Week 1: PreConceptions, Expectations, and the Reality

Location: MISR, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Before I, as with everyone, enter new, unchartered, and unexplored territory, there are preconceptions, thoughts, expectations of how the country will look, smell, taste, act, and accept our foreign capacities. My anticipations of Uganda, as well as Africa in general, were extremely stereotypical, fueled by the many warnings of a 3rd world country. Here is a painting of what my Ugandan world looked like: areas with insignificant electricity, extreme rural areas, unrefined infrastructure, and low levels of technology among many other assumptions. I also imagined children starving, alone on the streets, orphaned from the passing of parents by war or HIV/AIDS. It would be extremely dangerous to go out by yourself, let alone even at all after midnight. People would always look for an opportunity to get the best of you, take advantage of you, and/or mug you. We would be intelligent compared to them, more mature and understanding with our academic and socioeconomic background. Although I never said it out loud, I wrongly thought of them as inferior.

The first day was absolutely listless. One of our beloved family of 9 unfortunately couldn’t catch the flight on time, causing a late entrance into the new world. Due to the lack of sleep, the first whole day resulted in a substantial nap till past midnight. Since there was only water in the apartment, the two of us decided to wander into Wandegeya to scavenge for food, despite the warnings of unsafe adventuring at night. We stumbled upon a vendor, and ordered some chicken, chapatti, and cabbage, along with a Nile Special, sat down, and turned a red flag "don’t do it" activity into a special first impression and experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m not dictating that wandering past midnight is not dangerous at all, but from personal experiences such as these, I believe Kampala just to be any other city with people, like us, that enjoy activities into the wee hours of the night. This provided a personal realization that Uganda is a country that contains people and is equal. There is no need to avoid them, because they’re different. There is no need to avoid them, because they are staring at you. And there is no need to avoid them, because of the cultural barrier. There are interested in who you are and what you are doing there. With a Nile Special and some food, an awkward situation can become real. People can be met and relationships can be made.

The third day was the start of a very tourist journey to Murchison Falls, a safari with animals in the wild. There was an unexpected pit stop at Kakooge village, due to a flat tire on our beloved Makerere University bus. The three hour stop was eye-opening. Kakooge is a very rural Ugandan village where the children are skinny and their clothes don’t seem to fit, the houses look rundown from weather and tearing, and everything is very, very hot. I came to a couple realizations at this stop: first of all, the children looked malnourished. However, they were happy and joyful. The depiction I had of African children was that they were always suffering and begging for money, but these children just wanted to play. They dragged a couple of my sister "muzungus" into their games and enjoyed every bit of the time there. They laughed at our awkwardness, were excited over our cameras, and enjoyed giving us presents (birds and fruit are presents too). They were not at all what I expected. The second realization came from our own lack of tolerance. We complained about the heat, the long wait for the bus tire to come in, and the swarm of children that kept coming back. I didn’t realize how spoiled we were and how everything was taken care for us: we take advantage of all these activities that are set up for us and the attention we get just because we are muzungus, not because we are educated or more mature. Centurio takes care of all the activities we do, Dan takes time out of his family to drive us around literally everywhere, and Joel is leaving his education and wife and 6 month old child for a few days to show us around, on top of Professor Stewart setting this whole trip up. And to top it off, we complain. I took this time to realize the difference in the attitude towards our actions, and I feel like we are more immature than even the children there. They just seem to enjoy who and where they are and take in every moment to the fullest.

A couple of days ago, a few of us decided to go out at night and learn more about Wandegeya. We happened to stop by a club and decided to go in. Initially very intimidated (I dance like crap), I sat around and decided in the back of my mind to leave after lounging around for a while. Some students convinced us to dance with them eventually, and this incident became engaging and hilarious. The people here point, laugh and call us muzungus, but everything is meant to be friendly. I haven’t been bothered by anybody consistently, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the much more accepting culture here. Put a smile on your face and they may very well become your friend, brother, or sister in the future. They are not at all trying to take advantage of you, rather just excited to meet such different people.

The first week has been unbelievably eye-opening, informative, and exciting yet overwhelming. I have truly experienced the beauty of Uganda, taking in the sights, sounds, foods, and new places as a tourist. While these experiences are ones to cherish, I am ready to become a student of Ugandan culture and research. We have gone on a safari, amazing boat ride, toured Mulago Hospital and Kampala, and watched a Ndere Troupe perform local African music, dance, and drama. I hope to take these experiences and use them to make a difference with the research and project I will be doing here.