the things i carried

You can't get fresh asparagus in Kampala. As Hitesh wrapped up his meetings at University of Pretoria, I spent a lovely morning wandering the beautiful aisles of Woolworth's Foods. After much pacing, I picked up two packs of asparagus. A stop at Pick-and-Pay for Ouma Rusks and a couple of bags of biltong at a local vendor rounded out my shopping trip.I tried my first rusk at Ginnegaap, curiously dipped it into my coffee...and fell in love. I then proceeded to DEVOUR the muesli rusks at Mosetlha, at one point eating more than a dozen in one 24-hour period. At home in the US, I sometimes make tomato soup solely to dip my grilled cheese. After finishing my sandwich, I make sure no one is looking and pour the remaining soup down the drain. I found myself doing the same at Mosetlha, making just enough tea or coffee to submerge my rusk, and never even drinking the liquid.

Rusks and biltong evolved during South Africa's early pioneering days - a way to preserve bread and meat in the dry climate. Both were also used extensively during times of war, for people traveling long distances.

And so I traveled my long distance home, about four hours on South African Airways, from Johannesburg to Entebbe, keeping my fingers crossed that customs wouldn't find the little goodies hidden in my big red suitcase. Success!