The (mis)Adventures of Kigozi: Land of the Many Strange Foods
"Don't Knock It 'til You've Tried It"

In all honesty, travelling is eating what you don't normally eat. There's no way you can avoid it. In my book if you're even trying to eat normally, you need to either get your head checked or stay home. I have a long history in gastrointestinal adventures in travel. I'm sure at least some of you can relate. For instance, when you eat plantains for days on end in the Caribbean, you begin to reap the benefits of a high-potassium diet. For me it was about endurance in playing highly repetitive percussion rhythms (yes, I actually believe the bananas help), but the beans and rice on the side don't hurt your fiber intake either. Japan and China: leave all your inhibitions behind, close your eyes in case something is still squirming on your plate, and enjoy! Easy as pie . . . or squid . . . or whatever.

Uganda is pretty tame in regards to adventurous foods, especially considering that all of their edible insects are out of season right now. Too bad. I could really use some nice enswa (ants) or ensenene (grasshoppers). But everyday food is pretty normal: matooke (another form of banana, so the potassium thing applies again), beans and rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, etc. However, this Monday I had a rare opportunity to try something new (begin flashback sequence).

So I'm "up-country" with a friend and we're on our way to a musicians house, but we get hungry on the way and stop for breakfast. As I go to the "short call" (see previous post on graduation parties for an overview), my friend orders us up some breakfast. I return to a nice plate of chapati and caayi (tea). One drink of the tea and I know the place can't be bad--it was lightly flavored with ginger--yum. But he's got an extra plate with an unrecognizable meat product. I ask him what this delectable dish is, and he responds, "it's, you know, the insides." Now most people are thinking this can't be good, right?
"Intestines?"
"Yes, that."
"Cow?"
"This one is of goat." The waitress brings that extra bowl for me, but my friend hesitates, saying that his last research buddy "got problems" when she tried everything he put in front of her. But for me, I'm pretty brave, so I jump in with both feet. Turns out goat guts with chapati and caayi are pretty tasty. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it, friends. Breakfast, anyone?