Things we find startling

Some things are startling (not in a good or bad way, they just are):


• Men holding hands (this doesn’t mean they are gay, it’s a cultural thing)
• The exotic African fabric, especially when made into languorous dresses or skirts and worn by the tall, graceful Ugandan nyabos (madams)
• Burning garbage (it’s very common to see big or small piles of garbage smoldering away – there are garbage trucks, but that doesn’t seem to take care of it)
• The ice cream man: he hauls a colorful box of ice cream, popsicles, et al, on his retrofitted bike (complete with music) and becomes surrounded by kids
• Scaffolding made from trees – it’s everywhere and very impressive
• The potholes! They are the size of a swimming pool, and when it rains they are bright orange lakes (sometimes they are ruts that run the length of a road shoulder and are a good three feet deep or more)
• Latrines. We are in the city, but there are two-pit latrines in most compounds – it took awhile to recognize what they are, but now it’s easy to see. They block off one pit while the other side “cooks” and then rotate them)
• The smell of jackfruit (apparently it’s delicious, but it’s hard to get close enough to find out)
• Multiple (and creative) uses for shipping containers
• Women carrying bags of cement on their heads
• Women carrying everything on their heads
• “Flying toilets” – these are plastic bags that suffice when there is no toilet; you see them on the side of the road and kind of figure out what’s inside but look the other way
• The huge green grasshopper that hopped into our flat the other night
• The red breasted and redheaded parrot-like bird that landed on the tree right near our back porch – he’s a double-toothed barbet (according to our new "Birds of East Africa" book)
• The soft voices of the people; at first we couldn’t hear or understand, but now we think the quiet rhythm of the speech is peaceful and musical
• The “yodeling” of the Acholi women when they sing; this is a high-pitched throat undulating yell. While beautiful, it also makes you sit up straight and watch your back
• The way everyone bursts into song and dance with enthusiasm, no matter how hard their lives
• The Arabic and Japanese print on matatus and trucks. The trucks come from Japan by way of Dubai, and they just leave the print on them. We have no idea what it says.
• Drivers pull over when they get a cell phone call and never drive while talking (it’s a law that they actually obey)
• “Knock-out” gin ads: “No headache or hangover” – presumably you are just knocked out