Just a few things...

(Lyantonde Town early morning)

First thing…if you’ve been reading this blog, you know how much I truly love this country. The land is gorgeously untouched, natural beauty; the people are very welcoming and happy. But there is one thing that I haven’t mentioned that has just started to bother me in the last week or two…something I have been very patient with but finally, this weekend, I could no longer smile about it because I’m tired of it. I am tired of being discriminated against because of the color of my skin; I am tired of the racism. I am tired of having to bargain and sometimes argue my way to the fair price; the real price. I’m tired of people assuming that because I am white, I am rich. I want to be treated as a human being; as a fellow person on this great big planet. I have never been racist; I have always hated racism and discrimination against any minority. And really, I have always been attracted to people of different backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities and colors because to me, the differences we have are what make the world interesting and exciting. I like the differences because I know immediately that we will be able to learn and grow and become better people because of them. So, after 3 months of dealing with being the extreme minority and always getting “Muzungu” prices…I lost it on Sunday.
I was trying to travel from Kampala to Lyantonde and was just really frustrated after the boda boda (motor bike taxi) driver and bus folks did exactly what I knew they would do: overprice me. I always have to explain that I know how much it costs, I do this all the time; I’m not a tourist just passing through. I am living here. Working here. Volunteering here to help other Ugandans and it would be really nice if I could be treated fairly. The boda driver laughed when he realized I know what I’m doing and said it seems like I’ve been here for a few years, not a few months and agreed to let me pay the fair price. The bus folks, on the other hand, were really rude. I refused to pay what they were asking and put up a fight…I really wasn’t in the mood! After 2 busses stuck to their “Muzungu” price of 15,000 Ush, I was on my way out of the bus park when a woman stopped me and asked if she could help. I explained that I travel this route every week…I know how much it costs; I’m tired of hearing “the petrol prices went up” as an excuse. I will pay 12,000 Ush and no more…and should really just have been paying 10,000 Ush. She was very nice and took me to her bus, told me to remember that Gateway treated her fairly and allowed me to pay the 12,000 Ush. It’s just exhausting.

Another thing (and a much lighter topic!)…when I lived in Germany, I remember asparagus season as quite the phenomenon. I had never seen such a specific food celebrated so widely and passionately…everywhere you look during that season, there is asparagus! They really love their asparagus. Well, last week I realized that it is grasshopper season. For 3 months the strangest thing I’d seen people eating were the cow intestines that are part of the traditional Ugandan breakfast. But now, there are grasshoppers around every corner! People are selling them on the sides of roads already fried in their own oil and in a baggie, coming onto the bus to sell them; my colleagues are eating them at their desk for breakfast and the guy on the boda next to mine is carrying a big bag of them too. They are everywhere! And if you don’t see them dead in a bag waiting to become someone’s snack, you see them hopping around still alive trying to escape an inevitable death...or in the hands of children playing (above with one of my favorite girls in town). Grasshoppers are a delicacy here and now that the “rainy” season is over (it didn’t rain so much), you can’t get down the block without seeing them. It’s crazy!

And the final thing today…I just love the smiles and innocence of children! Yesterday after getting a chapatti making lesson from the cooks at one of the restaurants I frequent, I ended up playing games with a group of about 15 children (some pictured to the left). They always get excited and gather when they see me…always say, “BYE MUZUNGU!” in their little, sweet voices (and I always wonder, why say goodbye before we’ve said hello?). Anyways, yesterday I decided to teach them “duck, duck, goose”. Although, since I don’t know those words in Luganda, I made it “chicken, chicken, goat” or “nkoko, nkoko, mbuzi”. And they loved it! I don’t know when or who decided that I would always be the goat, but they wore me out. It was a really great hour and then I was off to take some pictures of Lyantonde. A very relaxing day. Three and half days left in this town that’s become home before I head to Jinja and the Nile for my last four days in Uganda…will be hard to leave, but will be so easy to hug all my loved ones once I get home!