Reuniting with an old friend

A cross-country jaunt to Seattle after journeys from Bosnia and back and forth to Thailand didn't seem like such a big thing -- so I went last week to visit the couple who held the Knight Fellowship in Kampala after I did and their special house guest, my old Kampala buddy, Jennifer.

She rolled into the US with a staggering amount of baggage and it was filled with drums, beads, baskets, fabric, groundnuts, tea, coffee and liquor from Uganda for us. Fabulous. She made African tea for me when I finally rolled in from a late flight at 2 a.m. and one night we had peanut sauce on spinach. But our best Uganda-nostalgia moment came when we went to the theater in gomesi, traditional Uganda dresses that look for all the world like a bolt of cloth with sleeves attached.

Theresa and I needed Jennifer's guidance to get into the outfits, and it took about two hours to dress. The best thing about these things is that you are SUPPOSED to look hippy and wide. There's a bustle under it. Jennifer needed more padding than we did. She looked fabulous. I resembled a walking creamsicle.