Driving here in kampala is sensory overload…..first you are one the wrong side of the road, so your brain is trying to remember that at all times. Then instead of looking left, right, left you have to look right, left, right. Most of the time it is a two lane road for both ways. On the right side of the car you are trying not to side swipe the other cars coming from the opposite direction and on your left your trying not to hit pedestrians or fall in the ditch which is actually the only water system they really have. Do you have a mental picture yet? Now throw in the glorified motorcycles called boda boda’s. There are about 90,000 boda drivers in kampala and they weave in and out of traffic, so if you are trying to dodge a pedestrian on your left you betta check your right side mirror real quick to make sure you are not going to plow into a boda trying to weave. I think your getting a clearer picture, but now throw in bicycles, goats, herds of cattle, ugandan’s trying to sell you everything and their mother, taxi vans stopping randomly to pick up people (there is no system you just stand on the anywhere on the side of the road and wave your arm and you’ll get picked up), and more boda’s. So like I said its sensory overload.
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Ok so I randomly pick up a newspaper to see what craziness is going on ova here....and what you are bout to read is pretty redonk: Today I woke up at 9am some of you might think that is late but when you go to bed at 2am it seems just about right. Now I know most of you are gonna ask why did you go to bed at 2am, ok I will admit it….i am addicted to “House”. You see we dnt have TV so we borrow movies to watch our on laptop and you can buy a bootlegged session for like $3-$4 (which is great I aint gonna lie). So I borrowed “House” and now I am on session 2.
Then I had language school and made homemade pizza for my language instructor, it was his first time eating pizza, and well it was a big hit….he wanted to pay me to take home the leftovers. Then I had a meeting with my supervisor to talk about a plan with our network of churches (which was long over due). Following the meeting I picked up some rice crispies and my roomie on the way home. Then I studied for several speaking engagements. (this month I will lead 4 Bible Studies on True Love Waits, 3 kids klubs, 4 radio shows, and speak at a youth retreat – SO please keep me in your prayers for those specific things.) Then at 6pm the sweating began….we went to a step class next to our house and let me tell you what, I thought walking up my hill everyday was a work out….but I was badly mistaken. The whole step class was in luganda, so it took me a second to catch up with the rest of the class, and if I dnt stick out enough I was the only white person there besides my roomie. Came home drank like 3 glasses of water to put back in all the fluids I sweated out! Then watched an episode of “Burn Notice” (again bootlegged copy) with my roomie and off to bed we went after eating a bowl of rice crispies!! The child on the side of the road begging for food, money anything…why wasn’t that me? The women sitting in a pile of rocks smashing them with a metal rod at the rock quary…why wasn’t that me? The child who was barried alive in her mothers coffin and now suffering from a mental disorder in her new adopted family…why wasn’t that me? The family that eats porage 3x’s a day ...why wasn’t that me? The child who's mother died, dad left and now non-married pregnant sister takes care of them...why wasn't that me? Instead I get to enter my amazing bed every night with a full belly and no worries of where my next meal will come from. My only worry in the world is getting beyond myself and serving the people of Uganda.
Why is God so Good to me and not to them as well? --These are just the thoughts that constantly run through my mind while here in Africa. Mef is short for Mefloquine.
Mefloquine is an orally-administered antimalarial drug taken weekly. It is known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, aggression, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, birth defects, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy,[2] vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems. Taking this pill weekly has been hard for me to keep up with. 1st before I even got here I was suppose to take it two weeks before getting here and ended up only taking it a week before arrival if that. Then my day to take it was Tuesday. I was occasionally late a couple days but remained taking it on Tuesday not to complicate days. Then I was way to late in taking it so then the day changed to Thursday, which really complicated things and ended up back on Tuesday. But I think I actually took the pill this Wednesday, will I ever be able to keep up with this dagum anti-malaria pill? Mosquito bites – 5 trillion Malaria- none So it must be working so I must keep working at take’n it on Tuesday. P.S. Does anyone wanna sent me a weekly reminder? Mzungu Party, 13 girls, brownies, catch phrase, apples to apples, bars and stars, slums bible study, 4 circles, sugar cane, playing chicken with a truck on a boda, starting my radio program, someone dropping the mic and taking us off air (not me), pride and prejudice, rain, CHERRY COKE, home made tortillas (made by me) = HOME and a darn good weekend!
At about 6:45pm I hopped in my car and headed out the iron gate with barbwire on top and headed down the hill. My first stop was the lil' supermarket called Lil'Italiana where I dropped off my Ugandan Mother Rose (she is my house help who teaches me to cook and stuff) then off to the hostiles (dorms) to pick up Fryda and Diana. We were headed to another birthday party, it is the a great month to be borm. But we needed to get a gift so we had stop number 3 at the Super Supermarket where we got a magnet dart game for Anthony the birthday boy. And we finally reached our destination at about 7:15pm making it stop number 4.
So once again I was the only white girl to be found not only at the party but probably in a 2 mile radius. SO let me tell you how a Kenyan Birthday works, you see they are all attending KIU, Kampala International University but we all call it Kenyans In Uganda. ---Let the festivities begin. Once everyone has arrived the MC (Master on Ceremony) we will begin with his program. This MC was called Hezekiah, and we was hitting on me infront of the whole room, cause all attention was on him and now it was on me. It was bad enough that I was the only white person now this guy is singling me out. He did it with some tack though, sorry mom there is nothing going to happen with this one! Let us finish explaining how a Kenyan bday works. After they have done some kind of game or entertainment then the bday boy gives a speach welcoming everyone and thanking them for coming and then we pray for the food and of course the MC picked me, so I prayed then I helped pass out the food. There must have been over 30 people there in a room no bigger than my kitchen in da states. After eating they all sang a bday song to the bday boy in their mother tounge, so I couldnt even begin to tell you how many different languages were spoken there tonight. After that we all sing the American version of Happy Birthday..... But hold the phone, here is where it begins to get a tad akward, but things are only as awkward as you make it. Before singing happy bday the american way the bday boy picks a girl to cut the cake with. So guess who was picked out of a crowd of 30 people the only white girl. But the MC had something to say about that so then again he spoke up infront on the whole group and wanted to make an appeal for the bday boy to pick someone else ( I guess if they pick you it means something more than friendship, but this bday boy had a girlfriend--which I think who is in Kenya---agian sorry mom nothing there, I'll let you know dnt worry). So finally they lit the candles which were more like flames and the bday boy and I were holding the knife toghether waiting for the candles to finish so we can cut the cake together. Then what happens next is like I am in a freak'n marriage ceremony. After we cut the cake together we then gotta feed each other a piece of cake, once again in front of the whole group (let me remind you these are all college students so they are all around my age). Wait there is more....then I have to go around the room and feed everyone a peice of cake from my fork....gosh there must of been like 20 guys in da room....but it is only as awkward as you make it. Ok so get this...when you stop at a red light you can totally shop. I mean you can shop for anything, and you dnt even gotta get out of your car. All you got to do is roll down your window or wave them your way. Here is a list of things you can purchase just sitting in your car in the middle of Kampala:
--Flip Flops --Passion Fruit --Peas --Minutes for your phone (that is how i get my minutes) --Bug Sappers --Belts --Toys --Board Games --Some kind of tomatoe look'n thing --Peanuts --Sugar Cane --Flavored crickets --Kitchen utensils --and the list goes on So window shopping really takes on a whole new meaning here in Kampala, Uganda! |