The ABC's of UG.
An Alphabet of This African Life
A is for Always a price. For any crime, any piece of food, mode of transport, for anything at all. Everything's for sale and up for bargaining. Everything.
B is for Beans, beans and more beans. Sometimes the best food available, but they can get very old...very fast. And for Boda-boda (riding on a seat on the the back of a bicycle), the best and worst mode of transportatoin in Mbale.
C is for Cocks. Clear that dirty mind I'm talking about what we call roosters (i prefer calling them roosters anyhow). They are obnoxious, relentless alarm clocks. It's also for Chinese, which is what people think I am here (light skin, black hair..makes sense?!)
D is for Don't Drink the Water, synonymous with Diarrhea. Enough said.
E is for Eagles. There are flocks of them around! It's awesome.
F is for Foreskin (and Forbidden). NOT ALLOWED! Chop, chop says the circumsizor! (tradition of the local people).
G is for Goats. They really do roam! And there isn't a square kilometer in Uganda without a billion of them.
H is for Harriet or our House Girl. She's a saint. REALLY.
I is for Indians. There's a good population in Eastern Uganda and they own many businesses, including Narali's and the "hoe-tel" upstairs.
J is for Justice. Here it's had by people not institutions. And usually occurs in mobs. Frightening and illuminating.
K is for Kumugati, my fave Lugisu word which simlpy means bread. Say it with me.. Koo-muu-gaa-tee!
L is for Lugisu, the local tongue here. It's fun to speak and pretty easy yto learn but pretty useless outside of Mbale District. NKANA KAMEZI! (the most essential phrase: I want water)
M is for "Muzungu, how are you?" which is what children from the villages that MAY have seen one or two white people in their lives say to me when I crawl out from the truck. It's also for Mariah Carey, who can be heard in the most remote villages, as I found out yesterday. Apparently people that have never seen themselves in a mirror before can sing "Always Be My Baby'' just as well as I can..
N is for Narrow. As in my room, which is about 4.5 feet wide. Yay for walking sideways!
O is for Odor. Mbale has its own smell.. sometimes it's good (frying bread) and sometimes its very bad (BO and burning garbage). Mmm.
P is for Power Outages. A daily occurance, and power is officially available every other day. It's as much a political folly as an infrastructure one. Also for Pieter, our Belgian opthamologist friend who's house is a refuge.
Q is for Queen Esther, my family's restaurant named after my host mom's grandmother.
R is for Running on empty. Whether its gas (called petrol here) or cell minutes, Ugandans don't ever believe in topping off. Ever.
S is for Scary Ass Roads! There's no such thing as lanes, oh no. Walkers, motorcylcles, buses, bodas, taxis and cars fight for the road. The results are frightening and often hilarious!
T is for TASO, the org that is working my American (read: lazy) butt to the bone. They are great people who are dedicated to field work and long days.
U is for Unpredictability. There's a constant, ubiquitous sense of insecurity here... I mean that in the best way.
V is for Vulnerability. How I feel as a Muzungu (I mean Chinese) woman from time to time while getting around here. I'm getting better though. Sigh..
W is for Warmth. Both the people and the weather. And for Wambedde, family's name. And for Waving. Waving goodbye. To refridgeration, fast food, saddle bags (mine are shinking already), flushing toilets, hot showers, burgers, nicely shaved legs, personal space, a fast paced lifestyle, TV, good music on the radio, high speed internet, New York Times and other good papers, driving, ovens, espresso... I could go on, but it gets a little depressing. Hahaha.
X is for eXciting. When everyhting is new (yet somehow old) and challenging there is no room for an idle mind.
Y is for whY? Bad Christian music all the time! WHY? (instead of No Woman No Cry it's No Jesus No Life) AHHHHHH
Z is for Zany. Such is the life...:)
A is for Always a price. For any crime, any piece of food, mode of transport, for anything at all. Everything's for sale and up for bargaining. Everything.
B is for Beans, beans and more beans. Sometimes the best food available, but they can get very old...very fast. And for Boda-boda (riding on a seat on the the back of a bicycle), the best and worst mode of transportatoin in Mbale.
