As silly and as shallow as it is, being in Uganda for two and a half weeks has made me realize how much I appreciate America's spirit of consumerism. In other words; variety. In Uganda if you go to the grocery story and want to buy cereal, you buy corn flakes. That is your only option. And its true for just about any product you could want to buy- toilet paper, televisions, jam, mattresses. You get whatever one is available. While I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad thing, I do miss having my isle's worth of cereals to choose from when I go to the grocery store.
Someone left a local Sunday newspaper in the communal kitchen the other day and flipped through the pages. I recommend this if you're in a new place and can speak the local language- I found much of it's content very interesting. I'll show you what I mean:
First sentence: "Hardline Islamists have condemned four young Somali men to a double amputation for stealing mobile phones and guns. They will each have a hand and a leg cut off after being convicted..."
You don't see headlines like this in the U.S.
The blurb under the headline reads:
"Change of thought. In the past it has been said that women's concerns are 'cultural,' while men's concerns are 'political.' Accordingly, rape has been regarded as private and cultural, rather than criminal and political."
later on: "To disarm the weapon of rape, we must recognize- once and for all- that it is not a 'private; issue to be silenced. It is a political and security issue that demands a political and security response."
Some food for thought. If I had flipped through a paper earlier in my trip I definitely would have picked up on the dominant Christian influence over the country right away. The fact that the grocery store down the hill from Sanyu is called the "Christ Saves Grocery Store" is a bit of a tip-off as well.
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