Today, I Ironed Boxers

Yes, that is apparently included in the life of mission work.

If there is anyone thinking its glamour (really?) and excitement all the time...feeling needed and doing great works for people...changing lives, saving lives, well, I'm here to tell you that some days you just need to iron boxers.

one of my new best friends. However it weighs about 4 ounces and you have to follow it around to iron as it moves with every stroke.

I guess it took me a few days to fiugre out that we really don't have to wear stiff clothes. After scrubbing them with some pretty harsh detergent and waiting for the sun to come out and shine right in the spot I have room to hang things, I pull them off the line hours later and laugh at the fact that boxers, among other things, can stand in a corner all by themselves. really. (try this if you're bored. Or there must be some reason to do this as a science experiment.)

a view of our clothesline!

This is really no way to treat your husband. After all, he did come in and rescue me last night when there was a roach in our bed. Uh huh, I said a roach in the bed.

Even though he was busy at the time doing something else entirely, he was not going to argue with this crazy person standing there in my nightshirt, slippers in one hand, shoes back on my feet with a flashlight waving wildly, calmly explaining to him, "well, look, it didn't just disappear. It's somewhere in here and we HAVE to find it." He knew there would be no sleeping until he showed me a dead roach...and I mean the exact one I saw alive two minutes earlier. I CAN identify their bodies and he knows this.

So today, I had the brilliant idea that if ironing softens my jeans to the point I can get them on and still bend my legs (with a little work), surely it will work on his boxers. He's tired of wearing cardboard boxes with leg holes.

I'll let you know how that all works out.

our view of the street when we're hanging clothes

Some Things About Uganda

Negotiating is big here. Pretty much nothing has a fixed price. The one constant, of course, is that the mzungu price is always higher and always the one they give us to begin with.


I don't do well with flexible prices. In fact, I'm a little bothered by them. Even in many of the "large" stores of Kampala and Mbale there are few price tags to be found.


Some mzungu's (Mike) enjoy the game of negotiating here; they'll ask the price; they'll cluck and roll their eyes; they'll say, "that's the mzungu price, what's the real price?" The vendor will often come down a hundred shillings or two (except in the case of vehicle purchases!); then the mzungu will bluff a bit...and eventually buy it or walk away to look at the same thing four feet away to begin the whole process again.


Ususally the price difference isn't that big of a deal. In shillings it sounds like a huge amount, but it often ends up being .10 or .20 cents. Big to them....not so much to you or I. They don't do this maliciously necessarily. It's what the market will bear and we just look like we can afford it.

Still, I have enough trouble converting 3,000 shillings into dollars..."Is this TOO much for a pineapple? How much is that really?" When I do this, the vendors assume I'm trying to get a better price, not figure out how much that is in US dollars. Often my stupidity...and thinking out loud, works out well for me. I will walk away with the pineapple for 1,500 shillings, or about .75 cents or so. I'm still not sure if that's the real price or the mzungu price though.


After just a few weeks here in Uganda, I've learned some things about the people and their culture...some astound and amaze me...some I laugh at...some I am still scratching my head in wonderment about.

• there's still a "bride price" that is negotiated between the bride's parents and the groom to be. This is almost always in animals...and people are always wondering what my price was.



• If a Mzungu shows up for church, the pastor will, without notice, call you to the podium to deliver the message. I'm not kidding. And the congregation LOVE to hear from us. I've been tempted to ask the pastor to please make me sound smarter as he's interpreting.



• "Housegirls" (I grew up in middle class America and the idea of having house help is just uncomfortable for me) They do everything here from washing clothes by hand, gardening, digging, weeding, chopping wood, caring for the children, cooking all the meals, including cutting the heads off the chickens. Most of this is done the good old fashioned way, without electricity...charcoal irons, charcoal stoves, etc. And they earn about $25 - $120 a month. Depends on the employer. Huge for them, by the way. I know I will be happy for the help and I will be happy to help someone by employing them. I just hope I remember my upbringing. (mike's clothes drying on the ground. Undies will be displayed for everyone to see; you might consider doing these on your own, inside!)
• It's a source of shame for the men to cook. speechless


• Ugandans expect elaborate greetings - it is considered very rude to walk into a shop or even to someone on the street and not begin with a greeting before you plunge into the reason for your visit. "How was your night?" "How is your family?" Like that.


• Ugandans are never in a hurry (save behind the wheel of any vehicle going anywhere at any time)


• They are huge soccer (it's called football here) fans.


