Matoke Dreams

Last week I dreamt that I had come home from Uganda for Christmas and was sitting down with my family and relatives for Christmas dinner. As food circulated the table someone passed me a bowl of something warm, starchy and yellow—which could only mean one thing—matoke! I gleefully jabbed my spoon at the mound in front of me, expecting to dig out a heaping helping of the dense starch, only to discover that the spoon slid right in without any resistance. The mound was, in fact, just mashed potatoes. Horrified by the nightmarish lack of Ugandan food at our table, I awoke and realized I have six more months in Uganda. Six more months of matoke. What a relief.