C is for Cocks. Clear that dirty mind I'm talking about what we call roosters (i prefer calling them roosters anyhow). They are obnoxious, relentless alarm clocks. It's also for Chinese, which is what people think I am here (light skin, black hair..makes sense?!)
D is for Don't Drink the Water, synonymous with Diarrhea. Enough said.
E is for Eagles. There are flocks of them around! It's awesome.
F is for Foreskin (and Forbidden). NOT ALLOWED! Chop, chop says the circumsizor! (tradition of the local people).
G is for Goats. They really do roam! And there isn't a square kilometer in Uganda without a billion of them.
H is for Harriet or our House Girl. She's a saint. REALLY.
I is for Indians. There's a good population in Eastern Uganda and they own many businesses, including Narali's and the "hoe-tel" upstairs.
J is for Justice. Here it's had by people not institutions. And usually occurs in mobs. Frightening and illuminating.
K is for Kumugati, my fave Lugisu word which simlpy means bread. Say it with me.. Koo-muu-gaa-tee!
L is for Lugisu, the local tongue here. It's fun to speak and pretty easy yto learn but pretty useless outside of Mbale District. NKANA KAMEZI! (the most essential phrase: I want water)
M is for "Muzungu, how are you?" which is what children from the villages that MAY have seen one or two white people in their lives say to me when I crawl out from the truck. It's also for Mariah Carey, who can be heard in the most remote villages, as I found out yesterday. Apparently people that have never seen themselves in a mirror before can sing "Always Be My Baby'' just as well as I can..
N is for Narrow. As in my room, which is about 4.5 feet wide. Yay for walking sideways!
O is for Odor. Mbale has its own smell.. sometimes it's good (frying bread) and sometimes its very bad (BO and burning garbage). Mmm.
P is for Power Outages. A daily occurance, and power is officially available every other day. It's as much a political folly as an infrastructure one. Also for Pieter, our Belgian opthamologist friend who's house is a refuge.
Q is for Queen Esther, my family's restaurant named after my host mom's grandmother.
R is for Running on empty. Whether its gas (called petrol here) or cell minutes, Ugandans don't ever believe in topping off. Ever.
S is for Scary Ass Roads! There's no such thing as lanes, oh no. Walkers, motorcylcles, buses, bodas, taxis and cars fight for the road. The results are frightening and often hilarious!
T is for TASO, the org that is working my American (read: lazy) butt to the bone. They are great people who are dedicated to field work and long days.
U is for Unpredictability. There's a constant, ubiquitous sense of insecurity here... I mean that in the best way.
V is for Vulnerability. How I feel as a Muzungu (I mean Chinese) woman from time to time while getting around here. I'm getting better though. Sigh..
W is for Warmth. Both the people and the weather. And for Wambedde, family's name. And for Waving. Waving goodbye. To refridgeration, fast food, saddle bags (mine are shinking already), flushing toilets, hot showers, burgers, nicely shaved legs, personal space, a fast paced lifestyle, TV, good music on the radio, high speed internet, New York Times and other good papers, driving, ovens, espresso... I could go on, but it gets a little depressing. Hahaha.
X is for eXciting. When everyhting is new (yet somehow old) and challenging there is no room for an idle mind.
Y is for whY? Bad Christian music all the time! WHY? (instead of No Woman No Cry it's No Jesus No Life) AHHHHHH
Z is for Zany. Such is the life...:)
posted by Sarah at 3:14 PM
3 Comments:
Sarah, this is a great post. Your style is all over it.
Love you so much. You are missed here at T&A (hah--that's all we are!)
Let me know if you need anything---more posts, more calls. anything.
Love Aunt Paula
S is for Soul (Yours is a beautiful one)
A is for Artist (You can write girl)
R is for a safe Return
A is for Always being proud of you
H is for Happy,Healthy,Humanity Helping Hippie
Love, mom,dad and Jules
My, my, you're all so talented. I must be rubbing off on you!
Great post Sarah. Your mom and dad (and Jules) are pretty creative as well.
This week the weather is cooling down we're starting to see the leaves turn. Are you going to be able to handle not seeing snow this year?
I think of you often and am sending you good thoughts and prayers. Be good and stay smart.
Love ya,
AJ
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