So this blog post is just going to be a little diddy about Ugandan culture as I have experienced it so far. I am going to write it as things I hope “stick” from Ugandan culture in my life and those things I would be willing to do without.
Things I hope stick:
- The value on family is really significant here, at least as I have experienced it. Your best friends are your family. If they aren’t biologically related to you they are named as though they were. Aunties, uncles and cousins are those who fulfill the role your biological aunties, uncles and cousins fill of sources of wisdom and best friends. Similarly, the kids of my sisters and brother would be considered my own kids. I love the idea that Ada and Mack aren’t just Liesel’s kids, but my kids. I am called Auntie Em, but they aren’t really called my niece and nephew, but rather my own kids. Here people speak of our children in that we all share in the burden of bringing up the next generation. I hope that as my friends start having kids I can be Auntie Em to them, I hope that I can see their development and wellbeing as my own responsibility, not just the responsibility of their biological parents. I have loved the parallels this kind of thinking as to what we as the Body of Christ are supposed to be. I am to see the next generation as my own kids, I am to share the burden of raising them up. The older generation is full of aunties and uncles, mothers and fathers that have done the same for me. I look forward to the ways that my time here in Uganda has reshaped my imagination enabling me to better fulfill my different roles in the Church.
- I LOVE the value placed on hospitality and visiting. Part of our work with the Luke Society is home visiting. I love being received into people’s home in order to just talk with people. When I asked especially what we talk to AIDS patients about when we visit them the response was pretty much anything. It is more the act of visiting and making people feel good psychologically by hosting people than really talking about things of great importance. Beyond just my work at the Luke Society I have experienced hospitality in the context of my greater community. Sunday is reserved for visiting and hosting. Anytime I see my extended family here (host family that is) is a Sunday. No one works and Kampala city pretty much shuts down as very few are out and about. If someone drops by at meal times they are served. In the states you have to plan a visit at least a few days in advance, but here you can just show up, I love this! Watch out friends I may be stopping by expecting food more often! No but really this is just something I want to encourage my friends to do with my house or wherever I am staying, I want to be the kind of person you can just drop by to visit without warning.
- Greeting is also really important here. You can’t just walk into a room without greeting everyone, even strangers. This felt extremely weird for me at first, but I have come to love it. I love that we ask how people are doing even if we don’t know them. Often the answers are just the standard “fine,” but just to know that someone cares about you and is genuinely asking how you are doing is significant for me, especially on those not so good days. I appreciate that when I don’t see my auntie for a day she remembers and asks why I didn’t greet her yesterday. There is a focus on just being with people more than we have in the States. When I go to greet someone I can’t just greet and run, I have to sit with them a bit maybe ask them about their weekends, how people at home or how their day was. I hope that this value can be incorporated into how I do life.
- Cleanliness is super important here. So you may think OK she is in Uganda, she gets to wear t-shirts and jeans every day. NOT TRUE. I look way better everyday here than I have at any other time in my life. I take way more showers and I am much more concerned about washing my clothes after just wearing them once. Rooms must be swept at least twice a week, we clean the Luke Society daily and people notice your physical appearance a lot. One day I didn’t shower because I woke up late and rolling into work with a kind of greasy face my friend asked if I had changed my Vaseline (what they use for lotion here) because I was looking a bit oily. I think all these things are really funny considering I am a girl who likes playing in mud puddles and getting kind of dirty, but it is something that I have come to appreciate. We’ll see if these qualities follow me back to the United States. Especially as I think about a profession as a doctor I am realizing how important it is to be “smart” to be respected. You also respect yourself more in some ways and take on a more “serious” attitude when you are dressed up.
- Kids are important. I think this was covered somewhat in the family section, but people just love kids here. It doesn’t matter if the kid is yours or not, you care for the kid getting into trouble and make sure they are being taken care of at all times. You can pick up the kid of a stranger and its OK because overall people just assume that you are taking care of the kid. I got to witness this in a special way in Kenya where my niece was playing at a playground at this restaurant and one of the waitresses was helping her with the slide and just playing with her without thinking twice about helping “mother” her. While I don’t think I ought to start picking up random kids in the states, I do just want to be free to help out my friends and family with their kids without feeling like I’m overstepping my bounds in some way.
- The people. I wish I could bring all of my friends and family back with me, I guess I’ll just have to come back J
- Wow, one of the most important and I almost forgot it… the cooking! I am loving learning how to cook like a true Ugandan. We don’t have all the supplies in the states, but I’m learning how to make some substitutions so cooking delicious Ugandan food is possible. Seriously, I don’t think I have ever tasted beans that are so delicious! The other great thing is many of the most common dishes are fairly simple and cheap ingredients, perfect for my future as a med school student (hopefully… I find out by October 1 so be praying!).
Things I would be OK to leave in Uganda
- Animal cruelty… I saw this guy pulling on this poor dog’s tail while he tried to get away whining the whole time and the guy was just laughing. When he let go he said sorry dog, but didn’t really seem to feel any remorse
- Slow walking. I can’t quite believe how slow people walk. I had a really hard time adjusting at first as evidenced by the fact that a co-worker asked if I was injured cause I was walking so funny, I just had to explain that I’m used to walking really fast and I’m still adjusting.
- BAD traffic habits. Really, people hardly seem to care about their well-being when driving and take the most ridiculous risks to get like a 2 car advantage. The traffic jams get so bad in the city that travel times can jump from a too long 1 hour to a ridiculous 2 hour. The only way to overcome the “jam” is by taking these scooter bikes that dart through cars and traffic to get you there in a timely fashion.
- All the greasy and salty foods. It is really amazing how many foods use so much cooking oil. It makes them delicious, but I think I can do some of this cooking without the oil or at least with less oil. At tea, which it would be so strange to have without some kind of food, the only real options are all fried foods so each day at 10 I take either fried pancakes, donuts or samosas which are kind of like egg rolls in a triangle shape with meat, eggs or peas in the middle. I’ll be happy to get back to salads I don’t have to fear eating for the ever present threat of traveler’s diarrhea!
OK I think that’ll do for now. Maybe I’ll add to this later, but I hope you enjoyed this little window into Ugandan culture as I’ve experienced it. For all you at Wheaton you can look forward to some awesome times at my apartment/house/shack that I’ll be staying at next semester full of greetings, good food, new family names and more lessons about Ugandan culture. If I wanted to be a true Ugandan woman maybe I’ll even kneel as I serve you!
