"The One With the Lizard, Basketball, and Mzungu"

The past week here in Uganda has been absolutely crazy, but not in the American sense of the word. I have not been overbooked and running from class to Tavilla to Bennet then to pick up the kiddies at Brookwoods, but I have had the glimpses of very meaningful experiences and interactions in the midst of a very different and slower paced life style. I have so much to tell you all and I will do my best to portray the last few days for you. I questioned how often I want to update my blog because I want to be here now not living between two completely different worlds which I am already calling both home.

This past weekend we had an orientation in the town that we are living in for the next four months. The town is not rural and not urban, yet it is definitely not what we consider a suburb. The traffic is definitely the number one way to get killed here. I feel like I am playing the live game of frogger every time I step out on the street. Seriously, boda-bodas are dangerous. They are motorcycles taxis and they will not stop, they even drive on the side walks. The other day in Mukono I saw a woman riding on the back of a boda-boda riding ‘lady style’ with a baby in one arm, a chicken under the other arm, and a shopping bag balanced on her lap. Please not that I have yet to see a stop light, stop sign, and road signs, and definitely zero cross walks. Anyways, Mukono is definitely an interesting place to be, especially as a white female.  Every step you take someone yells out “Mzungu” which means white. Either adults will say it in passing or small children will start yelling “Mzungu, HI Mzungu!” Then proceed to chase you down the street. The kids are adorable and I am so excited to have more interactions with them once my practicum starts, rather than just being chased by little kids looking for handouts J Shopping in town is also interesting. Because I am white, the vendors have a let’s rip off the white girl policy. A Fanta soda will be 1,000 shillings for the person in front of me (about 45 cents) then will be 1,400 shillings for me (less than 70 cents). But, the game changes significantly when I go into town with some of our friends from the university. They will get the prices down and make sure we are getting a fair price which is always nice. Also, another advantage of going into town with our lovely friends is we are shouted at significantly less. Going into Mukono is tons of fun and being called a Mzungo will not stop me, I have learned to embrace it and even think of it as celebrity status.

Classes have started here which I’m actually finding hard to integrate into my time here. It is a strange sensation taking college classes with extremely intellectual professors (here called lecturers) yet sometimes have the mindset of a missions trip, especially when we are off campus. I love the my class called Politics of Eastern Africa since Independence. It is so interesting, but the first lecture was definitely a struggle because I could barely understand what my lecturer was saying through his thick accent.  Now, it is a lot easier to understand and I love the material we are learning about. For those social work majors at G-Campus his style is like Dr. Trent, but the content and way of thinking is like Dr. George’s Diversity class. What could be better?  Right now we are looking at the impact of Colonialism on the African states and how certain people groups were treated with privilege. Discussing the “White Man’s Burden” was very interesting coming from a Ugandan professor vs. learning about it in a predominantly white Christian New England School.  Here, in Uganda, the people in the Bugana were privileged and we talked about the problems that occur when a minority is privileged just like in Rwanda.

Everything in Uganda is heightened by the upcoming election on February 18^th. It is definitely an exciting time to be here. One of the interns who graduated from UCU gave us an overview of previous elections and I feel so much more informed now.  Basically, the current president, Musevini, has been in power since 1986 where he took office by force.  Since then he has amended the constitution so there are no term limits and has run against his political rival, Rtd. Dr. Besigye two times. Though Musevini has won, his rival has gone to the supreme court each time where the courts ruled that the elections had been rigged but not significantly enough to have a recall.  There are eight political candidates including the current president and his rival.  Though the elections will supposedly be fair, Besigye has said that if they are not, he will not be going to the courts this time.  Ugandans are not exactly sure what that means…so please keep the election in your prayers.

On Sunday we went to the church on campus which was a mixture of charismatic worship and Anglican preaching. It was a lot of standing up, sitting down, standing up and repeat. The service was packed and it was definitely fun to sing and dance in Nkoyoyo Hall. We went to a community worship during the week where the Reverend introduced this semester’s theme which is “Arise and Shine the Light” from Psalm 60. This is like our chapel’s theme last spring that was “Reflecting the Light.” During the sermon she quoted the African proverb “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” I like this quote…think about it!

