The World Through the Eyes of an Imperfect Saint: A day in the life of a USP student.

Beginning with one of the mundane details of my life so far here in Mukono, Uganda: Getting ready for bed, I just washed my feet. They were really tan, as I’ve spent a fairly decent amount of time outside…until I washed one foot and it became significantly less dark than the other. The red dirt is very deceiving…and our feet get REALLY dirty from walking around everywhere. So foot washing before getting in bed is a must.

We got our placements for our social work sites. I didn’t get the one that I was hoping for, the school with an agricultural program, and was pretty bummed. That’s actually an understatement, however, I was told by another student that the school they placed me at also had a big agricultural program and was really excited to have a foreign student (me) interested in working with it. That news totally made my day! It came at a perfect time, since there were a few things I was starting to get discouraged about, the practicum site being one of them. We begin our first home-stays on Saturday. All of the students will be placed in the home of a local family for two weeks. Some students live with families for the entire semester, and after hearing their experiences, I’m both excited and a little nervous.

I’ve also had the opportunity to meet more Ugandan students; some of those experiences have been discouraging, but thankfully there have been many other encounters that have been really nice. My friend and I were discussing the fact that the good encounters seem to be based on mutual respect. Many times, random men will begin a conversation by stating their name, immediately followed by the request for contact information (phone, email, facebook). As a woman in a culture where women are generally seen as less valuable or important than men, it’s difficult to be so openly objectified. It becomes pretty obvious when someone (men) is genuinely interested in being friends, or they are just being “creepers” for lack of a better word. The other evening, in the dining hall, a man came and sat down next to me and without introducing himself began to tell me about the customs of his tribe regarding marriage. The conversation began with him telling me how men didn’t want intelligent/educated women for wives (which is why many of the women on campus are single, in case you were wondering) and continued to: how men in his tribe were able to “test” potential wives – including making sure they could birth children and run a household (if they were able to bear children, but were not able to take care of the house, the men didn’t have to marry them). It basically spiraled downward from there. We’ve been discussing in some of my classes being open and intentional in building relationships. It’s really important to consciously not make unfounded negative judgments, but it’s difficult when you have a negative experience to not project that onto other people. It’s not fair to the people I haven’t yet met, and in fact there are many Ugandan students who I’m beginning to get to know that are wonderful people! It helps to remember that there are good people and there are “creepers” at home too. It’s just that the social cues that we use to let people know we are not interested in entertaining them are not picked up quite as easily here. It’s also helpful to remember that in the “intentionality” of building relationships that we are all made in the image of God. Making broad assumptions about people based on some initial negative experiences does not show people the love and respect that they deserve. And while I will not be seeking out my friend who was so anxious to fill me in on tribal marriage customs, being willing to meet and talk to new people without any presuppositions (!) about who they are is the first step in forming Godly relationships across the cultural boundaries.

And finishing off this evening with some other day-to-day things: I still don’t have a roommate. Good/Bad? I haven’t decided yet. Rice and beans/peas/groundnuts is starting to get old. Thankfully, the “canteens” on campus have opened and they serve different things. They even have real brewed coffee, and while it may not be the best coffee in the world, I would probably rather drink brewed dirt than Nescafé (no offense to Nescafé drinkers). They also have smoothies and milkshakes, not quite what we’re used to, but wonderful when you have rice and beans (and sometimes some greens) for lunch and dinner every day. I’m trying to get myself to like bananas. They are EVERYWHERE, and while there is a lot of other fresh fruit and vegetables, most things need to be cut and stored, so practically bananas would be handy – I just have to start liking them first. I had the opportunity to try fried grasshoppers today; they are surprisingly not bad – kind of taste like a big sunflower seed. There’s a seamstress down the road from campus, so I’ve gotten some material and she’s making me a skirt. A few of us took a walk up to Prayer Mountain the other day, it has a really beautiful view of the whole area, and lots of monkeys. I think that’s about it. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Love and miss you guys!