10 February 2008

a few more stories...

Nyahuka market experience: Saturday is market day and so I walked down with Pat and then I went on alone to do my shopping for veggies and flour and such. I really enjoyed it, except there's definitely a science to doing it right...I thought I was pretty much ahead of the game for buying the pineapple and cabbages first so that they went in the bottom of the basket I had to carry it all home in, so as not to crush tomatoes or avocado's if I had bought them first and they were at the bottom...well, so I get all of the things I had on my list and then wanted to go look at Kitenge's (fabric you can do lots of different things with but teammates use to wrap around their waists on top of pants since pants are not so modest here (long skirts only)...well, of course I couldn't make up my mind as the woman whose fabrics I was looking at said "hello my daughter, you like this one?" I explained to her that I was not very good at making decisions and that I would be back another Saturday. Well, by this time my basket was super heavy and digging into my shoulder...note to self: look for kitenge's and do other shopping/looking/decision making FIRST before buying cabbages and pineapples so as not to have to carry them around while doing the rest! Then I stop by Iddi's (evidently there are other Iddi's in Uganda other than the infamous Amin) to get flour and candy (he he he) and I saw coke! "And I'd like one coke please" I said..."Do you have a bottle?" the woman behind the counter said..."um, no, do I need to have a bottle to get a coke?" I asked, "yes" she said and smiled as the others in the shop chuckled..."Okay, thank you, webale" I said and left with my flour and candy, but very disappointed in being so close to my first Coke in Uganda and to have to walk away empty handed...So I walked home with my purchases and asked George, who works in Pat's house, "where do I get a bottle to buy a coke with?" after explaining my goof up in the market, he laughed also and graciously explained that we have some here at home (empty bottles you take with you to exchange with full ones). So, next market day I know what to do.

"I'm 28 and have no babies." - Naomi is a 13 year old girl who was friends with the woman that used to live here and left in December, so she has started to stop by my door and wants to be my friend. (When someone wants to be your "friend" here, it usually means they want you to give them things...ie. school fees, clothes, food, charge their cell phone, etc). Well, she speaks some English and so we chat for a little while every few days. Friday I think it was, she stopped by and after explaining to me that the large tree outside of our house was a mango tree, and after I tried asking her unsuccessfully when mango season was (she said it starts in April but I don't know how long it lasts, we couldn't really connect on that point), I asked her how old she was, and the other two kids with her, she asked me how old I was. I told her I was 28. She repeated it, and said incredulously, "but you have no babies?" "Yes" I said, "I am 28 and have no babies." She said, "my mother is also 28, and she has had 6 babies." I shrugged my shoulders and grinned. Wow, it struck me, her mother and I have had COMPLETELY different life experiences on sooooooo many levels...it's unbelieveable!

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