The day after the Christmas party I spent the morning with the babies and in the afternoon Grace, Hannah and I went to the "beach" in Entebbe, meaning we went to the shore of Lake Victoria.
us with Rodney at the beach- these were random children who approached us we don't actually know them
View was beautiful, water warm but visibly polluted. We walked around knee deep but didn't actually swim. A lot of local men there called out to us and approached us for our number and not so subtly took pictures of us as we stood in a circle talking to each other. As if we were on display. We asked our friend Rodney what they expect to get out of this and he said a majority of the men here honestly believe if they can get a white girl to like him, she will take him back to the USA.
The dream of moving to the US to find a better job and save up money is very much alive here. Almost every single person I've talked to tells me they wish they lived in the US, their dream is to go to the US, but its a very difficult and expensive process in Uganda to apply for a passport/visa and buy a plane ticket. It's very humbling as an American citizen. That being said I've been asked some really strange things by local men; things like "So do you have an ipod?...Where is it can I have it? Will you buy me an ipod?" I've been asked by strangers (men) to buy them a laptop, and to help them get a passport (I've been asked this more than once and don't understand how its perceived that I have this ability), I've been asked, "So you're an American citizen? If I marry you do I get citizenship?" "Do you find black men attractive?/ Would you ever marry a black man?" (seriously) Its very tiring because in reality I only ever go out in the same clothes I wear to take care of the babies, and never have a purse on me or anything more than a few dollars at a time, and yet I can never escape this sort of attention no matter where I go because my skin color and gender automatically makes me a gigantic target. Its a very different experience living in a place where I CANNOT ever fit in where ever I go.
A typical street corner in Kampala
entrance to Mengo's public pool- painted with a beer logo and a sign that reminds us that "guns & knives are not allowed inside"
The next morning, the morning of the 19th, I witnessed the most incredible downpour of rain from within the guesthouse. I don't know what our roof is made of exactly but it sounded like someone was running a food processor in every room, the rain was that loud. That was the highlight of my day.
Pictures of the sky in the morning, a few hours before the rainstorm
Photographing the rain was more difficult than I thought...
But trust me- it was incredible
No comments:
Post a Comment