A few weekends ago (Halloween in the states) my roommates and I had planned to have a going away party for our roommate Felix who was supposed to be leaving the first week in October. His stay got extended, but we had already planned the party, so we just switched up the theme a little bit to Kampaloween- pretty clever huh? This was not the only part that was already planned. Felix had already planned the food and decorations. He had gotten Christmas lights to put up around the house and tiki lights so people could hang out outside. He also had arranged for a rolex guy (egg omelet in a chipati) and a pork guy to come and grill/ cook outside for people’s delicacy enjoyment. We did not, however, win in the costume category! We got so stressed out with options that a friend and I ended up going as Halloween- ya know, black and orange… I know, less than creative, but choices are pretty limited in costume shops in Kampala. One group of girls came as different bars in Kampala: Fat Boyz, Stake out, Cayenne, Silk, etc. It was delightful and definitely kicked my costumes tush! We did, end up throwing a great party and someone even brought some candy corn so we could get into the holiday spirit. And it wasn’t even only just Americans. We had British, Germans, French and Ugandan in attendance as well. The idea of a costume was lost on some, but we still got a little taste of the tradition. A woman from down our street even came to ask if we were celebrating an early Christmas with our lights and we decided not to explain we were almost all Jews living here, we just invited her in and she stayed for quite some time- just a testament to what a great Kampaloween it was!
We took Saturday off of touring or doing really anything (we had gone dancing after Kampalaween and gotten back very late!) and instead chose to come back to our Ugandan roots on Sunday and visit the Baha’i temple. (This was also good timing considering the LOUD services that begin right outside our window promptly at 8:30 EVERY Sunday! Seriously, it’s like they are inside of our house) We wanted to make sure to get there in time for some services at 10:30 so we got to the temple grounds around 10:10 so we could walk around and explore and just take in the sights because it was beautiful! Such a relaxing and delightful place to visit! The only other Baha’i related place I have been is in Haifa and apparently that is not a temple, just a shrine. This was a beautiful building, but more than that, the area that it was settled on was so manicured and gorgeous. It sits on one of the seven hills of Kampala so you get away from the city traffic and are surrounded by flowers and gardens and serene beauty. You really feel like you can just sit and relax for hours there.
The service was quite interesting as well. First, four Ugandan children all came to the podium one by one and said some sort of psalm or poem. Then different members from the congregation got up to do different readings. In between each reading was a lovely song from the choir who as located directly underneath the dome of the temple. The sounds were lovely. Afterwards we heard that the leader of the congregation was on a pilgrimage to, where else, Israel and therefore they had to do the service themselves. The half-hour service was nice and felt like any religion would have enjoyed it. There was even a part from a Hebrew prayer book: “May the meditations of my heart and the words of my lips be acceptable to you O God.” That was exciting when I finally figured out why that sounded so familiar. We also talked with a few white women who had been living in Uganda for many years (since 1980) and called Kampala, along with the Baha’i temple, home. We had assumed they were just visiting, but it was clear these were members of the congregation. As the only Baha’i temple in all of Africa, I guess they really do get people from all over.
This last weekend we went to visit the Abuyudaya tribe and see Sipi falls and I can’t wait to write about it- it was awesome! But that will just have to wait until next time. Until then, one month until I am back in the states- soo crazy!!
Love to all,
Shira ZK
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