Week of March 26-April 1

A famous American journalist and author, David Lamb, said in his book The Africans that the only time an African is in a hurry is when he is behind a wheel. The Ugandan is no exception. Little wonder then that in spite of having the lowest vehicle per capita ratio in the world, our continent also lays claim to a fatal accident rate that is ten times higher than that of London and New York. Sensible car driving has simply refused to blend with our culture….

Once on the road, what matters most is confidence. Learn to sneer at other drives and in a traffic jam, ask the fellow disputing the lane with you if he just bought his license, unlike you who passed the driving test. When you approach a junction, never leave any empty space in front of you. Whether you can clear the junction or not, enter it anyway. A thick jam will build up on your side. Regard it and nod with satisfaction. Then look behind you in the rearview mirror and behold the nice, long snakelike jam growing longer by the second. Savour this all, take a deep breath and smile. Roll up your windows to close out the impatient hooting as the fellows you have blocked build up blood pressure like yours.

Like the British, we keep left while driving. But that is only while driving on a straight stretch. At junctions, left and right stop making sense – just take the shortest straight line to your objective. Jam on the breaks when you are almost head-on with the fellow from the opposite direction who insists on keeping left. What are brakes for, anyway?

- From How to be a Ugandan by Joachim Buwembo

I thought I would offer you Ugandan insight into the insanity that is called driving in Uganda!

This week was slow; we attended two days of child counseling classes with TASO counselors and then were taught the basics of counseling. On Friday, however, an American study abroad group visited TASO from Kenya, and one girl went to high school with a friend of mine from ENC, Amanda Fish. Another guy in the group attends Boston College, so he promised to show me around when I start attending in the spring. How funny!

On our walk to TASO, Aubrey and I pass a mosque. We’ve heard rumors about camel sacrifices there but had never actually seen the camels. Well, this week we lucked out and got to see two of them! After taking pictures from the road, someone inside the mosque grounds invited us in to take pictures, and the camel graciously slobbered Aubrey’s face.

Since Charles is back home in the States for a few weeks, Aubrey and I have become better at using boda bodas (bicycle taxis with an extra padded seat on the back) and picky-pickies (motorcycle taxis) to travel. We’ve definitely decided to stay away from the boda bodas in town, however, because they don’t have as much control in traffic (yikes!). Don’t worry, all you parents; we’re fine and we don’t travel after dark. We’re taking a mini spring break this week after TASO since we don’t have many practicum hours left and are traveling in two weeks to learn about counseling for LRA returnees in Lira.

Aubrey and I are currently house-sitting for the Howards, mostly so we can have a break from the nonstop flow of guests in the CURE guesthouse. Right now, two Welshman, Rob and Aowyn, are living there. Both of them are great and are working with a community development organization. Across the street for the next two months is Justin, a British medical student from the University of Edinborough. I’ve finally found someone to accompany me on Mt. Elgon!

Two American guys who’ve been living across the street since mid-January, Nick and Patrick, are leaving soon to head to Kenya, Tanzania, and Egypt (and who knows where else!). I wish I could just travel like that! They organized a boda boda race on Sunday, complete with cash prizes and a new bike for the winner. Patrick insisted on slaughtering a cow for a barbecue afterwards. Ha! The head was just sitting in a room next to their apartment yesterday. Gross. Apparently a Muslim has to cut the cow’s throat facing Mecca to make it acceptable for Muslims to consume.

Well, there’s last week for you! I’m sitting here trying to finish all of the papers for my practicum portfolio. I have two more papers, two revisions, and three reports. I will be ecstatic when I’m done; I had no idea it was going to be this much work!