting people that you get drawn to without really knowing why.
Growing up sucks only at the beginning when you haven’t figured out what really matters to you and after that, it’s great!
My facebook status reads that I am being led by love but in the span of one day, i grew so impatient with everyone and yet I felt deeply in love with my sugar 
perhaps the love can extend outwards so that I am more patient with others?
I saw a shooting star on my way home. It looked like a rocket taking off but leaving a green and yellow light trail. It was truly beautiful. I don’t believe in the wish on a shooting star thing but I did say a prayer. I know it will come to pass.
As much as I want to complain, Life is good like LG (can’t say that phrase without thinking of LG So I guess I shall revel in the bliss that is my life.
Thank you Lord!
A Lawless State?
Just when I am frustrated with how inefficient most offices in this country are, I encounter just one person that makes me feel like my desire to stay home is not in vain. I met one such person today. After a heated debate with mama at lunch today, I accompanied her to one of her meetings at the Uganda Investment Authority. (it wasn’t so much a debate as it was a one person {me} rant about how the youth of Uganda are doomed thanks to the selfishness of the generations before them) .
Mama had her meeting and after it was done, she mentioned that the person she’d met with had similar ideas to the ones I had discussed with her at lunch. I was excited and wanted to hear some of them so he gave me his card and I promised to fix an appointment with him.
My issue was that there are no laws protecting the Ugandan people in the business/economic scheme of things. There are no rules for that matter protecting the Ugandan economy, its resources, and its local investors. That is why I believe we’ve become a pool of greedy, quick-deal driven people with no interest in developing the nation’s economy or ensuring even the smallest financial security for our children’s children. Take for example the new excitement surrounding certain minerals and oil found in Uganda. The process in which these findings were revealed and marketed to the nationals themselves is somewhat laughable. Better still, the speed at which biddings for foreign and local companies to take part in the extracting and processing of these resources is unreal. I don’t know much about the depth of research done about the quantities but it is clear that not enough thought was put into Uganda’s long term benefits and eventual opportunities. It is because of that miscalculation that we risk losing our very valuable resources to ‘investors’ and countries that are far more developed than ours.
My thing about all these foreign investors is that all of them might come under the pretence that they have Uganda and its people in their best interest but to this day, we are yet to hear/see the fruits of their promises. Why are there no laws specifying that certain percentages of any investment venture return to the locally formed company to re-enforce its development? Is it that difficult to even have investment guidelines protecting the nation’s resources, commercial ventures, and other valuable assets such as land?
I can’t place all the blame on investors because they often come in as individuals or private companies so the blame has to fall on us, on the quickness with which we sign into fast dreams rather than assessing the offer and drawing up a concrete long term plan that would bring continuous growth to our economy.
I expressed all these views to the highly placed UIA official today and to my surprise, he answered my questions calmly and with a lot of interest. Most people in the position to give me those answers beat about the bush and get uncomfortable, quickly leaving or changing the subject. The nice gentleman told me that there should be such rules but beaurocracy has gotten in the way of them. He also mentioned that even if bills were passed, implementing them would be like turning a stone into a loaf of bread. In theory we can prevent such depletion as we’re facing now but a lot of things would have to change and people around here don’t like change (especially if they have to pause their fast paced lives and turn down that quick deal or enticing bribe).
There is however one law that states that if a concession is not used during a certain timeframe, government has the ability to retain it and or give it to another bidder. This to me sounds like we were on track to building a great protective unit over our resources around the time we got excited about privatisation but we didn’t think the thought all the way through. Resources that are in high demand will never sit for too long. Oil and precious minerals will always be needed so ‘investors’ will flock the country, doing everything in their power (and it is a lot) to get what they want. Whether they care about Uganda after they get it is a question we very well know the answer to. Africa has lived this nightmare before. We now call it imperialism… back then we didn’t know it didn’t benefit us and now we are reliving it economically. Years from now when we have nothing left, we’ll look around and ask, why did no one ever think of protecting us?
Hopefully, with men like the one I met today in service, we won’t have to ask that question. I can only pray that there are but a few more of his kind out there doing the best they can regardless of the pit of corrupt masqueraders they have to work alongside.
Missing…
I am missing my soul connection… such a short time we shared together but I feel like I’m missing a limb. Being love sick is terrible but being in love and just not next to your one everyday whenever you wish to see them is even worse. I am restricted to as many long distance calls as I can afford, and memories of bliss. I wish they were more, I wish I didn’t have to rely on them so much…
I am happy though, despite all this, I am happy. I trust him, I am loving with my all and I am not afraid to bare my spirit and let him really see me.
I stay human though… I do miss him. How do people do the serious long distance thing? I haven’t done anything serious in well, never… not like this.
Coming Home…
I love home… I always have. Home being the country I’ve lived in for the longest and the one that my parents’ parents call home. I feel like a traitor writing this but I must. I always wanted to come back home and live and work here after I graduated.
It turns out I am not liking it so much. I thought it would be something I would enjoy doing but boy is there work to do. Every other occurence almost seems like a reason to be upset. People don’t do things the same way or in the manner that one would expect them.
Take for example, our BEST example, customer care/public service in this nation. Whether you are in a restaurant, at a store doing something so simple like groceries, or calling a customer care call centre, there is going to be something said or done or for that matter not done that will itch your last calm nerve.
Two weeks ago I called the customer care centre for one of the telecom companies and this lady asked me all the necessary questions and then said my airtime would be loaded shortly since I was having issues with doing it on my own. I was more than delighted that she was so much help because I desperately wanted to talk to my boyfriend that night. I then went on to ask in the most grateful voice the time frame I should wait before I called. Shock and awe on me, her answer was TOMORROW EVENING! WHAT??? If the serial number is correct and all those numbers I read to you are entering your computer system why would it take 24 hours to load my minutes??? I was frustrated and decided I wanted to make a complaint in the same call.
I do not know what led me to believe that the call would actually be monitored or that my notes of complaint would be noted down but I went ahead and expressed my discontent. The lady listened or put her headset down until I was done and when I was finished, SHE LAUGHED!!!!! Can you understand how mad I was? I didn’t know what else to do so I hung up. I am still mad at said telecom company but two days ago I called to inquire about that same airtime that was never loaded and a certain Joy at customer care was so polite I couldn’t help but give her an extra thank you after the whole transaction was through in about five minutes. She even called me back to let me know that it had indeed been loaded on my phone and I could make my calls.
I guess it’s life. Some days are better than others but I am not loving home so much lately. I want order, respect, and professionality… and oh my goodness do I miss my space!!
