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It's incredible the way these so called academicians nourish themselves. Eating small portions of food is the present fad. A chapati is the most consumed delicacy on this hill.
It is amazing that campusers relish this small, flat edible, made out of wheat flour and water, rolled very thin and fried. When I went on a benching spree, sorry research spree in most hostels and halls of residence, I was greeted with a "what do you want to have?" to which I would reply, "anything is good for me." And then pints of milk, sodas and tea with a chapati to go would find solace in my tiny-balled stomach. Which explains, why solid food is no longer an in-thing especially for dames who want to retain their waists and shapely curves. Mornings see most of these ladies serve themselves hot tea or chocolate and bread with fried eggs spread with tomato sauce.
Broke students have as well come to detest munching away at murrum (weevil laden beans) and kawunga. Instead, mugs of thick millet porridge (nicknamed ekiisanga by Banyankole students) are enjoyed greatly. It's mixed with blue band and sometimes tinned milk and sugar. It's so nourishing that a mere cup makes you feel like you will last for eternity. Millet flour is also cheap but most students from upcountry districts come with what lasts a semester.
The affluent students delight in purchasing packed or tinned foods from Wandegeya, or even 'first class' food joints like Nandos. And friends, if you're impoverished, you'll never find love at this great hill. Which is why students who cannot afford take-aways seek solace from locally made gin (Kasese waragi).
Meeting a Makererean happily staggering to his enclave of a hall after taking a pint for a mere Shs 500 is of the norm. Daughters of peasants who relish daily glasses of juice, with chips, chaps and chicken thighs, goat ribs or broiled fish now don't have a problem going out with Wandegeya taxi drivers. After all they (drivers) can afford it.
Other loaded students fill us with envy when they paw at kilos of pork, fish fillet, veal and sausages (by the way, I never knew what a sausage was until recently when a girl kindly chose to take me out and buy me one.)
"Posho gives me constipation, I can't force myself to eat stuff like that," Julius a first year Mass Communication student told me.
Campusers eat like kings because good food is fairly cheap. And now, many students own hotplates and electric kettles. The food cooked in halls of residence is considered junk. A student will get his two boiled eggs, a slice of buttered bread or a bun and roll them in two chapatis. With a steaming cup of tea or coffee, this makes an excellent snack. This becomes a daily routine and has reduced the general intake of food prepared in halls.
Unfortunately some of these light foods have ended up giving some girls huge sizes to worry about. They have fought back in an attempt to slim down only to end up going overboard. As with many other things, there is always a price to paY.
Published in Daily Monitor, May 1, 2004
