learning

We are in the midst of settling on a place for us workers to live while we reconstruct the boat. No, we haven’t actually started on that yet. we looked at several possible places which kept popping up over the last few weeks. Every time I hear that we will move tomorrow, I automatically translate that to a week from now. We were supposed to move this previous Monday, but now its Friday. So today we sat down and just about got everything planned out for the next week. Saturday and Sunday devoted to the bulldozing the site. but if it actually worked that way, this wouldn’t be Africa. Sure enough, the bulldozer wont be ready to work till Sunday. So Sunday it is. Meanwhile, there is a trip to soroti scheduled tomorrow and I want to be on it. I have been trying to go for a while. That, and im about to yell from the frustration of delayed timelines. Aargh.

Im getting a crash course in everything about business that I never knew. Public relations, how to play business politics, the favor system, and the who-you-know system. I had hoped the game of connections died in good old England. Granted, I didn’t hope very hard, but I do have a streak of romanticism in me. I prefer to believe in rewards based on merit alone, but such is not the world of business. I still don’t know much about all of it, obviously. Bob has been giving me the crash course. We argue constantly about why life works this way. I have found one area of construction I don’t want to learn anything more about; bulldozers etc. such monstrous machines interest me not at all. Hence another reason to go to soroti while they level the site.

Another thing I am learning here and probably the most obvious to me is learning to be comfortable as the center of attention. No matter where I go I get attention. On the streets its cuz im white and a white girl. When driving in the truck with the guys its cuz im sitting in the back. Most mzungus consider it beneath them to sit in the back of a pickup truck. If im in a meeting with business people, I get attention cuz im the only female.

In Uganda I need to negotiate a very interesting clash of cultures on the subject of women. As an American, I am used to being treated as an equal to men. Well, mostly as an equal. Now enter the south African view of women as ladies. It seems that women in that sense are not the equal of men in things such as business, but they play a central role to a household. They control the food, medicine, and guys have to treat a lady respectfully. As in, guys shouldn’t swear around a lady, give her preferential treatment in seating, rooming, etc. it also affects the table manners. (thankfully I remembered that men should wait to eat till any woman at the table started.)so the south africans treat me like a lady. Slight culture shock for me. Ok, now add the Ugandan view of women which is subservient. Very few women attain management positions. They serve the men. Now put all of those cultures together and throw me into the mix. I get called a feminist a lot. I have a hard time negotiating these cultural waters. Kinda feel like a ship in a storm with a rudder, but with a spinning compass. Take today for example. We all went to the mostly likely place for us to live which is in a dorm setting with outside toilets and kitchen across the campus. Think Christian retreat center. The owner showing us around mentioned something about giving me one room and putting all 11 guys into another room the same size. ….long pause. We had all figured on just enclosing a corner for me. I don’t mind that at all. so I mentioned how I didn’t mind just having a corner instead of an entire room. As long as I have my visible privacy, I don’t mind too much. Actually, I think it kinda adds to the adventure of this whole project. We shall see what happens.

Last thing; aid. There are good reasons and ways to ask for aid, and there are bad ways and reasons. Kids beg in the street. Quite a few people make hand signals for me to give them money when I ride in the back of the truck. One Ugandan, who shall remain nameless, asked for a favor from me.
Depends on the favor.
I need $2000. Will you give me $2000?
Um, why do you need $2000?
Because I must get to London.
No, you want to go to London, you don’t need to go to London. If I had the money to go to London, I might go myself, not give you the money so you can go.
But I need to go to London. My girlfriend is there.
Yeah right. You don’t have a girlfriend and you don’t need to go.
Then there are good reasons to ask for money. Like omo, our servant, who asked Bryce and I for 5000ugs so he could take his lame son to the hospital to get surgery. Of course. We gave him $5 instead of $2.50 and asked him if we could meet his family. We had no idea he had a son.