Might Forget

There are so many things that are weird about Africa.  Not weird in a bad way, just in a oh that is unique to Uganda way.

So here is the list of things that I don't want to forget:

They don't say something tastes good or delicious, they say it tastes nice.  There are random speed bumps in the road, I can't figure out why yet because usually traffic is terrible people can't be going that fast anyway.  They groan when you are explaining something to them, and I can't figure out if it's positive or negative?  They always say, "Hello, how are you?"  You are supposed to respond.  They don't say goodbye though, just a very long greeting.  They require their kids to say hello (or at least in classrooms, "hello visitors").  Where you go to school matters, and you don't just go where it's easy or close to your house.  A rainstorm came at night, and I felt like I was in a carwash it was so loud.  When we pulled up to Laynero's daughter's sports day, she exclaimed, "ah look at the Gum's!!"  Her daughter's name is Gum (pronounced goo-m).  They call women, "Mama [insert child's name]".  For example, my mom would be Mama Anne or Mama Elise.  I asked Lanyero what happens when there are a lot of kids, and she said that it's just on the child most well-known, which I thought was a little sad?  A lot of the vans and trucks have scriptures or religious sayings on them.  There was an announcement at Sports Day for someone to go check their vehicle because security had stopped someone from breaking into their car.  There are security guards everywhere, or at least at the entrance to buildings and hospitals or parking lots.  They buy food every day here, since they don't have a way to keep it.  They definitely have more of a tribal mentality, which is sometimes hard for me.  They share the workload or the efforts or the food because they view it as collective offering.  The motorcycles weave through traffic like ants, and the taxis go everywhere.  Lanyero has been pulled over four times (part of me wonders if it's because I'm in the front seat?), and she got a ticket for not having up-to-date insurance.  I can't help but wonder, with all of the other lack of traffic rules, why insurance?  At one point Lanyero was upset because someone was in the wrong lane at a stoplight, and I wanted to ask what lane?  Since when does that matter?  Baby-carrying is a thing, but to be honest, the babies always look really uncomfortable to me.  Child safety is not a thing.  We picked up her niece, and she just sat in the back, no seatbelt or carseat.  There are babies on motorcycles.  Their baked goods are really dry, but their juice is actually pretty good.  There are people on the side of the road selling anything and everything, from cough drops, car mats, even a tummy-fat-buster machine.  I saw one young man wearing a, 'Trust Me, I'm a Wrestling Mom,' t-shirt, and I realized that a lot of t-shirt slogans are quite silly out of context.  They have four-poster beds, but not because they are trying to be fancy, but because they can hang bed nets on them.  People love Uganda, and they bash the U.S. often, while paradoxically very curious about it.  They still feel pride in being part of the British Commonwealth.  The radio station we listen to either plays rap (sometimes not super appropriate rap, I might add) or smooth jazz.  The U.S. music is usually a remix and very short.  They really struggle with my name, and today someone called me Elsie.  You always have to know someone to get anything done.

There are probably a million other things, but for now, that's what stands out to me.

xo. Elise