Wednesday, November 13, 2002
After 5 months of living in Uganda, I am quite proud of myself for having maintained a calm, cool, curious, humour-filled composure (for the most part) in many different situations throughout my experience in a foreign country. There are, however, two incidents that stick out in my mind the most, because they have been the only two times that I have actually gotten really ANGRY since I've been here.
- The first time I took R&E's vehicle out by myself, I was driving to Kambuga, a town about 45 minutes away from Kihiihi. I had to go pick up a fuse for a DC/AC inverter for the solar batteries. Rogers was accompanying me because he knew the guy I was supposed to see, and Annette's sister Florence was also coming along because she needed return transport to Kambuga where she goes to school. I drove the whole way with no problem until we reached the town, when suddenly people were waving and shouting and pointing at my wheels. I pulled over and got out to inspect the car. I was aghast to find the left front wheel kind of hanging off the truck. Apparently, the wheel had come apart from the rod end of the steering column. It was really fortunate that I had been going slowly (around 20-30 km/hr) and that this happened in a town and not in the middle of nowhere. As always when a vehicle breaks down in Uganda, men come out of the woodworks, all claiming to be experts in vehicle repair. A mechanic was called and he came to attach the wheel back to the rod end - took all of 20 minutes.
What ended up taking most of the time was the negotiation on the price afterwards. It was a bit my fault for not having settled on a price beforehand, but I didn't want to bargain when I had no idea what would be involved in the repair, and the mechanic just went straight to work on it, no discussion about price. When he was finished, Rogers took charge of the negotiation - he knows a fair amount of Rukiga and I figured that they wouldn't try to rip him off because he is Ugandan. How wrong I was.....the mechanic first asked for 50,000 USh (which is like $50 Cdn., and is a completely ridiculous amount - it's what many people make in a month as a salary here in Uganda.) Then it went down to 20,000, then stuck on 10,000. I had been prepared to pay about 5,000, because I knew it was only really worth 3,000 or so (no new parts involved, just re-attachment) but I figured they might up it a few thousand shillings or so for "muzungu tax". But this guy wouldn't go any lower than 10,000, no matter how much talking Rogers did. I was getting slowly enraged at this point, they had been negotiating for over half an hour at this point while I was being harassed by some mad man who kept asking me for money. Rogers finally came back, saying that the guy was stuck at 10,000, even though we were offering him 5,000, well above the normal price for the repair. I wanted to just leave the 5,000 and take off, but Rogers thought that would be a bad idea - we'd likely have police after us for not paying our bill. I had had enough. I marched up to the mechanic, who by this time was already working on another vehicle, and said, "You take 7,000" and he just ignored me. One of his friends took over the negotiations and insisted on 10,000, said we could pay some now and come back and pay the rest later if we wanted. This totally pissed me off, and I started yelling: "Do you think I am stupid? Just because I am a muzungu you want to overcharge me! I am already offering you 7,000 for what I know is a 3,000 repair job, so you should be happy to accept it. If you refuse that amount, then come over here and undo your work and I will find an honest mechanic who won't rip me off. Otherwise, you take 7,000 - I'm not giving you any more than that!" My outburst seemed to do the trick, because the mechanic finally nodded in agreement.
