Part of what is disorienting about moving to a new country, is learning new systems.
Moving from the U.S. to Uganda means the changing of many systems, including...
money
language, including Ugandan English, which I just chuckled when I saw a Longman's East African English dictionary--I love English around the world!
shopping
roads
time
and so on...
I still am pondering all of this, so these are just unfinished thoughts and opinions. Please, please do not hear ANY criticism, that is not my point, I am just sharing from a newcomers perspective and I would HATE it if any of our dear friends or this culture would be offended. That being said--it is very different to live here for this U.S. girl :).
A few stories...
When we first moved here, it was difficult to even recognize systems.
Shopping.
Our first few weeks, we could not recognize shops or figure out how to get products because everything looked run down or was covered in red dust or mud depending on dry or rainy season. Now, sorry if that sounds critical, it is not meant to in any way--this is just the foreign eye "talking."
Clean is a cultural issue and that is clear when people travel--what is clean and unclean varies country to country. What is organized and systematic varies from country to country...
So, we were used to the supermarket and from buying things in neat, organized, overwhelmingly --abundant settings--loads and loads of marketing influences how we make decisions.
Here, it is relationships that determine what and where you buy. We had a friend take us around to get some basics when we first came and he took us to the people he knew. Now, anywhere in the world there is the phenomenon of back to back stores or stalls with the same goods--how do you make decisions on where to buy. In the U.S., it's usually marketing, brand loyalty, convenience. I repeat, here it is relationships! Interesting.
As we have begun to recognize stores, goods--I can't even describe for those who have not experienced it how to shop here. Even coming from Kampala, a friend said she would just shop at the supermarkets there and load up a truck--yes, you could find things here, too, but it would be easier (for the westerner) in Kampala. At the time we did the best we could, but it still seemed crazy not to buy set up items locally--like mops, brooms, cleaners, etc... Ugandans by and large do not have use for or money for many products--no kitchen gadgets, no several sets of dishes, sheets, no appliances, and so on--contrast the HUGE amounts of stuff in the western world. They use things until they wear out and then they repair them and then they get rid of them--brilliant--like my grandmothers used to do.
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| Leslie and Julia getting umbrellas. |
Well, now we know what she meant--it's like a huge rummage sale or garage sale or scavenger hunt to find things. Shops are tucked away or people are selling things in forms we would not immediately recognize. Things are here this week and not the next. A common phrase from sellers--check back tomorrow, next week, they told me they were bringing it...
It's great--like a materialism detox and cleansing :)....
School shoes. There is a store here in East Africa that sells pretty good shoes (hard to beat good ol' western shoes made in China for quality) Well, there is a small stand in the market that sells a limited supply of these shoes (Bata). There is also a HUGE used shoe market and many, many shoe sellers around town--it's like a town pasttime to polish, clean and repair shoes. Labor is cheap and I am repairing so much more than I would have in the U.S.--largely b/c of the hassle of me, the novice, trying to find new, quality products.
So, bought the kids shoes--they must be black for the uniform requirements. Well, Micah ended up not wearing his and somehow got away with it, so I wanted to take him to buy shoes at the market when the school year began in Feb. Took us 2 tries and a lot of complaining and bribing (he hated shopping in U.S.), but I finally was able to trade in his new pair of shoes for a more comfortable ECCO brand shoes--pretty good. The first time we went to the market, they were over charging me big time--like 2 or 3 x's as much. I argued--"I know these brands and I wouldn't even pay that price NEW in the U.S.!!" I even called my friend during the transaction to find out what she would pay. Then I found some other people willing to come down to Ugandan, local prices and THEN I came up with the idea to trade in his other shoes as he had worn them twice--what a deal!!
