Tell me about America...

Not surprisingly, the Ugandans we meet are highly curious about America -- and many of them don't have any idea what it's like. "How many capitals do you have in America?" asked Yowesi, the very nice driver from New Vision who takes me to work every morning. "50 -- one for each state -- plus one other one for the whole country, where the President lives." "Ohhhhh -- you have 50 states!"

Yowesi also wanted to know if there are a lot of Africans in the US. Well, yes, there are a lot in numbers, although they're still a relatively small part of the whole country. "Which state do they live in?" Well, they live in all the states -- some more than others, but there's no special state. They come in two general groups, I explained: African Americans who have roots in America going back many many generations; and much more recent African immigrants, who are growing in numbers.

In fact, I told him, there's a man whose father was from Kenya who is running to be President of the United States; if he won the election next year, he would be the first black man ever to be President. Ohhhhhhhh, Yowesi said -- fascinated and listening intently.

"But he couldn't win," he said, very positively. Maybe not, I said. But he's extremely popular right now. Yowesi was impressed, and perhaps will be following the presidential election in 2008.