My friend Bethany and I have definitely met the Ugandan version of Regina George of #Mean Girls, my all time favorite movie. At first we sat with them and they just talked and laughed at us, I was ready for one to yell “YOU can’t sit with us!” Now, those girls love Bethany and I and they actually stop and talk to us around campus. Thus, I am in with Regina and constantly think of Mean Girls quotes like “If your from Africa why are you white?” and “You go Glen Coco! You Go.”

I had the chance to play basketball with UCU’s women’s basketball team with my friend Kaylin here. It was definitely interesting, but tons of fun.  The best way that I can describe it is that it was like 5^th grade basketball on steroids.  Everyone was either 6 ft tall or taller or could jump ridiculously high, yet they were not super skilled.  There was no such thing as fouling, traveling, double dribbling, or any rules really. It was ultimate street ball, but a wonderful way to cross cultural boundaries through a common passion for a sport.  After we played three games of 4v4, the athletic director invited us to play for UCU’s team for the semester. If it works out I am considering it and I will get to go to tournaments and such with the team.

The other afternoon I decided I wanted to do an ab workout in what is basically our tiny back yard. So picture this, there am I, a Mzungu, lying on a beach towel doing sit ups when about 6 kids come running down the hill to watch the white girl work out.  It must have been a sight to see for them as they whispered in Lugandan and watched me do 8 minute abs. Speaking of abs, I talked to Abby-Doo (shout out to 202) on the phone to wish my dear heart friend a safe trip to Spain for the semester.  Good thing I could only talk for about 5 minutes on my airtime or she could have easily escalated me and no one would have been able to deescalate me here like my lovely #individuals&families class.

As part of my schedule here, I am taking a social work practicum class and doing 150 hours of practicum which is so exciting because I will actually be applying everything I have been learning the past 2 ½ years to a setting a could potentially be working in.  I am doing my practicum at a place called Off-Tu Missions. I met with my supervisor today and he is simply wonderful. For some reason I was surprised by his level of knowledge about social work as he explained what populations I will be working with, the nature of the clients, and my role.  Mostly I will be an advocator, educator, broker, and facilitator.  Listening to him made me feel like I was in one of Professor Coleman’s class as he encouraged us to remember that we are all humans and all have value and worth does this sound familiar?  “We are all made in the Image of God which gives us Intrinsic value, dignity, and worth” I can quote that in my sleep now. Anyways, we talked about how it will be hard to see the poverty and many of the youths’ situations (HIV/AIDS, poverty, abuse, neglect, etc.) but it is our job to advocate for them and to help them accept their situation, which can be so hard, but to breath into them the hope and truth that they still have life and can live just maybe in a different way than they originally thought. I am so thankful now for my social work classes as I was told that I will most likely be counseling and interviewing youth at the drop in center in Kampala or at the Residential in Mukono.  They are just throwing us right in and I am sure I will have tons to blog about as I will be stretched like no other during this experience. 

Finally, to end on a funny note, last night there was a lizard in my closest. These lizards are not cute but are this pale naked color. It was running around my closet and would not come.  Obviously, I was freaking out and making my roommate try to get it out.  At this point I could not find my glasses and thus could not see the lizard and kept confusing paint chips to be this slippery creature.  After a good 20 minutes of screaming, 4 girls, and my gum boots we were able to get the lizard “out”. After it fell into my make up bag it jumped out of the closet, ran up to the wall, and onto our ceiling.  From there we tried to get it off but it crawled into the crack of our ceiling and as far as we know it is still somewhere in our ceiling.  We were thinking of duct taping it up there, but we heard they smell really bad when they die. Thus, with this nasty lizard in my room, I am even more thankful for my mosquito net to keep me safe.

I can’t believe I have only been here for a little less than a week. It feels like ages, which I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.  I am excited to get into the routine of classes and travel and such and for my practicum to get under a way. Oh, by the way, it was about 90 degrees yesterday, but I heard New England got a ton of snow and that there were snow days so I guess we are all living the life :)