you'll like it here, it's not too different from Chicago

Yesterday was interesting. In the morning I ruined yet another cooking pot because I’ve started a lovely tradition where I like to walk away from the kitchen while I’m waiting for my water to boil only to be distracted by something more interesting (in this case Facebook but last time I’m pretty sure I decided to take a shower). I only remembered that I was boiling water when I noticed a funny smell which turned out to be a pleasant combination of gas and the scent of the handles literally melting off my only pot. I had no idea what to do so I just threw the rest of my coffee on the whole mess thinking it was a glass of water. Unfortunately the coffee only seemed to add to the horrible smell of melting handles and it also filled the whole room with smoke, so I grabbed the whole thing with a dish towel and threw it into the sink where the pot was then able to burn its way directly through my plastic cutting board. So now I have no pot and what looks like an art deco cutting board which serves little in terms of function but looks interesting enough to hang on the wall.

Then yesterday afternoon I met with a man who’s earning a degree in community development from a local university and he had some really great ideas for my health outreach programs which was awesome. But you know that episode of Friends where someone in Chandler’s office calls him Toby and Chandler doesn’t correct him and eventually the situation escalates to the point where it would be too awkward for Chandler to tell his co-worker his name really isn’t Toby?? Well for some reason the man I met with thought I was from Chicago. The first time he mentioned this fact it was in passing and I didn’t correct him because I didn’t think it was a big deal...plus he seemed to really like the fact that I was from Chicago and I’m not one to disappoint. But then the guy started asking me how Mbarara, the nearest town, compares to Chicago, and how do the people compare and so on and I just kind of sat there and squirmed and tried to think of answers based on what I know of Chicago which is a surprisingly small amount. Oprah. Chicago-style pizza. Chicago Bears. Yeah, that’s it. It probably wouldn’t be that bad to have some random Ugandan think I’m from Chicago instead of Portland but it turns out this guy is a neighbor so now I’m going to have to fake it for two years. I’d rather be called Toby.