December 2009
22 posts
Wiki this: Uganda is tops in alcohol consumption
Maureen: Ah ah, the boozing is so bad now, by the holidays. Even the small boys!
Natasha: Yeah, I see drunk people around a lot more now.
M: Today I went to find a boda to town and I found one who was so so drunk and he could not even stand up. And it was not even 8 am!
N: You didn't let him drive you, right?
M: Well, nobody else was around!
N: Maureen! That is so dangerous!
M: And he was tipping and swerving like this- ah ah ah!
N: MAUREEN!
M: Tasha, it is how you always say- "I like life on the edge!"
N: Arrive alive, Maureen.
Things I'll Miss #2 and #3
#2- Beatrice. Even though she sings at 3am, and watches tv in the middle of the night, she has been fun to live with. Also, she does my dishes! How great is that?
#3- Walking through town and hearing shouts of, “Auntie Natasha! Look here! Me, teacher! See me, Auntie Natasha! How ah yooooo???” from the kids at the nursery school, now on Christmas holidays. Preschoolers make my day on...
KFC for dinner?
N: Mama B, what is going on with the chicken in the yard?
B: Oh Sistah, you said you always have wanted to have chickens!
N: Well, I meant like a henhouse with some chickens to lay eggs and stuff.
B: This is one given by the pastor of the church for you!
N: Mama, I'm leaving next week! I don't need chickens.
B: But will you kill it for us and we can cook it? We will make it a chicken from your place.
N: I'm not sure I can kill your chicken. Can't you do it?
B: I'll have the yard boy do it, because he's a boy you know.
N: Right...
November 2009
31 posts
Things I'll Miss #1- Missionary midnight
As the sun sets at 7pm and the power goes out soon after, missionaries all over Africa start the countdown until “missionary midnight”…the blessed hour of 9pm when it is acceptable to go to bed and enjoy a full 10 hours of sleep.
On finding true love
The post is in honor a friend who is working in Kigali, Rwanda (hey, that’s where I am right now! I am visiting her.) who has been proposed to almost daily. Boda drivers, guys walking down the street, old men sitting beside her on the bus…she’s seen it all, folks. I know what you’re thinking- “Natasha, why haven’t you been proposed to?” Well, that is a...
On taking bodas
Kabale has one form of transportation- bodabodas. These are either a motorcycle (50 cents per ride) or a bicycle (10 cents per ride). No matter where you go, you will see a group of guys standing on the streetcorner with their bikes waiting for a customer- there are hundreds of these things all over town and really, everyone uses them, and you rarely see just one passenger sitting on the back. In...
“White man! White man! I love you, baby girl!”
– Well, that’s new. I haven’t been called a white man before. Thank you Western media for giving my neighbor the idea that it is okay to call me “baby girl”. Really, thank you.
Edit on "More than one Natasha"
The other Natasha from Canada found this blog and I have given her Nicholas’ number.
I don’t know what is weirder- that he somehow got my number and we’re coincidentally both named Natasha, or that she found me and realized that I was talking about her. I don’t even think I can blame this on Dutch bingo.
Penny pulls
N: So, Maureen...I am leaving in 3 weeks. What do you think we need to focus on before then?
M: Well, teach me to make a newsletter. And the penny pulls.
N: Sorry?
M: Penny pulls. For the people in the church!
N: Is this another sports day "game" like the airtime game?
M: No, you are joking with me! Penny pulls.
N: I have no idea what you're saying. Spell it out.
M: P-E-N P-A-L-S
N: Oh, those penny pulls. Right, yeah I can do that.
You get used to it, eventually...
walk to work. wait outside till the office manager decides to show up with the key. go in. check if the lights are working. they’re not, so power must be off again. drag out the generator. fill up the fuel tank. start er up. run extension cord back inside to office. plug in power bar. still not working? call pastor to fix the generator. start it up again. turn on main computer. wait for it...
What Bono says about poverty and AIDS- cool... →
There are two parts to this, I am sure you can find the second part.
There is more than one Natasha
Me: Um, yeah, hi...you called my phone?
Him: Oh yes Natasha! I am from Uganda. I am Nicholas, you remember me?
Me: Maybe? I don't know.
Him: Nicholas from Masindi district. Your friend!
Me: I don't think I know you.
Him: Yes of course! You came with Jessica last year!
Me: Ohhhhh no. Not this again. (people have called my phone 3 different times looking for Natasha from Canada but it isn't me) I didn't come last year. There is another Natasha.
Him: You deceive me.
Me: No, I am serious, I don't know you. I am new here.
Him: What country are you from?
Me: Canada!
Him: You are Natasha from Canada! You must know me!
Me: No, I really don't. I would not lie to you Nicholas.
Him: Can you tell the real Natasha that I must talk to her?
Me: No, I don't know her.
Him: She is from Canada.
Me: (This is not going anywhere...) Yeah sure I'll tell her. Bye.
More or Less
Things to do more:
- wash my muddy feet
- eat vegetables
- chat with the Royal Grocer cashier, cause he looks like a nice person
- return my empty pop bottles
- look for a hobby
- bring my skipping rope along to work, so the little girls can use it at recess
Things to do less:
- sleep
- leave charging things to the last possible minute
- count the days till I get a red cup
- eat...
“As I write this it’s raining and shining at the same time – only in Africa can...”
– Carol (my supervisor)