Oranges in the Office

Living with a housemate again after so long living alone is part of the rich tapestry of my VSO experience. We share a lot, food in particular, and are having fun introducing each other to our separate cultures. Agnes is part of the Ugandan cohort of volunteers, which is a big group here. And she was at home in Uganda when I arrived so has returned with a hefty stock of Ugandan food. Through her I've tried millet porridge and dried talapia and she cooks very tasty bean stews. Everything is an adventure, though so far my return offerings of food such as pasta arrabiata and prawns in chilli are yet to make her culinary top ten.

Agnes works on planning and monitoring at the Ministry of Youth and Sports so our jobs are linked. She's been useful in my induction making sure I've met people and can find my way around. She is based at the Independence Stadium, an imposing building conveniently positioned 10 minutes walk from our compound.

I popped in last week to say "hello". I decided to buy a couple of oranges from outside, largely because I'd once again forgotten to put water in my bag. These oranges were huge, and pricier than the standard fare. In my best Wolof I spoke to the woman selling them and just about managed the whole conversation without switching back to my mother tongue. It's not every job that has the luxury of access to a tasty thirst quenching orange on a hot day. We dug in, me using my English habit of peeling and eating seperate segments, Agnes the more Gambian style of sucking the juice out. I can definitely live with the insertion of a few more office oranges into my five a day!