Skin color, what a funny thing.

I am of the opinion that the “color” of a person’s skin is as superficial as, well, their skin itself. Therefore, it is only natural that some of my opinions about skin color are superficial too. Worth sharing? I think so. Yet, I recognize them as superficial all the same. You’ve been warned.

It really is a funny thing if you think about it. The color of my skin is the reason I can’t walk anywhere without being called Mazungu by men, women, and children. It is the reason why I caught myself pulling the sleeves of my jacket down to cover my fingertips last night as I sat at a restaurant by the highway-I subconsciously tried to hide the fact that a Mazungu was sitting in my seat-I realized almost as soon as I’d done it that my face, neck, and legs would remain white no matter how covered my arms were. My skin color is the reason it hurts (sometimes very badly) when I stand in the sun for too long. My skin color is the reason I didn’t get any “diversity” scholarships in college. It is the reason I shave my legs, even when the locals don’t (if I don’t, my hair is easy to see and kids will actually pet my legs. Ew.) My skin color is probably the reason why I get called “soft” (as in fragile) any time I get a cut or bruise. It is the reason I stand out (sometimes ½ a mile away) when I go anywhere here. Yet, my skin color is also the reason I can “easily blend in” to a crowd back home. It is the reason I look awful in the color orange and lovely in the color purple. My skin is the reason kids like to feel me, even if they have never seen me before. 

In some ways (but not all,) my skin is the reason why local men stare & shout, stores over-charge me, and people always want me to help them financially. 

People really don’t think about these things, and if they think about them, they really can’t understand them until they find themselves in a position where their skin color is in the minority. Otherwise, we just keep living our days never realizing that the people around us look just like us. We see that somebody has a different shaped nose, or different colored eyes and hair. We see a variety of heights and sexes. Those things are given to us just as randomly as the colors of skin…yet, we put a lot more weight on skin color than we do the other “luck of the draw” items in our appearances. If you don’t believe me, read a history book. (*Of course, it should be noted that this idea holds the most weight for areas of the world similar to the one from which I hail...where people who look like me are the majority. I recognize that there are parts of the US and parts of the world that are extremely diverse, but in places that are so diverse you see a different color skin in every direction, you may as well be in a place of entirely one color, because the effect is just not the same. You blend by not blending. Stark contrast is what I'm referencing today.)

I am not ashamed of my skin…but I am also not proud either. Why should I be? I was never given the opportunity to choose which skin color I wanted to wear for life. I don’t recall ever doing anything to “earn” my skin…nor do I really believe my skin color is something worth earning. Yet here I am. Kristen the Mazungu. 

As a so-called, Mazungu, I feel I have certain responsibilities for survival. To name a few of these self-awarded responsibilities: I must always keep smiling (nobody wants the only white lady in town to be grumpy or upset,) I must negotiate/bargain for prices that are somewhere between “not overcharged” and “fair, considering whom I am.” I must always apply sun-block twice a day (when I can remember to reapply,) I must avoid orange clothes, I must keep politely waving to the “nice” gentlemen suitors so that I don’t give all mazungus a bad reputation (however, my internal alternative is to give them a good telling off…a wave is probably more appropriate.) 

Most vitally to my survival, I should probably just get a really nice tan. :) 

Just kidding, the most important thing I must do is absolutely the thing I said about the color orange.

Hey, I warned you this blog would be as superficial as my pasty white-yet slightly burned-Mazungu skin!  

With love and a splash of goofiness today,

Kristen

African time vs. Mazungu time:

I don’t know if I’ve ever written about the difference in expectations for showing up “on time” in Uganda…but man is it a frequent thought in my mind.

When a meeting is set to begin at 9:00 am….this Mazungu is faced with a dilemma.

Do I arrive at 9:00 with the hope that others will be on time? I am fully aware that the meeting has a 99.9% likelihood of beginning around 10:05…but what if…what if everyone happens to be on time today? Then I would be late…me, the Mazungu, late? Strangely, that is unacceptable! It is okay, even expected, for everyone else to be on “African time”…but if I am, people notice and would definitely question why I was late! So then, if I come at 9:00 (or, let’s be honest with ourselves, since it is me we are talking about, I’ll be at the meeting at 8:55) then I will be sitting in an empty room by myself for about an hour and ten minutes (give or take 30 minutes).

My solution:

Bring work with me. The American born-and-bred-woman in me hates wasting time.  So, I carry with me work that can be completed while I inevitably wait.

My newest solution is to also leave my house at exactly the time the meeting should begin…that way I don’t look too eager. Haha

Being a Mazungu takes a lot of thought sometimes!

