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?
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 go out alone), and stop harrassing you that much.
Other guesses include Japanese, Indian, Mexican, Peruvian, Korean, Philipino, and others that I didn’t understand, hear, or have forgotten.
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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 it doesn’t bother me much and it offers really good chances for people watching. You can buy almost anything here for a cheap price, from food to flashlights, and if you are good at bargaining. There is particular satisfaction when you can finally navigate the maze of matatus and successfully find the one you need. On the downside, calls of mzungus are unavoidable, same as the occasional hair touching (for my blonde hair friends) and hand grabbing. It’s best to go with a male friend so people can mistake you guys for being a couple and stop bothering you. Otherwise, just look straight ahead like you know where you are going (definitely easier said than done), and don’t stop to look at people or things on sale (which defeats the whole point).