I was really furious. I know that as a foreigner, I am always getting ripped off a bit, always paying slightly more than what a local would pay, but it had never been as blatant as this before! I was outraged at the sheer audacity of it, and also mad at myself for losing it like that (normally I'm the kind of person who tries to avoid confrontations at all costs.) It took me a whole day to recover from that incident. - Richard, Ellie and I were returning from a birthday weekend (Ellie's 30th) at Bushara Island, Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale. At Kanungu, a fallen tree was blocking the path so we were forced to go up a somewhat steep hill. This was complicated by the fact that it had been raining alot that weekend, so the road was extremely muddy. Consequently, we got stuck and could not proceed. Fortunately (or so we thought), there were very many people at the top of the hill, who eagerly ran down to help push the vehicle out of the muddy rut, and then another person (an experienced local driver) managed to motor it up the hill with Richard in the passenger seat (Ellie and I had gotten out and walked up the hill ourselves). There was much cheering from everyone when the vehicle made it all the way to the top. As Ellie and I were getting into the car to leave, and Richard was giving some money to the driver (3,000 USh; nothing comes for free in Uganda, and 3,000 is a typical amount to give someone for this kind of help), I was prevented from closing the passenger-side door by one of the men who had helped. He said, "You wait a bit" and asked Richard for 10,000. The previously friendly, helpful people were turning into a bloodthirsty mob, surrounding the car and yelling, "How much is it? Ask for more!" I tried to slam my door shut again, and again this man blocked my way, harassing Richard to give him 10,000. This was getting out of hand. I was dealing with the guy on my side, Richard was dealing with the driver who had all these people egging him on to ask for more money, Ellie sitting between us trying to deal with both sides. I tried to explain to my guy that we weren't going to pay him more because we were not rich muzungus, we lived in a nearby village and knew that 3,000 was an appropriate amount for the kind of aid we received. I tried talking with him in Rukiga to no avail - he would not get out of the way. It was getting more heated and heated, and, finally, I just lost it. I was practically screaming at him to get out of the way and let me close the door - I think I was really furious and a bit scared because normally people are not that aggressive with you when they are negotiating prices. The driver who Richard was bargaining with could see that the situation was becoming unmanageable, and so gave Richard back the 3,000 he had previously accepted, saying, "Just go, just go". He was also telling the other guy on my side to stop being such an asshole, I think. My guy finally let me close my door, and Richard gave his guy back the 3,000 before driving off.
These kinds of situations make you wonder why you stick around in this country, trying to help these people when all they want is your money (or the money they think you have). It was really hard to keep it all in perspective after these two incidents, because the desire to go home is so great. I just had to keep reminding myself of all the great Ugandan friends I have made since I've been here, and that they would never try to do this kind of thing to me just because I am a foreigner. It also helped alot to have someone, other muzungus, to talk with about these situations. Apparently this kind of scamming happens to everyone, not just muzungus. If you are not from the immediate area, locals will try to rip you off no matter if you're white or Ugandan or anything. As long as you don't know what the actual price should be, you will most definitely be taken advantage of. In a way, I can't blame them for trying, because I am familiar with the level of poverty of this part of the country, but the situation made me feel threatened, and I find it hard to forgive that man because of that.
When people find out that there is a muzungu computer teacher around, they think that you must be some kind of whiz in all types of machinery, computer-related or not. I think this is due to the fact that technological gadgets are not yet as widespread up-country as they are in more populated, urban places like Kampala or Mbarara, so people have some strange expectations of you if you have any bit of technical knowledge. Here are some of the things I have been asked to fix:
- A rolling machine. I looked blankly at the woman who asked me to fix this mysterious device until she was able to explain that it was a duplicating machine - you know, a copier that operates from the manual turning of the handle, that we used to use back home in, like, the 70s? Needless to say, I had to decline her request, having never even SEEN one of these machines before in my life.
- A locked cell phone. This girl had locked herself out of the phone and had forgotten the PIN to unlock it, so she brought it to my house for me to take a stab at it. Due to language barriers, I had difficulty explaining to her that unless my name was Rain Man, there was no way I could come up with the correct combination of god-knows-how-many digits required to unlock the phone. Sorry, my dear, it's off to MTN for you.
- (ed. This is the best one) I was asked to decode what resembled a piece of black construction paper. This man came to my house one Sunday morning as I was making my breakfast, and took something out of his shirt pocket. He carefully unwrapped something black and thin that was the size and shape of a dollar bill and handed it to me. I looked at him blankly. He said that his friend from Congo had sent him this piece of paper that had very important data on it - could I pass it through the computer and retrieve the data for him? I was bewildered: "You want me to do what with this piece of paper?" He insisted that there was some very valuable information on this piece of paper, and kept asking why couldn't I scan the paper so that we could see the data on the monitor. I wanted to laugh so badly but I kept my composure and politely explained that here in Kihiihi, in Uganda even, we didn't have the sort of technology necessary to decode his piece of paper. I told him that probably the Ugandan government didn't even have the resources he required, probably only the FBI or CIA would. The man was really confused, as his friend had apparently told him to go to any computer person and they would be able to help him out. He was persistent though, he asked if I thought it would be prudent for him to travel to Mbarara and see someone at the University of Science and Technology - I told him not to waste his 16,000 shillings.