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| shoe stall |
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| the parking lot |
Emma Shae's velcro was beginning to tear on her school shoes and she needed rain boots, so I finally was able to go to the market with all that I needed, order some boots from the Bata and ask if they repair shoes. This store did not, but the salesman whistled across the parking lot (I use that term loosely--picture a tractor pull scene, only with pot holes and full of cars, bikes, sometimes animals and people--I only say this to point out that I am not USED to this scene and I just stand there staring like an idiot waiting for things to make sense :)) So, this man comes running and they confer in Rukiga and the other guy pops around the corner and comes back with another guy. He looks at my shoes tells me he can fix them and then we agree on a price. I thank all of these dudes and follow the last dude around the corner.
This has taken me weeks to think about and figure out and I was just amazed that in minutes, it was sorted for me.
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| the guy on a sunny day |
THEN, I got to watch this guy work for 20 minutes on fixing the shoes with what looked like a putty knife. We got to his "stand"--I would have never in a million years picked this out--it looked broken down and b/c of the rainy season, dirty and muddy, surrounded by a bunch of plastic sacks. I would have passed this guy by thinking he was surrounded by broken bins and rubbish bags, but this was his equipment! As I watched--it all has order and meaning to the insider. He slowly and gently opened up different sacks and selected what he needed and then invited me to sit on the window sill of the store he was in front of. I noticed a pair of flip flops and recognized that people can put those on as they get their shoes shined--I never noticed that. He scraped, pulled and even cut using this one tool and then re-sewed the new velcro that he custom fitted and even re-sewed another part of the shoe that I guess he thought was coming apart--I didn't see it. All for $1.50.
amazing.
So, that was such a fun day--i rarely get to sit and people watch.
The next shoe repair experience was pleasant, too.
It usually takes me about 3 days to run an unknown errand--day 1, ask around and scout out possibilities, day 2 try and fail to find product or service and day 3 possible success.
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| Would you look and say, "oh, they sell shoe laces" I did!! Yippeee!!! |
So, day 3 was a score. I had asked about shoe laces--brown ones are not just around for sale. So, the guy told me where it was--score--across from the National Water and Sewage building, which I had to go to inquire about our water bill! For the water bill, you don't pay there, you have a choice of 2 banks at which to pay. Good to know. BUT, across the street I was able to immediately recognize the place where they sold shoe laces--because there was a woman cleaning and polishing used shoes!!! I was so excited that I went and indeed, she directed me to another man who pulled out a dirty bag full with clean, used shoe laces--success!! I found Aaron's shoe laces AND he repaired my shoes.
That was a great place to also watch people and systems. There was an old phone inside a plastic bag--at first glance, I just thought it was junk. BUT, people came up, gave this lady money and she opened the plastic bag, pulled down a wire from the roof, plugged it in and people were able to get cell phone minutes. Really? Also, there are places where you can recharge your cell phone all over town--just an outlet with many plugs and a price indicating you can charge your phone. what, no marketing?
Also, in a cash society, I am always amazed at how people just pull change from their pockets--clerks, owners, whoever--it's a very fluid system. I always have culture shock going into the bank where there are computers, calculators and systems to track all of this--there are about 2,400 shillings to one U.S. dollars, so everything is in the thousands. Amazing. You can bargain in most stores, even ones that sell in a building, not the market and people commonly round off--how do they keep track of it all?
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| The guy is in the center, dark blue uniform. Note the fabric above and ropes to the left. |
This shoe guy as he was repairing my leather flip flop, he would stop to sell different things. One man came and just said "sugar". My guy said a few words over his shoulder and out popped a clear bag (clearly sold from bulk) of sugar and the customer plopped his money down and left. There is a lot of indirect communication here--raising of eyebrows or grunts of all kinds to indicate yes or no--slowly catching on to that!!! I am wondering if this place is like a stop n go in the U.S.--I looked up at one point and saw hangers with local cloth draped over it--great, I bought 3 that I want to have baby blankets made for friends back home. Score.
Others came for phone cards and this man would smoothly and gently pull out his change from various pockets or such--I could not figure out how he kept track of it all.
My dad is an accountant, I can't wait to see what he thinks about all this reconciling.... or lack of?
Systems! It's all there!
