Before my trip, I thought that sine I spent many years moving to different places, culture shock will be the least of my worries. Now, 7 weeks in to my internship placement in Kampala, I’m surprised to see how difficult it is to bear with certain things that were extremely interesting at the beginning of my trip.
After 7 weeks I find my self comfortable enough to go to different places and do grocery shopping and etc. however, it seems that my tolerance for being stared at most of the time has decreased quite dramatically. It turned out that after all, I don’t like the spot light as much as I thought I would.
Due to feeling like a “Mozoongoo” (it is a phrase in Lugandan which means a ‘white guy’ that I hear on regular basis) all the time, I am no longer enthused to travel a lot. Traveling to touristy areas via public transportation takes away the comfortable feeling that I get in the community that I live right now. I have established an interesting relationship with the people in the ‘village’ and even though I am only a “Mozoongoo” to them, they help me out in the things that I need and I always slip an extra dollar or .50 Cents which surprisingly makes their day.
The conversations that I have with people are starting to make more sense since I am more accustomed to the slangs and accents. However I still have hard time understanding the conversations that contains shortened sentences. These “short” sentences are like an abbreviation of a sentence. It is when they only say 2-3 key words of the sentence and automatically assume that you know what they are talking about. To be honest with you, I am starting to get quite irritated by it, but I keep telling my self that I am in their country; therefore I have to adjust my self. I admit that it could be quite challenging at times.
The traffic of the city and the pollution has a tendency to put me in a not so friendly mood. But what amazes me is the calmness of people despite of being stuck in traffic without any movement for about 2 hours (true story).
I guess it is a given that I am also beginning to see how people treat me differently compare to the locals. This is something that I failed to see at the beginning of my trip. But now I see some people being nicer to me and some being able to cheat me the way I never though I could be cheated.
After 7 weeks I noticed that I have drawn closer to certain people and drawn apart from those that I used to hang out with all the time. It’s as if everything is transforming and more do I find my self thinking about home and my friends and family. Don’t get me wrong, I am not home sick and I still enjoy everything that is out here, even the times when I just want to scream at people for acting so calm and slow in certain situations. I am enjoying everything about it and all the feelings that I get while being here, however it seems like in 6 weeks time, I will be more than ready to head back to my home and the people who I am close to.
In the meantime, I enjoy being a “Mozoongoo” even though it pisses me off sometimes. At times, I need to remind my self to appreciate the differences, however I still find my self happy every time I put a smile on the faces of the children by simply just waving at them. I must admit that none of the things that I mentioned bothering me earlier prevents me from admiring Ugandans and Africans in general. I have had a chance to meet with many refugees from all over Africa and more and more do I become amazed by their tolerance and the hope that exists amongst them. I can say for certain that this trip is not going to be my last trip to Africa and I know, from now on, my interest in this region will only increase.
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This blog describes my thoughts and activities in Kampala, Uganda. I am currently in Uganda for the next three months working in a Human Rights NGo called Horn and East of Africa Human RIghts Defender Project. It is my first time visiting an African country and i have found my discoveries to be worth sharing. I hope you enjoy reading them. Cheers!
1 comment:
When I am travelling to tourist spots, I dress like a gringa tourist, with a head rag and a textile bag, because I feel incredibly uncomfortable travling in formalish clothing, especially on local transport. I find it easier to move about if I give people a clear clue through my dress what I am doing (travelling), as there is no way I can possibly blend in anwyay.
But in Guatemala city I dress fiarly formally and nicely, with skirts and a leather purse ect. This leads to hillarity when I cross boundaries though! Like when the gringo toursits asked to get off the bus in the upper class zone of the city the bus drivers almost didn't want to let me off, they were so sure i was making a mistake. And a woman who got off the bus with me didn't belive that a friend was picking me up and was worried about me, she is like "do you know this friend? Is he part of your family?". My hippie tourist outfit was sending crazy mixed messages! But its the same if I wear nice clothes in tourists locations, people can't place me at all. So I sypathasize with your plight: wherever I go I'm a gringa tourist, and I can never just hide or blend in.
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