Monday, November 11, 2002
- Milk - no, I'm not kidding. I thought this girl was joking until I heard another kid call out to her, "Hey, Milk!"
- Gift - apparently this name is quite common here.
- Bright - the boy I met with this name is actually the dullest kid ever (mind you, he may have been sick at the time I met him).
- Delic (pronounced "Derek") - in Runyankore/Rukiga, the pronounciations of "l" and "r" are practically the same. This is the name of Ruth's boy. When I questioned her about the spelling of his name, she said the "Derek" spelling she had been using previously was not in the dictionary, so she found this one (because it's short for "Delicate"). Oh my god.
- Rover - really, I have no comment....the name speaks for itself.
- To count your children. If you ask people, especially older ones, they will often say that they don't know and try to evade the question. Sometimes this is because many of their kids have died, which is really sad, but often it is because they are fearful that something bad will happen to the children.
- To count your animals. Reverend William is a perfect example of this and of the above - he will never give you a direct answer when you ask him how many children he has or how many cows he owns.
- To point at your animal.
- To indicate the height of your child or animal by using your palm facing down. Often when people ask "How tall is your daughter?" you could say, "She's about yay high" and use your hand to indicate her approximate height - do you know what I mean? Apparently this is bad luck for some people.
- Not give something to each of a pair of twins. If you give anything to one twin (food, gifts, etc.) you must give something, ANYTHING, to the other twin, or else it will curse you. If you have the bad luck to be cursed by a twin, you will get patches of "muzungu" skin all over your body.
- To have a woman cross your path first thing in the morning. Say you leave your house to go to work in the morning, and the first person you meet is a woman - this apparently is bad luck for both men AND women. !!!!
- San Yee (August 7); and
- Trace (October 21)
Happy Birthday, gals! Sorry I'm so late...
Here are a few of my favourite wacky things that I've heard people say:
- slap - cool, fun, nice, all around good: "I had such a good time in Mbarara - it was really slap"
- bounced - you came to see someone who wasn't around, so you left: "I went to your house but they told me you were at the telecentre, so I bounced"
- to see stars - to be confused: "At the workshop they were using all this dev.ed.-speak that I didn't understand and I saw stars"
- blue bread - maxi pad: "Uh oh, it's that time of month....I'll have to run to the store and buy some blue bread"
- Eating bread and jam - (ed. note - This is totally gross!) to be on your period: "She's only cranky because she's been eating bread and jam"
- voup - clothes (n.); to get dressed up (v.): "She got all vouped up for the big party last night, but ended up looking like a cheap whore"
November 11 - Well, I've just returned to Kampala after spending 3 glorious days at the luxurious Nile Resort Hotel in Jinja, where VSO was holding its annual Volunteer Conference. The conference is just a kind of "Thank You" to all of us for being volunteers, and allows us to get together and see people we normally don't get a chance to see. Also there are workshops and discussions related to our work and development as a whole, but sometimes it's too tempting to bugger off and just lounge by the pool (which is what I did all day Sunday - heaven!). The weekend was marred slightly by occasional torrential rain, but for the most part it was fantastic and relaxing. I got to stay in a cottage right on the Nile River, where you could always hear the soothing roar of the river. Food was plentiful and delicious, all you could eat (and I can eat a lot, as those of you who have ever gone with me to a buffet know!) I went back for desserts three times - had to stuff as much as I could in before going back to the dessert-less Kihiihi. I met a ton of people I hadn't met before, and it's kind of a shame that I am leaving shortly because I would have liked to gotten to know some of them better, maybe visit their placements. I did meet a fellow Canadian from Calgary, whom I will stay in touch with so I will have a friend in Alberta if and when I make it to the Rockies!
My program for the next few days...am staying in Kampala until the end of the week, tonight with Ali and Stefan, fellow NetCorps interns, and then Jason, the new Netcorps working at the VSO office, will have returned from whitewater rafting so I will stay at his place (extra room there with own bath, plus I know that area better, plus it's more central). These extra days in Kla are part of my vacation time - have to sort myself out for the trip home, get appropriate visas for travelling, re-validate ticket, buy gifts etc.
