Peter's 2nd Update - Classes, Weddings, Soccer, Paint, and Bad Food

Hey everyone, thanks for reading our blog and taking an interest in the world outside of Gordon College/America. This blog has the promised updates about weddings, soccer, paint, and food.

But first, I’ll say a word about academics here in Uganda. My time at UCU has not been so different from Gordon College because I have three of my five classes with American lecturers. My East African Politics and African Traditional Religions classes are with Ugandan professors. Their thick accent and unstructured lecture style makes paying attention a minute by minute struggle, not aided at all by the heat and humidity and the formal clothing we must wear to class. But this is Uganda! African university students dress sharp and take classes very seriously. For them, it is a great privilege to attain this level of education, since most Africans do not have the time or money for university study.

OK, so I promised to talk about some of the cultural differences that have intrigued me since coming. First, weddings. I had a long conversation with a UCU student about Ugandan weddings, which can have up to 800, 900, or even 1000 guests, if you know that many people. The groom must pay a dowry to the bride’s family, which is generally a certain number of cows. One of my new friends here may have to give his bride’s family up to 40 cows just to seem worthy of marrying her. Also, the groom and bride may never have been introduced to one another’s families before the week of the wedding. Some similarities though: white dresses, tuxedoes, church services, lots of food, and dancing.

I also mentioned soccer. So, I am the only American student who wants to play soccer while here. In my first match, I was the only white person among the 22 players on the field, which I think made my game-winning goal seem pretty amazing. It was not, however. And the following day, I played another group of Ugandans, who were much better than the team I played the day before. They almost never make mistakes. However, they also don’t pass as much as I was expecting, and they don’t speak any English while on the field. Only Luganda. So it’s easy to get lost out there. 

I also said I’d talk about paint, cell phones, motorcycles, and bland food. Ugandans seem to have three or four main commercial practices. Paint companies, cell phone companies, and motorcycle transportation (called boda-bodas). (The 4th is banks. There are banks everywhere, it seems.)Anyway, the paint and cell phone companies paint their advertisements on random stores and houses along every major road. It’s really attractive, actually – much more so than American billboards and signposts. The motorcycle-taxis/boda-bodas are the leading cause of deaths in urban areas because the drivers are completely reckless. I’m not allowed to ride them, needless to say. 

And finally, the food. I have never much liked beans, rice, or squash-textured foods. However, those are the staple foods here, so I’ve had to adjust quite a bit. Ugandans have grown up eating huge bowls of baked beans along with even bigger platefuls of rice, matooke (like squash), and posho (a tasteless white substance). Because I have not, every meal is a struggle. Fortunately, I can find occasional rest for the palate at the roadside markets selling samosas, donuts, bananas, and fried cakes, which cost about 10 cents each.

Thanks for reading! More pictures are coming soon. Send me an email sometime letting me know about what you’re up to in America…or France, Italy, South America, China, Israel…