One more thing, just because I think it is super funny and at the same time really cute, I will also share another tid-bit about my week. As I was leaving the school the other day, a couple of the students ran up to me and thrust hand-made envelopes into my hands and ran away. This is actually a very common occurrence, because the kids like to write letters to their Mazungu sponsors. Sometimes I think they believe all Mazungus have some sort of instantaneous network that connects us to one another with which I can use for delivering such envelopes (well, as I write that I am given the idea to scan and email the letters so the sponsors can see the kid's work...I guess we Mazungus do have such a network!) One of the envelopes was not for a sponsor...it was addressed to Christine (which, by the way is the name Ugandans write/pronounce when trying to write/say Kristen). When I opened it, I found a group of adorable crayon/pencil drawings, two photographs of her family (which I feel guilty for having, since pictures are hard to come by here,) and a note that explains how much she loves me and how wonderful she thinks I am. The best part: One of the drawings was titled: This is you, Christine and below, featured me, in a HUGE wedding gown with a veil and big bouquet!

.....Ummm....thank you? What does one say when a child is drawing pictures of my yet-to-occur wedding day? I will be scanning the picture for Facebook soon, it is too cute not to share. Oh, kids do the darnedest things. 

With love,

Kristen

Oh what a day! What a happy day!

I’ve been reading from a daily devotions book that a dear friend of mine gave me before I left for Uganda. Today’s message encourages me to become more trusting of God by showing appreciation for good things in my life. 

This got me thinking about how I so often write about the cultural differences, the frustrations, and the despair that I experience while in Uganda. I want to make more of an effort to shine light on all of the great things I see here too! I won’t rob you of the other stuff, because I think those lessons are just as important…but I want to consciously make an effort to show my gratitude for the experiences I have in this great country. 

To begin, let me tell you about my wonderful, happy day! It started with the power being on. Then I ate a lovely breakfast of granola, with honey drizzled on top, and a splash of “long life” milk. Yum. Then I went to the school and waited for a 10:00 meeting to begin…I waited until 10:45, which normally would have made me frustrated and annoyed, but I spent the time getting to know some of the teachers and writing a blog entry about the differences between Mazungu and African time (I’ll post later). The meeting with the Agriculture and Sanitation Committee was a success, and I walked away feeling like we made a lot of progress. Then I was able to spend more time with teachers, get some of my paperwork done, and eat a delicious lunch of Matoke, sweet potatoes, and beans. 

In the afternoon, I experienced the moment I had been waiting for since I first heard I’d be coming back to Uganda. I met with Nurse Susan, Nurse Miriam, Teacher Grace, Teacher Charles, and 18 of Mustard Seed Academy’s bright shining students to kick off our Child to Child peer health education program. OH it was so fun. I am writing this entry over an hour after the meeting concluded, and my cheeks still hurt from smiling so much! 

I started the meeting by having the kids move their desks into a circle—explaining that while we are in this meeting, we are all equals, we can all equally share and learn from one another—then I congratulated them on being hand-picked by the Headmaster to participate in this program. I had each child stand up one by one to tell us their name and one talent they are proud of—some love to read, others love to dance or sing, one kid likes to run, a few are drummers…overall a very talented group! I made two rules, the first being that we always sit in this circle when we meet; the second being that we always clap and cheer after one of our peers has shared with the group. These rules led to roaring laughter, cheering, clapping, and an overall sense of unification.  After learning talents, I explained what we will be doing in the next several months. When I asked them if they were excited about the group, only a couple said anything in response…from my experience in Uganda, I knew this could be because of shyness, so I said to them, “Well, Joe and Elaine invited me to Uganda so that I could start this program…if you aren’t excited, maybe I’ll go home tomorrow??” (But, of course I said it with a smile and friendly tone)…They all erupted (some literally standing up) saying, “No, no, no! We are excited! Really, we are!!”  Now I’m thinking, excellent…great start!

To conclude the meeting, I decided they should practice getting over their nerves…Off the cuff, I came up with the idea of going around the circle one more time, but now they had to show everyone their favorite dance moves. I started the circle with a silly circa-1968 hippy dance move, and it was met with roars of laughter and a very loud round of applause (even though I hadn’t reminded them about rule number 2…quick learners!) As each of the children showed us their amazing moves—most were traditional Ugandan style by the way—I was filled with pride and joy to see them coming out of their shells. It was apparent, even to me as a newcomer, to see that some of these children are very shy and uncomfortable putting themselves outside of their “safe zone.” Seeing the other children cheering them on, encouraging one another, and laughing at each other’s silliness had to be the absolute highlight of my trip so far. There is something so rewarding for me to see children light up at the prospect of teaching each other about health education. When the meeting concluded, some of the children came to me looking worried and said, “But, we will meet again, right?” I reassured all of them that we will in fact be meeting twice a week for the duration of my trip. Relief swept over their faces—while an immense gratitude for the life I get to lead filled my heart.  