On a more serious note, I am also trying to distance myself from Kihiihi for a bit because prior to leaving for the conference, Simon my supervisor and I had a huge fight, and I'm not sure how things will be when I get back. Won't go into all the gory details but he basically screamed at me for half an hour about something that I am not really involved in. I am hugely insulted and hurt, especially because it's not work-related and completely petty and not my fault, and I just know that he won't apologize (because he doesn't think he is wrong and would never admit it even if he did feel at fault). Simon is basically mentally imbalanced, something I only witnessed for myself over the past few weeks. I had heard lots of stories before but this is the first time I have actually experienced it firsthand. Thankfully this only happened now, rather than way earlier into my placement, otherwise I would have just picked up all my stuff and left. Richard says that, given his treatment of me, I would have every right to do so, but I feel that since I have less than 5 weeks left, I can tough it out, ignore him or at the very least, act somewhat civil, in the meantime. I have never in my life been made to feel so small, and Simon is the kind of guy with whom you cannot argue because you will never win. If you argue back, he gets enraged. If you apologize and own up to whatever accusations he's throwing at you, he doesn't believe you. If you cry, he accuses you of being manipulative and trying to play the sympathy card. If you don't say anything, he still gets infuriated because you don't answer his questions. There really is no winning with him. I've never come across someone so irrational, so fraught with anger management issues. I basically just chalk it up to his being cracked.
Anyways, enough about gruesome Simon. I'm just going to watch lots of movies and eat and do my own thing for a few days, and hopefully the situation will have cleared a little by the time I return. In a few minutes I'm off to see "The Sweetest Thing", some Cameron Diaz piece of shite which will be a welcome distraction from life's troubles. (It's either that or "Triple X" - blech).
November 7, 2002 - Today, during the bus ride from Kihiihi to Kampala, I sampled fried grasshoppers. It's now the season, and they are sold by the bag for 500 shillings. Not that bad, really. They've been de-legged and de-winged, fried up in oil and salted. Kind of greeny-yellow in colour. Kind of...fleshier, meatier than expected (but I think that's because they were not that warm, therefore not as crispy). Couldn't look at the bag when I grabbed one and popped it into my mouth. I kept thinking to myself as I chewed, "It's just fish, it's just fish" because they reminded me of the small dried fishes that are used in Chinese and Malaysian cuisine - they still have eyes and leave scaly bits in your teeth. Kinda taste like fish, too. Could only stomach about 4 or 5 because I had just stuffed myself on a lunch of delicious chicken on a stick at Lukaya (but I bought them because I just had to try them - people keep asking me if I have! Luckily, my travelling companion Resty (who is a Ugandan) thinks that "ensenene taste sweet" (i.e. she enjoys noshing on 'em) so she polished off the bag, laughing at me every time I scrunched up my eyes and made a grab for the bag.
A True African
A few days ago, I spent the afternoon helping Mariagh cook lunch, helping to unplait Annette's hair (could only do a few braids; Fatumah was speedier because she had more experience) and then I spent a good hour gnawing on sugar cane.
Wedding Bells....They Toll For ME!
In case you didn't catch the newsflash, on October 18, 2002, Allan George McIntosh and Isha May Lee Tan decided to get married. It was very romantic - we did it via MSN Messenger: he was at work in Ottawa and I was in an internet cafe in Kampala. It just sort of happened. We had been discussing the topic of marriage via emails, letters, text messages and the odd phone conversation for a few months now, and then we just agreed to go ahead and do it. There wasn't really any asking involved, although I contend that the whole thing started when Allan sent me a text message saying "Imagine if we got married in Jamaica...what a huge wedding it would turn into with all his relatives there". Allan will tell you that it was me who brought it up, by asking him during our online chat, "So are we officially engaged, or are we officially thinking about getting engaged?". Doesn't really matter - what does matter is that we are going to get hitched, and that we are truly happy.
We haven't sorted out all the details yet (heck, we aren't even on the same continent yet!) but we do know a few things:
- no engagement ring for me. We are going to look for something for us together while we are travelling in Africa (see blog entry about travel plans), maybe matching rings or just something cool to mark the occasion.
