WARNING: This article is so full of privilege. Be warned to take a minute off, feel whatever you are feeling and choose whether to go on and read this article or not.

Well, this night proved to be a very different one

From those that I had ever had, in my whole entire life.

 

That is because of quite a number of reasons

For example, I have a practice of planning out my day tomorrow, on the day before (in the night)

By knowing when to do whatever I have to do so that when the time comes to retire off to my bed, I am able to do so with as much ease as possible

 

Additionally, in Uganda, there is usually so much life that is moving about their ways, in the days,  evenings and nights

And there is so much sound moving about…most notably, from the numerous sound systems and speakers lingering in the respective home areas

Pumping out all kinds of music, announcements and all that

To whoever can stop for a second or two to listen to them!

 

And now, that we were beginning the “nation-wide lockdown”

It was all quiet….like grave-yard quiet

But the good, relieved kind of quiet, you know.

We will talk about the reason why I quoted that phrase, later!

 

All over a sudden, for those of us who thought that locking us all down was an impossibility,

Found ourselves in an amazing situation

A situation where you could literally hear a bottle-top falling to the ground and finally settling down….it was that quiet!

 

I will be honest, I always wondered if a day like that could ever come to life

When my evenings were quiet and peaceful as they were, in that very first week of the lockdown.

In one corner of your ears, you are listening to a Yung Mulo blasting on full

In another corner of your ears, you can hear someone read aloud scripture from the Bible

From a distance, you hear a death announcement being read over the community radio….

Mmaannnn….it is a sport to who and what gets your attention during such moments!

 

This was the first night I watched something (which I can’t even remember) on my laptop without interruption of sounds coming from a far

The entire hour and a half…smooth sailing

I had my supper quite early, this day

I do usually have it some minutes away from getting to my bed.

 

Came time for my sleep…

There is a GIF I would love to use here, to best describe this…

I am not sure I will successfully find it

But I can describe that sleep as one that “slapped” different from the rest.

 

There was nothing like it before….

So quiet, peaceful…with no thudding sounds and ululations and echoes in my ears

For all the entire 7 hours!

For somebody that is so much used to sleeping for only 5 hours and a half!

Privilege much, yeah?

 

~ That is how my first night in the lockdown went. Did you experience a lockdown? How did your first night in the lockdown go?  ~