Observations

Favorite Cultural Observations… in no particular order, please excuse my randomness


Emma = boy name, short for Emmanuel; Justin and Oliver = girl names

Sign I saw in Kampala… “Project for the eradication of Dust and Mud in the City”. Can we say lost cause?! Anyone who’s ever been here will agree at the futility of this effort, but bless them for trying.

Children’s clothing here is virtually unisex… it’s nothing to see a boy in pink or hearts from head to toe or a girl in “boy” stuff. This explains the question I get constantly in reference to Mercy, “Is he a boy or girl?” You’d think the giant bow on her head would be a clue, but no, it’s not.

Young men in Uganda, especially in the big city of Kampala love to dress fancy. The men who are obviously very “cool” are often seen in lace shirts, blinged out and bright colored sunglasses, ladies’ bedazzled belts, etc. It cracks me up every time. If I wore those same things, it would never look so cool.

The way no boda or taxi driver ever has change (so they say!). I can’t tell you the number of cokes or bottles of water I’ve bought so I can have the right change for my ride.

Culturally, Ugandans do not like to tell people “no”, especially foreigners. This makes it very difficult when you would like a straight answer and every hard question you ask is answered with a “Yes, please”.

Ugandans are obsessed with country music, especially the classics. I think it’s part of their desire to be more “American” and in tune with our culture. I was in three fancy stores at the mall yesterday and all of them were playing old country music. It makes me smile.

Most Ugandans I know prefer to eat chicken on the bone. They find boneless chicken very strange. They can’t believe when I tell them I pretty much only cook boneless at home.

Ugandans are not very good at guessing the age of mzungus. I love that they think I am much younger, or maybe that’s a cultural thing of telling people what they want to hear. Ha!!

It is culturally appropriate for people to hold hands in a non-romantic way. Young men often hold hands while walking up the street. I’ve had women come grab me by the hand and lead me around.

You can communicate a lot with just your eyebrows. I can walk around the corner and on to the main street. I will raise my eyebrows (with sunglasses on) to the boda drivers about a block away and one of them will rush down to me. A head nod, raised brow, and a grunt or an understanding “hmmm” can say a whole lot.

Must Ugandans are freezing when the temperature goes below 70 degrees. They’ll bundle up in sweaters, parkas, and even hats. I will still be wandering around in capris and a t-shirt while they are shivering. Love it. Mercy will be in for a rude awakening when we get home.

I love that Ugandans pile huge portions of food on their plates. I had it explained to me like this, “ You Westerners always get a little and then go back for more of what you like best. We don’t think that way. We only think of the now and get as much as we can while it is there. We don’t even realize there are others behind us in line that might want something to eat.”

It makes me laugh that most Ugandans think Mercy looks at me as a stranger. It never occurs to them that she is being quiet or shy because they are the stranger, not me.

Littering is no big deal here. It’s actually the norm. I watched an entire skit at church one Sunday on not littering. The skit was in Luganda, so I kept thinking there was some deeper many, but that was it. It’s hard to find trash cans anywhere, so I just carry around my trash. A couple of times I’ve been tempted to do it, especially after carrying around a wrapper forever, but there is something engrained within me that just won’t let myself do it.

When you do find a decent public toilet, you many times need to look for the toilet paper before you go in to the stall. They leave the toilet paper roll outside the stalls by the sink. Why?? This one baffles me.

These are just a few of my observations that stuck out in my head tonight. I’m leaving comments open on this blog post, so feel free to share your own thoughts or observations.