Team Five Morris

There are so many weird things here but I want to be understood that I am NOT bashing my new home country. So often Dan and I have just looked at eachother in amusement, awe or irritation. The first thing is the driving. I have never in all my days seen such disorder and chaos somehow work. There are no rules other than try not to get knocked. They use lots of funny terms here imported by the British. Dan was told he should wait 30 days before attempting to drive here. Yeah right. By the second week he was on the road and driving like a real Ugandan. Our national friends are truly impressed.

While downtown at this HUGE market known as Nakosera Market we saw a muzungu (white guy) driving a motorcyle wearing dutch wooden pointy clogs. No joke. Anyone other than nationals who attempt to drive a motorcycle through the unruly traffic in Kampala are either stupid or optimistic!

Men holding hands here is another one. It is the culture for men to walk hand in hand everywhere they go. They are not homosexual but just enjoy walking hand in hand. Two years ago when we were here we even saw police men with huge rifles slung over their shoulders strolling with fingers interlocked. Not bad, just different. Aiden has had numerous boys his age try to hold his hand but has settled on putting their arms across eachother's shoulders instead.

Women here expose their entire breast while nursing. I am a huge breastfeeding supporter and I personally have no issue with this but it takes some getting used to to see an entire bare chest in any public setting. For the kids it is eye opening too!

Brooms are another oddity. They use these pieces of light twigs and bind them into bunches to sweep with. However this requires bending over to the point of back injury to sweep the house or courtyard. We have often wondered why they never add a stick handle to make it easier. I even bought Lillian a real broom to sweep our house with but she prefers the Ugandan kind. It's okay, just funny.

They "take tea" at specific times. I have been given odd looks when I have offered workers or friends tea at inappropriate hours of the day. I guess I'll have to brush up on my tea etiquette. We drink it all day long, who knew?

Back to the crazy driving...this makes it difficult to walk down any street. In America cars watch out for pedestrians. Anyone who passed their drivers test knows that pedestrians have the right of way. NOT true here. As a pedestrian you are responsible for being ready to leap off the road into the sewage drainage ditch at any moment. A car can drive freely on the sidewalk, median or any walkway whenever they want. Your job is simply to survive anywhere you walk. Dan has had his shoulders brushed with the mirrors on the motorcylce taxis numerous times while walking to the store.

We are very happy here in Uganda and are thrilled to be learning a new set of cultural rules. So many people here have welcomed us heartily and have invested in us as they teach us how to be effective missionaries here. So what if Dan has to get used to hand holding with his buddies? We are where we are supposed to be and we are enjoying all the new ways of looking at life. Miss you guys in our old life somethin' fierce though!