My Research!
Hello blog, Off I go tomorrow for some dream-like work… research proposal
Monthly Archives: October 2009
another list – bound to get tons of spam also
The permanent African “tan” The malaria medicine: Lariam The lessons The roads African dancing craft markets Religion Atheist Rafting the Nile Ringing cellphones in lectures Bahai temple Beauty standards Marriage proposals New York Kitchen Garden City Gouvindas Dress shopping dress making Morning runs Tuhende Safari Lodge Owino Market Uganda National Museum Cultural Show Rwanda Tanzania Casino girl?
“Cheena”
When I am alone, my nationality becomes a publicly (though not by me) enjoyed guessing game. Most often, surprisingly, they get my ethnic roots right: Chinese. The local word for that is “china” or “mchina” (which in Kiswahili means one chinese, wacheena means plural chinese). So I get calls of that along with some mzungu calls. Although, when you are alone, it seems like they know you’ve been around town for long enough (so that you are not scared to […]
The taxi park
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> As I mentioned before when talking about the matatus, there are two huge taxi parks in Kampala. We mostly went to the old one because that is where our matatu going home starts. Crowded, dirty, grossly muddy when raining, it still has it’s own charms. Maybe not that many. But growing up in Hong Kong, I actually enjoy the hustle and bustle once in a while, at least […]
The Mzungus
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> “Mzungu! Mzungu! How are youuuuu?” “Mzungu! Mzungu! Give me money!” “Mzungu! Mzungu! Taxi? Boda boda?” Whenever I walk around with more than 2 of my caucasian friends, constant calls this like follow us around town (indeed, in most places we have gone). The most annoying prize, however, has to be given to the first few trips when we travelled as a group of 15 and more. Mzungu meaning […]
Speeches
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> The way I see it, Ugandans love showing off their publich speaking skills. Albeit, according to standards I’ve been taught, they aren’t very good at it. Rapidly rising and falling tones, over emphasis on nothing worth emphasizing, hand gestures that become blurry with speed, and most annoying of all, an all knowing tone that implies ‘do not argue with me.’ Among our professors and guest lecturer’s there were […]
The cold showers
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> Probably the one thing I would appreciate the most when I go home is the hot showers. There is no hot water at the grand hostel (for that matter anywhere except fancy hotels, even then, the hot water comes slowly and painfully), meaning rain or shine, we take bone chilling cold showers. The most pleasurable moments of the day are probably standing under the shower and relaxing, unfortunately, […]
The mosquito nets
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> I’m not a big fan of mosquito nets, although they were fun at first. My first night without one at the Grand Hostel ended in approximately 10 bites on each arm and 3 on my face, so I caved and bought a net. Covering you like a little tent, it’s the most annoying when you come home late and a bit drunk, and you still have to tuck […]
The hostel
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> ‘The Grand Hostel – Simply the Best” How can you beat that kind of slogan? Except situated right next to a slum area and on a really bumpy dirt road, it really wasn’t grand or the best. It was, nevertheless, decent and livable. Although rumour has it that it is owned by one of our professor’s relative, which accounts for the “we surveyed around and found the best […]
Our daily food
<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –> I must admit, Ugandan food is not my favourite. I don’t know if it is because our hostel and faculty cook crappy food, or is this really what people eat everyday. According to our one Ugandan classmate, yes, this is what they usually eat, with even less variety. We even play a guessing game before meals, we almost always get all the dishes correct, because, of course, we […]
