Uganda

-I learned the true meaning of generosity from Ugandans
-They are collectively the most codependent people I've ever met. They know what you need before you do!!
-If "You are welcome" or "karabo" in swahili is the most popular saying in Africa, the most popular saying in Uganda is "Sorry". I would say I have no brothers, they would say "oh, sorry". I would say someone cut in line at the grocery store (apparently I left too much room between myself and the person in front of me) and they would reply "oh, sorry". I found it similar to "How are you?" in that we have said it so much in society that it has lost all its meaning.
-If transportation is the biggest and most self-defeating obstacle to overcome in Europe, then the equivalent in Uganda is accessing your money!!!
-Matatoos, or vans, are stuffed with endless amounts of people everywhere in Africa, but unique to Uganda is the popularity of a motor bike called a "boda-boda". Their drivers have NO fear and have been on the road way too long. They began calling them boda-bodas because they transport people from border to border. Ha!
-In their version the tooth fairy isn't a fairy at all, but a rat!! The child leaves the tooth for the rat to take in the night and, get this, the more money he leaves for your tooth the longer it takes for the tooth to grow in:)
(I found that in South Africa the animal is a mouse and it builds its house out of the teeth of children!! And in their version the more money you get from the mouse the shinier the tooth will be. HA!)
-Music being part of their culture may have influenced the way in which they greet each other. At first I described it by saying they "sing" to each other, but actually with more exposure I refined the description to more of a "cooing" or a kind of musical moan. It's quite soothing to tell you the truth.
-An answer "yes" in response to a question was the most difficult to translate because all they do is briefly raise their eyebrows so you need to be watching them when you ask a question.
-When I went to the falls there was a man who offered to ride the rapids with nothing more than a jerrycan between himself and the lethal tides...for a small fee of course (Jerrycans are the bright yellow containers they use to transport water. They are about a foot and a half tall and a foot wide...not much against the force of the water.) After a brief lecture on his career choices he got the hint that I wasn't going to be any part of his jumping off that cliff. When I shared the story later in the village they said that that guy has "diamonds in his hair". I asked what that meant and they said that it is the spirits around him that protect him from death.
-The villagers nicknamed me the second day I was there: "motis". It means the expander; that which makes others grow:) I like it.
-I heard a great saying from the guide at the Kasubi Tombs: "Swahili was born in Kenya, raised in Tanzania, got sick in Congo and came to die in Uganda."
-It rains a lot here, its one of the many ways Uganda is blessed. There are times in which the rain continues even though the sun has come out fully and they have an expression for it. They call this when "the monkey is getting married" sometimes it is when "the monkey married a fox" (or some other arbitrary animal). So you can guess what my next question was...WHY??? They said because neither happens very often.

-As far as schools:
-The staff quarters are still not completed and aren't expected to be completed until late this year...perhaps next year so I commuted in each day at the first school.
-Students were called out of class to help push the car I was in out of the mud of the driveway in front of the school on my first day!
-Students as young as P1, or first grade, use razor blades to sharpen their pencils!!
-They share erasers, pens and pencils...sometimes between 3 students or more.
-There is only one textbook for each subject of each grade and the teacher uses it to direct instruction. The teacher transcribes all work, text and important excerpts on to the parts of the blackboard that are still black...where it is then copied by the students into their composition books. Practice exercises are also written on the chalkboard by the teacher to be copied by the students and completed independently at their desks.
-Realia is unheard of and these students can sit for 3 hours at a time soaking in information and not one complains or attempts to create disruption. And if you think your day is long, well you have nothing on these kids. They walk from home for miles and arrive at 7am for P-7 (because they are preparing for exit exams) and 8am for the rest of the student body. Classes end at 5pm and then they walk back home to do their homework for the next day.
-Several students are without composition books so during the lesson while everyone else is copying the activity and exercise into their books, they just sit there. (staff said that some student's parents just couldn't afford school fees or the books for the students to write in.)
-Enrollment is down because school fees were raised to cover costs...they aren't sure where the students who no longer attend went
-It is assumed that the students eat breakfast before walking to school in the morning and supper upon returning home. Even with this belief, (which isn't true), they are only given porridge at 1pm for lunch. That isn't enough fuel to think for the 9 hour school day, nor for the whole day which is the reality of the situation.

They kneel when they are asking the teacher for something
They wait at the door way of the classroom for you to grant them permission to enter
They thank you at the end of the day for teaching them
They came into the classroom where I was observing and took me back to their classroom because they wanted me to teach them another lesson:)