Point A to Point B

Another cool Uganda evening and all is well. Seems a little quiet tonight. Usually there is always plenty of activity.  We still haven't figured out when Ugandans sleep.  And soon is when it will really get exciting.  We’ve been told that once football (soccer for us US folks) season gets really going, it’ll get much more lively. We forgot to learn all about the soccer-football before we came over, oops!  Hopefully just yelling "Go Hokies" every once in a while like my husband taught me works over here too.



Gary's desk at eMi field office

This has been an interesting week for both of us as it has been the start of both of our jobs. We’ve both been able to ease into things which has worked out perfectly. Gary is learning the general procedures of the office as he assists with a few smaller projects – things will get much more exciting later next week when the rest of the staff arrives from the EMI conference in Colorado. It would have been nice to have gone to the conference if my school schedule allowed for it, but it has also been very nice to get a head-start on adjusting to life here as well as to have the undivided attention of the staff remaining here – we’ve certainly been taking advantageof them!

On the school front, things are looking interesting! We had new teacher orientation this week. Thus far, I have learned my boss is leaving the school to focus his time on another ministry he is involved with.  And I am teaching two additional classes than I was anticipating (“secondary” equals grades 7-12, not grades 9-12 as I’m used to in the US). And I also do not yet know whether I will be teaching a US-based or UK-based curriculum – and they are VERY different.  So...I'm bossless, with six completely different preps per school day (2 of which are for middle schoolers!) on a curriculum that still isn't figured out yet! I'm afraid what I'm going to learn next week! But it is all good. I am determined to be very positive and go with the flow. And above all, to not freak out. We came here because it was going to be a challenge - trusting that God would not put us here if it were more than we could handle. We didn't come here because it was going to be easy.  All of the other secondary teachers are in the same boat – teaching many different classes – and I am following their example of staying cool, calm, and collected. Next week is pre-planning, so I will have many more answers and much more to report then. For now, I am focusing on not focusing on school until I know what to expect – denial is not my normal strategy, but I think it will serve me best in this situation!  To the side is a video of my classroom I'll get set up this week.



Today, we’re going to explore the art of transportation in Kampala as we have come to understand it thus far. Here are the options:

#1 = Your feet – our transportation of choice for most days. People are constantly walking along the roads, but you will not find any sidewalks except in front of the US Embassy. Some of the major roads have a large median, but you have to share that with bodas and matatus. The streets are DUSTY and just a teeny bit gross, so it is absolutely essential to add foot-washing to your daily routine when you use your feet for transportation.

#2 = Boda bodas – the fun motorcycle rides. This is an art in and of itself. At various parts of town, there are boda “stages” – places where boda drivers hang out until they get a call for a ride or until someone drops by needing one. We have a list of boda drivers that our people here have come to know and trust, so whenever we need anything – really, anything (please pick up a pizza, please take me to the market, please pay this bill for me, etc.) – we give one a call and see if they are nearby. But you have to be specific, because in Uganda, people don’t like to say no – it’s considered rude – so “nearby” might mean an hour away J  We haven’t run into this yet, but perhaps that’s because the drivers we’ve used are a little more familiar with dealing with us crazy mzungus who like exact times. Proper protocol is to sit on the back of the boda, but you cannot touch the driver – you get on by yourself, and you hold on to a bar behind your toosh – I tend to be more of a white knuckle rider, holding on for dear life, but we’ve seen people riding on the back of bodas with car engines, chickens, a bed frame, and one woman was even riding side saddle holding her infant child in her arms. If I wasn’t holding onto the bar, I’m fairly certain I’d land on my butt behind the boda. I think Nasser is my favorite driver thus far – he is very safe and tells me about the things we pass that I don’t understand (which is a lot).

Bodas will transport just about anything

 

 

#3 = Special hires = these are basically personal car taxis. The only person I’ve ridden with is Peter – he is awesome. I tend to gravitate towards the Ugandans that let me ask dumb questions without looking at me like I’m dumb – this is mostly all Ugandans I’ve met thus far. But Peter is also super happy all of the time – he always smiles and laughs a lot which is really helpful when you're driving through lots of "jams." Special hires cost about twice as much as a boda, but they are totally worth it if you have a whole lot of shopping to do or if it is raining.

Matatus are everywhere

#4 = Matatus (pronounced mah-tah-toos) – these are van taxis. They are all over the place. Apparently they went on strike shortly after the elections here in March, because petrol prices went up, and the city basically shut down – needless to say, they reached an agreement pretty quickly. This is not my favorite mode of transportation as it is difficult to figure out what the pattern is and they also fill up very quickly. But they are very cheap – 1,000USh will get you to downtown, which is about 38 cents.

So for us, our feet are our go-to transport. The hardest part about this is that they drive on the “wrong” side of the road (I should be culturally sensitive… I guess it’s just the "opposite" side of the road…). And given the fact that there are no sidewalks and you have to dodge traffic, it’s actually really important that you know where traffic is coming from. Not that there are lanes on any of the roads, but vehicles tend to drive on the left side. Thus, we walk on the right. That seems simple, but I have to rethink this every single time we walk somewhere to make sure I’m doing it right. I guess it’s not so bad, because vehicles are also fond of their horns here, so it’s hard to miss someone coming. I like walking, because you can take in the scenery much better – it is full of interesting plants and animals. Below, you'll see the cool cow I took a picture of... and if you look closely, you'll see the monkey that was sitting behind him (confession: I didn't see the monkey until after I got home and was looking through my pictures, haha!).

A note on roads: They’re not so good. Some are paved, but a lot of the ones close to our place are not. We’re talking mac-daddy potholes. But just in case you feel like speeding, there are some randomly placed speed-bumps (or more accurately, speed-mountains) as well. J I am impressed by the boda drivers being able to navigate the terrain – surprised that I don’t bounce off when we go down our road! We are getting more comfortable with boda rides, and that opens up a whole new range of places to go. And pizza delivery… mmmmm…

Durring one of our morning devotionals, one of the EMI staff who is Ugandan, Monica shared her view on Ecclesiastes 3: - she talked about the difference in the kinds of prayers rich and poor people pray, and it might sound strange, but I think it’s the first time I’ve heard a non-rich person talk about this (I figure anybody I’ve heard talk about this in the West is pretty rich…), and it is pretty convicting. Dependence on God is definitely very different for rich vs. poor. I think about my “please help us get to Point A safely” and “please help us make the right decision about yada yada” prayers – they're not "bad" prayers, but they seem so small compared to what people pray for here. Our neighbors pray that their goats stay alive so they can sell the milk and have food to eat or that they will be able to buy medicine for their children. This is a totally different level of dependence that is hard to understand. So I’m sure we’ll continue learning this lesson, and we’ll keep our ears open to the wisdom of the people around us.