#Muzungu Problems

Hello from Kampala, Uganda!

I have finally been given my sacred internet modem so have a chance to update my blog. I arrived safe and sound in the Entebbe airport on Sunday night. Today was my fourth day here and I’m already loving it. It is about 85 degrees, humid and always sunny. I have been enjoying the fact that Ugandan time is much slower than the fast-paced American lifestyle. An example of this is if you arrange a meeting at 8:00 am, it could mean anywhere between 8:00 am and 11:00 am to a Ugandan, which will take some getting used to, but I like that about this country. Although, you wouldn’t know this by looking at the traffic-heavy streets and billions of busy people running around the city.

Here in Uganda, I am called a “Muzungu”, which means white person, but can also refer to a very rich or foreign person. In the handful of times we have left the hotel so far, I feel like a walking freakshow. Everyone stares and shouts “Muzungu, Mazungu, how are you?!” as you walk by. We are a group of 22 students and during this week, we all stick together, so you can image the ruckus we cause as we walk down the street to a restaurant.

 This week we are staying at a hotel in the center of the city for orientation. We have been learning from different doctors, police officials, past students and our professors about health, safety, security and survival Luganda (the language spoken in this region) so we will be prepared for our three and a half month stay here. It is all very interesting, but overwhelming information.

As the culture is all very new to us, we have been exposed in small segments to the world outside of the hotel grounds only a handful of times until today. Today we did an exercise called the Drop Off. We were paired up and each assigned a task to accomplish in the city and then come back and report on what we learned. My new friend, Michal and I were assigned to explore the Market. We were then set free and on our own had to find our way without much knowledge of our location or destination. Michal and I learned that the best way to get around is by asking people on the streets for directions. However, directions are all in relation to landmarks and kilometers, which are two somewhat foreign concepts to us. We learned that “market” is a very broad term and ended up being sent in circles throughout the city until we finally asked more specifically for an “outside food market” and eventually found Market St. The street is narrow with vendors lining the streets and taxis (which are just large passenger vans) and boda bodas (which are motor bikes) are squeezing by you as you’re walking by. At the end of the street is a large field covered in tents and blankets and vans of people selling anything you can imagine. We decided it would be good to report back to our peers about how to bargain for goods, so we tested that out. I’m not very good at it, so Michal had to help me to lower the price of my mango. Originally I was charged 1,000 shillings, but I ended up paying 500 shillings, which is equal to about 25 cents. Because we are Muzungu’s, the vendors hike up the price to at least double what it is worth because they assume we have money. We call that the “Muzungu price” and have learned some responses in Luganda to let them know we know what they’re doing and attempt to lower it. I’ll have to work on my bargaining…

You may be wondering what food I have been eating, so let me tell you. Meals are a very important part of the day here and you are expected to serve yourself very large helpings of lunch and dinner. Breakfast is usually fruit, bread and tea. There is normally a tea break between breakfast and lunch, and the most delicious African Tea is served at this time. Lunch and dinner are relatively similar. Usually there is rice, beans, salad (coleslaw), chicken, Irish potatoes, matookke (mashed plantains), g-nut sauce (peanut sauce) and chapatti (pancake-like bread). It is mostly very delicious, except I am not a fan of the matookke, which is unfortunate because apparently I will be eating a lot of it for my stay here. The fruit is amazing though. It is pineapple season and the pineapples taste like candy! The other normal fruits are passion fruit, mangos, avacados, bananas and papayas.

Tomorrow is our last night at the hotel and then we will be dropped off at our homestays where we will spend the majority of our time here. We start classes on Monday and have already visited the SIT Resource Center where our classes will be held and met most of the staff there. It will be interesting on Monday to be on my own getting to school and back either by walking or a taxi depending on how far I am from the city.

Here are a couple of interesting facts I’ve learned so far:

-       -   Using eye contact is considered disrespectful here.

-     -     Greetings are very important here. A common thing to say when approaching someone informally is “Oli Otya Ssebo/Nnyabo?”, meaning “how are you doing sir/mme?” OR, since most people speak some English and are excited to use it when they see us, they say “Hello, how are you?” and you always respond with “I am fine”.

-     -     Boda boda accidents are the #1 cause of death in Uganda, but don’t worry, we’re prohibited to use them (“prohibited”).

-      -    Uganda = the country, Buganda = the region I’m in, Baganda = the people in the region, Luganda = the language of the region

Weebale for reading and Weeraba! Goodbye!