To quote the inside wrapper of the dark chocolate Dove candy I ate last night, “You are exactly where you are supposed to be.” Well, Dove, I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for giving me a new bookmark for my book of devotions!  

With love,

Kristen

100 Shillings for my thoughts.

Here are some of my (probably completely off-base) thoughts regarding Ugandan culture. I recognize that as I have lived among the Ugandan people for cumulatively only 4 of the 256 months of my young life, these observations come from my perspective as it stands today…it may be completely different tomorrow. Tomorrow brings more wisdom, right?

Nevertheless, here are a couple of my thoughts:

Regarding local police: It is not uncommon to be pulled over at a “police checkpoint” while driving down the highway. In fact, as a Mazungu, it is probably more common, because the police have a habit of pulling people over with their hand’s held out, and Mazungus have a habit of traveling with money. When George and I were driving back to Lukaya from Kampala the other day, we were stopped at this “routine” checkpoint. I was expecting him to ask us questions about whether or not we had the right paperwork or accuse George of breaking some traffic law, because in my experience this is a way for them to ask for money in exchange for not giving you a ticket you don’t deserve. He did neither. He simply asked, “you traveling with water today?” I was completely thrown off. I thought I had misheard him. Water? He is going to fine us for having water? Then as I turned to ask these questions to George, I saw that he was searching in the back seat for water bottles. I realized the officer didn’t want to fine us; he really did just want water. We unfortunately did not have any, so he said, “That’s okay. You pay me, let’s say, 2000 shillings?”  Well, even though 2000 shillings is less than $1.00 USD, I was still rubbed the wrong way. Nevertheless, I opened up my wallet to find I only had large bills…and very small coins. I gave him as many coins as I could, but it only added up to 1500 shillings. He seemed content enough with this and let us go. Ironically, moments before being pulled over, George and I were in the middle of a discussion about the differences between laws in America and laws in Uganda. I took that opportunity to point out yet another difference, “George, that would definitely NOT be legal in America.” He was pretty surprised to hear that.   

My best explanation of why these police checkpoints bother me Is probably that the police in America are symbols of structure and public safety. Above all, American police represent a system that works to serve and protect the citizens of America (although I recognize the system has its flaws, it is still much more structured than Uganda’s). I can’t imagine it would work in my favor if I was to be pulled over for speeding down the I-5 and offer the policeman a few bucks to buy himself a bottle of water…

Regarding Ugandan men wanting to marry me: I don’t think that Ugandan men really understand what they are asking when they propose to me. Nor do I think they have the right image whenever they look at me or shout at me while I walk around town. I know they aren’t completely serious, but after hearing it so much, I can’t help but think about it. Marrying me (and this is probably true of many Mazungu women) means giving up most of the things that define Ugandan masculinity. Yes, it is true that I know how to cook, clean, and take care of children…but not because I am a woman. I believe in a partnership, one that involves equality and teamwork. When I cook, I appreciate and in some ways expect help in the kitchen. When I clean, it is not to fix another person’s mess, it is to promote good hygiene and sanitation, and I cannot be expected to do all of the cleaning if my partner is just sitting there.  When I care for children, it is because I love them and want to see them be healthy, not because I am trying to ensure my partner’s bloodline is well taken care of, as some duty I have as a woman. My father would probably crap kittens if a man showed up at his house with 5 cows, 10 goats, and 50 chickens in exchange for his middle daughter. Above all these reasons, I am also a romantic. Dan can tell you this—In fact, he was the one to point this out to me three years ago, before we were even dating. I still remember he said it very matter-of-factually, “You are a romantic,” like he was describing the color of my hair or something. After some thought, I decided he was right. Three years later, it is still a matter of fact that I could never marry for social standing, situational reasons, or money. When I marry, it will be because I am completely in love with my best friend and I want to spend the rest of my days sharing my life with him. 

The more I learn about Ugandan views on marriage, the funnier I think it is when I hear a man ask me to marry him. For these reasons, and so many more, I am certain that I would make any Ugandan man totally and irrevocably miserable if we were to marry.         

**It should be noted that I am in no way demeaning Ugandan men and women by stating my views on their reasons to marry. I know many Ugandan women who are completely happy with their situations in life. In fact, it is from their viewpoints that I am able to recognize how completely terrible I would be as a Ugandan wife! 

That's all for today. Overall, I am doing well. Eager to start the week and proceed with many great projects! 