- the wedding will likely take place sometime next year.
- It will be a non-traditional wedding; that is, it will not take place in a church or religious building, there won't be any white gowns or tuxedos, no bonbonnieres, etc. It may involve a gathering of friends and family, and guests will have to participate in some way, perhaps by reading a passage, or performing something, or doing a presentation of some kind, all relating to and celebrating us and our relationship. Suggestions are welcomed. Heidi sent me a copy of "The Prophet" by Kahil Gibran, who says some cool stuff regarding marriage.
This has been a shock to a lot of you, I know, especially my parents, but no one is more shocked than me! For a long time I never thought about marriage or getting married, but I now realize its huge symbolic value, the ritual act of publicly declaring that this is the one person with whom I wish to spend the rest of my life. And, yes, it is also an excuse to have a big party (which is always a good thing!) I am extremely happy, and so is he, and we want to share that happiness with those who care about us. It is hard to describe the feelings that have been overwhelming me since we decided. Fear, happiness, giddiness even, excitement, all jumbled up in a big mish-mash. I feel truly blessed. Thank you to all of you who knew beforehand for your kind well wishes and congratulations.
The reason I am posting this on my blog (regrettably rather impersonally) is because our attempts to keep it hush hush for a little while (at least until after we came back from our trip) have failed miserably. It was too hard to keep it a secret - you just want to shout it out to the entire world. Allan told his family, then some friends, then some people at work (which then spread around to the rest of the workplace), and I told my family and some key friends (who are in charge of spreading it to the rest of the people I know, in my absence.) Figured that the blog was a good way of covering all my bases. Also, I found out today from Heather that Andy and Leah were driving one morning a few weeks ago, listening to CFNY, when they heard a cool 80s song that happened to be dedicated to Isha in Uganda, from her boyfriend in Ottawa! The deejay also mentioned that they had just decided to get married. Andy and Leah figured that there couldn't be that many people named Isha in Uganda who had boyfriends in Ottawa, so that's how they found out, and told Heather and Jenny. The song was "Never Let Me Down" by Depeche Mode. (Those of you who know my musical tastes will appreciate that!) The funny thing is, Allan never told me about the radio dedication because he had called on a Saturday, listened all day and never heard it. He figures CFNY must have played it on their All 80s Request Breakfast on the following Sunday, and that's when Andy and Leah (and who knows who else?) heard it. I think it's hilarious that I still managed to get my long-distance dedication, a few weeks after the fact! What a sweetheart, my special guy. Wish I could get my hands on a copy of that radio show, though.
PS: I hate the words "engaged" and "fiance(e)", and am desperately searching for a new and better term for our pre-married state. "Betrothed" just sounds so archaically Victorian. Any suggestions?
Travel Plans
Allan is arriving on December 15 (aka The Best Day EVER!) in Uganda. We will be travelling around Uganda for 2 weeks, then it's off to Zanzibar to take a 4-day scuba diving course at Nungwi. Here is our tentative itinerary:
- Dec 15-22: Kihiihi, safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park (Ishasha sector), mountain gorilla tracking at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.
- Dec 23-29: Xmas in the Ssese Islands of Lake Victoria, visiting Sipi Falls at Mount Elgon National Park
- Dec 31-Jan 9: New Years 2003 in Zanzibar, scuba course, eating lots of seafood and general beach&ocean lounging.
Trip will be expensive and we are tight for cash - we are therefore trying to save by camping where possible and taking cheaper means of transport (like the 24 hour bus ride from Kla to Dar). If we eat mostly local food, it is possible to getby on about $50 Cdn. per day for the both of us. Parents are, thankfully, supplementing me with some xmas prezzie money!
We return to Canada on January 10 (me to Toronto, him to Ottawa). I will likely be spending a few weeks in Toronto to tie up loose ends, then moving permanently (again!) to Ottawa. I'll be sharing an apartment with Allan and Vic on Elgin st., right above the Lieutenant's Pump! Am really looking forward to getting back to Ottawa, even though it will be the dead of winter when I arrive. I've really missed Canada!