• Call us fat...and that's a compliment


• You will rarely ever see women wear pants, except in Kampala


• Are very religious. The "born again" movement is quite widespread


• The Ugandan people work from sunrise to sunset. And still stay up after that cooking and visiting.


• They can carry anything on their heads...even young children carry things this way.


• Everyone has chores...from the very smallest child who can walk to the oldest person that can still walk


• Have little in material possessions, and are quite content this way.


• Still find Mzungu's an oddity


• Will give Mzungu's the best seat in the house, even if that means moving someone out. A bit uncomfortable.


• You don't drink the water...but you can wash your dishes and then eat from them, and wash your vegetables in the water and eat them. Curious.


• As annoying as they are (and they are) you NEVER sleep without your mosquito net. And still somehow at least one mosquito will find its way in


• Tailors can spend 2 minutes measuring you, and have a whole outfit ready the next day that fits perfectly, still using the old Singer pedal sewing machines. (these were a gift from Pastor James; photo shows us, Pastors son, Lawrence, Pastor and his wife Teddi)


• The people use pangas (large machete's) for all their tool needs.


• They make their own bricks by hand to build their own homes (except in the case of mud huts; widely used, and a science all its own)


• They really like their meat tough and chewy. And they don't care if you've already given the animal they're going to eat a name.


• They eat matooke every day. Watch here for a recipe coming soon!


• They use very proper English...almost makes me ashamed of my own command of the language. They don't understand any of our slang. And I continue to be a curiosity to them in the way that I speak. Most speak more than 2 languages, and many speak at least 4 or more.


• What little electricity they have is somewhat unreliable.


• The internet is UNBELIEVABLY slow. I mean really.


• The Chinese made stuff here is the worst.


• Mosquito's are a constant.


• "Beef" is rarely cow. I'm not sure what it is.


• Delicious Tilapia. And you can always get french fries.


• Milk comes in a bag. You have to be careful not to get unpasteurized. A real issue for my stomach.


• Eggs are never refrigerated?


• Forget finding a place that knows how to cut my hair. Trish, help!


• The roads are by far the worst thing I've ever seen.


• Locally grown produce is AMAZING! Avocadoes, pineapples, tomatoes, pumpkins (which is really squash), eggplant, cabbage, onions, potatoes and peanuts galore!


• The landscape is lush and beautiful. Mountains, valleys, plantations. The sky is exquisite.


• The people are very friendly...but they will wait for you to acknowledge them


• "Excuse me" is not part of the vocabulary or culture. You just need to always get out of the way.


• The weather is gorgeous


• We CAN get CNN sometimes. But usually the only thing on is Big Brother Africa. That's when you're happy the power is out!
  
• There are some very rich people that live here. I just don't know who they are or what they do. But their houses...WOW!


• There's a restaurant that serves GREAT pizza! Mamba Point


• The children here are either thrilled to see mzungus and run up to you and touch you, or they stare, cry and run away.


• Don't wave at someone with an up and down motion of your hand. That means "come here." Which is why little children were following us for days. You wave side to side.


• I haven't seen anyone smoke a cigarette here. Well, there was that one guy who rolled up some grass from the hill he was sitting on by the side of the road and lit it...


• You don't feel any grudges against white people in regards to slave history.


• The exchange rate right now is great! About 1900 shillings to $1 USD


• Don't keep your window open at night any further than the largest animal you want coming in. (no screens)


• You should always sleep with your slippers in your bed.


• You cannot tell time by the roosters crow. They do not understand dawn, or dusk, or noon...or anything in between.


• Cats and dogs roam the streets and are always hungry


• Transportation is crazy. boda boda's are dangerous and matatus (taxi's) will almost always try to rip you off. Boda Boda's will carry anything!
this cow was just going for a ride, and thankfully, he was still alive.

There are things you will miss here...Dark Chocolate M&M's, (I've had eight left in my bag all week...I'm holding out!), family and friends, fluffy pillows, soft toilet paper (ANY toilet paper), family and friends, hot water on demand, electricity, family and friends, pizza delivery, internet, family and friends, a good movie, any movie, reliable bank service, mail delivery, family and friends...roads, family and friends...tupperware.

We don't have to look around very much or very far, however, to be reminded of the blessed life we have. And none of these things that we mzungus "miss" are nearly as life threatening as what the people here have been missing their entire life. Well...the shallow me would say, "except for the M&M's and toilet paper." What IS it with me and toilet paper?