The weekend started Friday night when Joe, Efren, Kristi,
and I went out to Bubbles O’Leary upon John Henry’s recommendation. It was the
first time I “went out,” and it was OK, I guess. We sat in the outdoor bar area
so at least the air wasn’t stuffy and gross. We were all really tired from the
day’s work and were preparing to leave at 12:45am when John Henry (our manager
at Tugende) walked in. Joe and I introduced Efren and Kristi to him, and he
bought us all drinks (gin and tonic. It was meh). There was quite a mix of
local and international people, but other than that I have no way of comparing
it to bars/clubs back home. But it was the beginning of many new experiences
this weekend!
On Saturday, we explored Entebbe, a city an hour away from
Kampala. Ronnie, our driver, picked up Joe, Sammi, Huda, and I from Bushpig,
our hostel, and drove us there. The drive was so smooth that I didn’t even
notice he was driving a manual until we were halfway there. He showed us where
the touristy spots were (artisan market, beach, zoo, Lake Victoria boat
landing, etc.) and drove us to Nakiwogo landing. We decided to get off there
and walk through the local market. For the first time all trip, we were the
only Mzungus (foreigners, esp of European descent) around. People stared at us,
said “Mzungu!” and “You’re welcome!” (as in “Welcome!”), and offered us rides
in their taxis. Sammi and I bought bananas, and we continued walking through
the town towards the beach. It was the first time I witnessed poverty in
person. Sure, the people have plenty of bananas and corn to eat, but their
houses, the ditches,… I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet. I also felt
odd taking lots of pictures. We had a conversation about poverty porn
(depictions of poverty for the purpose of eliciting sympathy) before we left,
and now I’m wondering why I take so many pictures. But here:
As we walked, children waved at us, sometimes shouting
“Hello”, sometimes just staring.
They’re so… innocent. Or pure? I don’t want to use words
like naïve and ignorant because of connotation. I like the word unpretentious.
The people are so friendly; I felt safer walking in Entebbe than in Kampala.
After we walked for a good hour+, we took bodas to the beach
(no helmets, two to a boda. Yes, we’ve broken a lot of rules). We went to Aero
Beach, which in my opinion wasn’t a real beach because it’s the shoreline of
Lake Victoria and beaches mean oceans. It was still really fun just sitting on
sand and watching the water move (the waves were tiny). It’s nothing compared
to the Gold Coast in Australia, but hey, it’s still beautiful.
It was Student Day, so heaps of secondary school “kids”
(middle and high schoolers) were at the beach. We ended up talking to a math
and physics teacher, and the conversation drifted from calculus and integration
to theoretical education to politics. Frank was very knowledgeable: he knew
about agriculture in California’s Central Valley, the seven Great Lakes, and
the prairies in the Midwest. He lamented that Ugandan education is very theoretical,
and he’s often teaching about things that he has never seen before (like a Van
De Graaf Generator. Yes, that’s the specific example he gave). This slowly
shifted into a comparison of Americans and Ugandans, and then the political
situation in Uganda. Although the most “poverty” I have seen in the US is East
San Jose, after walking through the streets of Nakiwogo, I have to agree with
Frank: the poor in America would be the rich in Uganda. We have piped water
(running water), electricity, sectioned rooms in our houses (no matter how
small or how few rooms),… what are we complaining about? The poor are still
struggling to satisfy the lowest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, while my
worries seem so trivial in comparison. In Frank’s words, “as long as we have
food in our stomachs, we leave the rest to God.”
Then the conversation shifted to politics. I got kinda lost,
but Joe (Political Science major!) summarized it for me: the main problems are
money and corruption. He said that basically, “the poor people have solutions
but no money, and the rich people have money but no solutions.” It makes me
wonder what category social entrepreneurship falls in, but it’s probably
neither. It is people with rich people resources trying to solve problems with
poor people solutions, I guess. Anyway.
We had a dance party on the beach! There was a giant speak
playing loud music, and we started a dance circle that soon became integrated.
Later on, we played volleyball with the students. Lots of people wanted to take
pictures with us. I never felt so special, but I hope they only wanted pictures
because we are different, and nothing more.
"Can I have your photo?"
After this weekend, I’m having second thoughts about the
expat life. Expats (short for expatriate) are educated, rich professionals working
abroad (read this for interesting comparison between expats and
immigrants). John Henry, is an
expat from Colorado, and when we told him we were going to Entebbe, he
recommended visiting the zoo (and doing a behind the scenes tour for $70 USD),
the botanical garden, eating pizza on the beach, and trying Thai food (I know,
it sounds odd. But he’s from Colorado and not Asian). It seems very strange that he would
recommend us things we can do back in the States. There is very much a disconnect
between being a tourist and seeing exotic Africa, and what Ugandans experience every
day. Our driver thanked us for our courage to walk through the streets of
Nakiwogo. I am humbled by the experience. I guess it’s a complex and
messy relationship between foreigners and locals.
Kristi, Effren, and I went to church today! We went to Watoto
church, where one of their local interns go, and it was just like Hillsong and Hope
Church in Australia! The church was big and people filled the space; the energy was contagious. Tears streamed down my face as I worshiped, and I’m glad I wore glasses
or I would’ve cried out my contacts again. It’s so amazing that worshiping God
is the same, even in a foreign country. “Your
kingdom reigns unstoppable //We'll shout Your praise forevermore // Jesus our
God unstoppable.” Today it hit me that unstoppable doesn’t only refer to time,
but also space. His children are all over the world, and it’s hard to wrap my
head around we all praise and worship the same God. And “It’s all yours, yours,
yours // All the glory is yours.” Absolutely would go back when I’m not
travelling on the weekend.
Watoto Church
After lunch, we walked to
Makerere University. The walk was uneventful until we got close to campus.
There were children begging on the streets, but they were so bold that they
came up and grabbed our arms and touched Kristi’s hair. We tried to walk away,
but they kept following us. We were only saved when a lady we passed scolded
them in their local language.
We met up with Edgar, Joe, and Sammi in
the University, and Edgar gave us a tour of his 300-acre campus. Makerere is
hilly like Cal; green, red, and beige like Santa Clara; and houses faculty on
campus like Stanford. It is ranked the fourth best university in Africa and
educated many African presidents. Opened in 1922, it has many old buildings that
have not been remodeled, so everything looks old, and the walls are littered
with campaign posters. We saw lecture rooms, residential halls (girls and boys
live in separate buildings), and other facilities. Edgar's aunt is a women genders studies professor, so we got to see a professor's apartment. We ran into a Chinese school when we passed by the Chinese studies building,
which was interesting. There are lots of Chinese people in Uganda doing business,
running supermarkets, construction projects, etc. and many of their children
are born in Uganda. It’s funny that Chinese people still want to preserve their
culture even after moving to another country. But here are some pictures~
Gated Entrance
Lecture Hall
Swimming Pool
On the way home, we bought a soursop (Efren's favorite fruit) from a street vendor. When I told Edgar I bought a sour mango for 1,500 shillings (<50 cents, which I thought was not a terrible deal), he laughed and said I was cheated. Apparently you can get four large, ripe mangoes for 1,000 shillings. So he bartered for a soursop and we paid 5,000. Who knows how much it would've been if he wasn't there?
Soursops
I’m sorry I wrote so much. There’s so much
happening that I want to share it with you all, and thank you for making it to the
end of the entry! Here's a picture of Lake Victoria:
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