With love,

Kristen

Checking in.

I will keep this brief, but I wanted to let everyone know I am doing well. I still haven't gotten my internet up and running...hopefully I will get my stuff together soon.

This week was full of meetings and planning. I am confident that my time will be well spent in the coming months. I get to assist with the development and implementation of several projects and I know that I will not only learn a lot, but also have fun while I'm here.

At the end of the day, when I'm squatting on the floor of my 4x4 ft. bathroom...splashing myself clean with a puddle of water in my plastic tub...with the light of my LED lantern illuminating the increasingly dirty puddle I am about to wash my hair with...I just think to myself, I didn't come here just to shower in a dimly lit room with two inches of water...I came here to learn, grow, and share with a group of amazing Ugandans.

I have decided that I probably only spend 1% of my time doing things I dislike. The rest of my time is filled with things I thoroughly enjoy. Being around the kids helps too; those guys make my time living without electricity or running water SO WORTH IT!

I know this was a random blog, but my main purpose was to touch base, and in that respect, I think it was successful!  

Hope all is well with everyone back home! I'd love to hear from you!

With love,
Kristen 

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Things are still going well here. So far I haven’t had much “work” time…that is to say, aside from a few meetings, I haven’t done what would qualify as “work” in America. I’m not complaining. The time I have spent over the last two weeks has given me an opportunity to build relationships with people around me. I continue to enjoy each of the people I have met up to this point! 

This blog portion will be about Queen Elizabeth National Park. My trip was amazing, and it deserves its own segment! I recognize that there aren’t many people who would willingly place themselves in my shoes out in the village…but I must say one of the perks to this “line of work” is the proximity to so many incredible native animal species. Since many of my loved ones may never get to visit a safari like QENP, I hope to bring the park to my readers!

The first day was amazing. I went with Joe, Elaine, and one of their volunteers from the US, Mary Fran. Joe and Elaine have been to dozens of safaris throughout their lives, and they were a great resource of information not only about types of birds and animals, but also with interesting descriptions of animal behaviors.

The drive out was actually not bad. We got to stop for photos at a tea farm/plantation along the highway. I can’t pass up showing you how beautiful it was:

We also stopped at one of the many crater lakes in that region, caused by volcanic eruptions:

We stopped to look at a cave, that part wasn’t interesting, but I got this great photo out of it on the path towards the cave:

African Rift Valley/view of QENP from the highway above:

Black and White Colobus monkeys greeted us on the road towards our lodge:

Vervet monkeys greeted us when we arrived at the lodge:

Our cabin:

Our view from our sitting room:

The lodge pool:

Dining area with a view of the Crater Lake:

Early morning safari…ten minutes from the lodge and we already saw this guy having breakfast:

 Here are a series of animals from the day.
Baboon:

 Waterbuck:

 Elephant and various Water Buffalo at the "water hole":

 I think these were called Skimmer birds:

 In the distance, there is a single-file line of Ugandan Kobs:

 Red-tailed monkey:

 Hippo out of water! SO rare to see during the day:

 Elephant...obviously:

 Ugandan Cobb up close:

 Elephant, little birds that I don't remember the name, and tons of Hippos, I think there was a Crocodile nearby too...:

 The extremely rare to sight Leopard:

 Water Buffalo:

Vultures:

 Butterfly:

 African Fish Eagle:

Can you spot the Lioness head in the tall grass? (Look towards the thicket on your left...)

Everything but the hippo out of water was taken on the first day. The second day, we only saw two cool things....that hippo, and a live performance of National Geographic:

First, we came across this fresh Leopard kill of the Ugandan Kob:

Then we came back an hour later and found these Vultures going wild eating the Kob:

Then we left, and came back an hour later again, and when the Vultures scattered, we found this:

COOL huh? Sorry for the graphic images! haha....Circle of Life, man.

The next day we visited the bat cave near our lodge. CREEPY. It was hard to get a good photo with the lighting, but basically the entire cave was lined with these things. They were flying everywhere too because apparently a Fish Eagle had just visited for lunch and freaked them out. I hope the video works:

These pics were taken on the walk there and back. I like to prove to people that Africa isn't all desert:

This is a picture of one of the Salt Mines located within the park: 

 On our last night we ate dinner at the "Captain's Table" out on the water. Perfect conclusion:

And that, ladies and gentlemen is the extremely condensed version of Queen Elizabeth National Park. I also have sweet pictures of three different Elephant families, but my camera died so the pics need to be borrowed from one of my travel-buddies. Stay tuned for those!

After this safari, I'm not sure the zoo will ever be the same again...

With love,
Kristen