I am told that the better you get to know me, the more exact you know where I'm from. With strangers it's simply Portland, whereas my good friends eventually learn that I'm really from Battle Ground (not even Oregon).
I'm going home in about three months and starting to think about what life back home will be like. It will take a lot of energy to reintegrate into my former cow town, and after two weeks there I'll be ready to get moving on to someplace more interesting and exciting.
But then I realized it won't be that much different from Kampala. The Safeway, Albertsons, and Fred Meyer rival the shopping experiences at Shoprite, Nakumatt, and Uchumi. Both cities have a bowling alley, and although Battle Ground's Indian population is nonexistent, we have a delicious family-owned Chinese restaurant much like the one Nakasero.
Shopping for clothes and random accouterments will be easier than in Kampala's chaotic Owino Market, as the Goodwill opened shop in Battle Ground about five years ago. There isn't a place to pick up the latest bootleg DVDs (but I hear everyone is online now with smartphones and fibreoptics so that shouldn't be a problem). And the latest Hollywood blockbusters are offered at the Battle Ground Cinemas, although I'll miss the graininess and poor audio quality of the films at the Garden City theater.
Perhaps I'll feel right at home back in good 'ol Battle Ground after all. Though I don't think the police will like me driving on the left-hand side of the road (or, more accurately, weaving in and out of traffic). They'll have to get used to that one.
Happy 4th of July.
0 comments:
Post a Comment