A Ugandan Debate

Today was an unusual day to say the least. We woke up at 6 so that we could leave by 7 to get a to a school debate at a school an hour away at 8. Everything went according to plan until we arrived at the school and waited and waited and waited and waited. We waited until almost 10:30. We had to wait for the other competing schools to arrive, and for them to set up for the debate. Good thing we showed up so early right?

They have a saying at the house: TIA or “This Is Africa”. It’s basically a reminder to expect the unexpected and to have a good attitude about everything. In Uganda, everyone is very laid back about everything, especially time. I am starting to learn that leaving at 7 really means 7:15, and the debate starts at 8 really means the debate starts at 10:30. Those of you who know me well know that I fit in perfectly with this!

Anyways, the first part of the debate was actually a trivia competition. A girl named Brittany from Washington D.C. (fun fact about Brittney, she is a film major and helped to shoot the last Taking Back Sunday video) and I were on a team with 5 Ugandan boys from the school hosting the event, Mpoma. A Ugandan named Benon (the Empower A Child program director) was also on our team.

The boys on our team were very friendly and nice, and they had tons of questions about America and our education system. It was really fun just to chat with them and get to know them some. For a while, it felt like I was chatting with friends from home that I have know for a while.

The trivia turned out to be very frustrating. The man reading the questions was impossible to understand. When he first started talking, I told one of the boys in my group that they would have to translate the Luganda for me, to which he responded “He is speaking English”. Oops.

Additionally, many of the questions were worded differently making them difficult to comprehend, and many of them were just plain wrong.

For example, in Uganda:
1. The sun can not burn you
2. The Adam’s apple is made out of the larynx and not the hyoid bone
3. The Nile River is the king of the sea, not Poseidon
4. The Potter’s field is not the place bought with the money given to Judas after he betrayed Jesus.

Anyways, regardless of all of this, it was still a lot of fun to spend time with the boys on my team. We ended up having to leave before the actual debate even started so we could get home for lunch.

Lunch was rice and zucchini. I’m pretty sure I will have eaten my weight in rice by the time I leave. We have rice in at least one meal a day, usually two, sometimes all three. Brown rice, yellow rice, white rice. Good thing I like rice!

This afternoon was stormy, which eliminated our trip to the beach. Instead, we went to Green City, which is a local shopping mall about 15 minutes away to watch a movie. I was expecting the movies to be really old, but they weren’t that dated: Angels & Demons, Terminator, I Love You, Man, and something with 12 in the title. We saw Angels & Demons, which I had already seen, but it was still suspenseful for me the second time…I am such a nerd!

To continue to be open about my inner nerd, the movie theater had a poster up for the newest Harry Potter movie. I was really bummed about missing it while I am gone, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to see it while I am here.

We also had some Ugandan ice cream. It is decent, but definitely not as good as American ice cream. It also leaves an odd after taste in your mouth. Someone told me this is because of the milk in the ice cream. Ugandan milk isn’t nearly as processed as ours.

However, everything is so cheap in Uganda. Today I bought my ice cream, my ticket, and a bottle of water for 16,000 shillings or 8 dollars. You can’t even see a movie at those prices in Texas!

Tonight I helped in the kitchen making a birthday cake for Diana. She is a Ugandan who turned 20 today. I was really only helping a little. Your first week here, you get a pass, but every week after that you have a certain chore to do one day a week.

On a side note, as Ally has pointed out to me, being gone for so long as confused my driving sides. Ugandans drive on the right, we drive on the left. Sorry for the confusion. In my defense, it’s kind of hard to tell what side of the road people drive on here. There are so many holes in the road that it’s kind of like a free for all for everyone. The driving here is crazy! Everyone cuts each other off, no one waits, and everyone breaks at the very last minute. Its nuts! The roads are also very confusing. There’s no way I’d be able to get around her, even with a GPS!

Tomorrow, we are going back to Kyampisi for a church service. I am sooo excited about seeing a Ugandan church service. Also, rumor has it that our regular church services are at the Watoto children’s choir church. To say I am ultra excited about that would be an understatement.

Lastly, today’s word: Oltya (o-lee-o-te-ya) which means “How are you?”. It's commonly used as a greeting here.

Living the Life,
Jenna