Random Observations

Disclaimer:

I sat down to write about my Christmas and New Year’s and the following came out instead. But soon I will write about my experiences, as they were certainly interesting and worthy of reporting, especially my transformation into Leonardo DiCaprio as he was in Titanic…

Animal Notes

A while ago I was at a coworker’s house, discussing a camping trip I was hoping to go on. Just as I was telling her I did not trust African wildlife, something rather big hit me on my shoulder. Upon inspection it turned out to be a small bat! It blindly floundered about on my chair and finally ended up underneath it, hanging upside-down. Sadly bats are considered to be pests and my coworker’s cousin crushed it like a mosquito (I had to leave the room because I did not want to watch).

In German bats are called “Fledermaus” and seeing a bat up close made me realize why “mouse” is one of the roots of the word. It also made me realize that all the apparent mouse-droppings littering my house, especially after coming back from Tanzania, are actually bat droppings. Hopefully there are no vampires among them…

An Observation

Many of my coworkers love my nephew and sometimes request to see the pictures and videos I have of him on my laptop. The other day I was once again viewing them with the watchman and his wife and, amidst Maureen’s exclamations of how much she loves him and how smart he is, something struck me. I have a video of my then almost two-year old nephew which I took last August in a park. The park is completely devoid of children – we are the only two there. Having been in Africa for the past three months, seeing a child in such isolation shocked me. The children I am used to seeing here (usually in the villages) always move in packs. Even the babies are integrated into these groups early on, as they are carried around by a brother or sister. This sense of camaraderie and community does exist in the West, both among children and adults, but compared to Africa the West is a society of isolation or, as others would call it, individuals.

Which brings me to another point – it is extremely difficult to be anti-social in Africa. Often I just want to have peace and quiet but no, someone always shows up at my door. Yesterday, for example, I was feeling sick and one of my symptoms was being extremely anti-social. I have some Seventh Day Adventist friends who I had promised to go church with that day but at midday I sent them a text saying I was not feeling well and wasn’t coming. Big mistake. When church ended at 5pm (church is an all-day activity for SDAs), my four friends promptly appeared at my gate. I thought they would come for a brief visit but no, they stayed for about three hours and all I wanted to do was go to bed and spend some quiet time reading about Nelson Mandela. I was exhausted by the end of their visit but you can’t kick people out of your house here and I had forgotten that it is part of Ugandan culture to visit sick friends and family to provide company and comfort. And another friend already announced that he is coming by today, despite my telling him I did not want to see anyone.

But the worst aspect of not wanting to have to deal with people is when you have to shop in an anti-social mood. Shopping here usually requires talking to people. In the market you usually greet the seller, ask how they are (Ugandans are very polite) and then ask for the price of the product, despite both knowing it. Since I am a mzungu, I sometimes get told the wrong price and then I have to politely persuade the seller to lower it. Usually you have to go through this process several times, as one seller does not have all the goods you want to buy. Often I enjoy this process but when sick or just wanting to go home, this constant interaction with people can be challenging.

But such is life between two cultures and it is interesting to pick and choose what you like from both and create your own perfect society in your mind.

Another Interesting Fact

Did you know that Uganda is a tea drinking society? In my opinion Ugandans are comparable to the British, although not as snobby about preparing tea just right (I’m thinking of you Julia B. ;o). On the whole this should not be surprising, as Uganda is a tea producing country. Ugandans love their tea and every household is equipped with a thermos in which to serve tea piping hot. I don’t think I will ever again be surrounded by this many thermoses in my life, despite coming from a cold country.

Whenever possible, (black) tea is made with at least 50% milk, if not more. This relates to another interesting reason for this tea drinking phenomenon, as for many Ugandans tea is the best, if not only, way to drink milk. Most Ugandans, at least those in the villages, take or buy their milk straight from the cow at circa 200 UGX (CDN $0.13) a cup. Thus the milk has to be boiled before serving, making it perfect for teatime.

For me, who has avoided drinking black tea all my life, I have now become addicted to “African tea,” as they call it. Need I say the British generally don’t like it? They complain about it having too much milk… And they probably also miss their tea pots. But then again, so do I.

One more thing...

People here say thank-you for the strangest things. The other day, as I was hanging my clothes to dry, Maureen said, “Thank-you for washing your clothes.” “Why are you thanking me?” asked I. “Thank-you for being clean,” was the response.

But the strangest one I heard so far was when one of my coworkers told my boss’s sister, “Thank-you for taking care of your children.” I suppose not all parents take care of their children, but I still thought it was slightly odd.

I sometimes wonder whether something got lost in translation, as I know they use the word “sorry” in strange ways here as there is no English equivalent for their ng’oabye, which demonstrates a special kind of sympathy.