"Viagara Kills People"

The things I learn in Uganda...

Apparently, this actually does happen especially when one of three (maybe more) things occur. A, you overdose by taking 4-5 pills when (I believe) 1 usually suffices. B, you don't need it but you take it anyways (usually in large quantities). Or C, you get viagara from the shady cousin of your best friend's brother and it happens to be laced with unsavory (and sometimes toxic) chemicals. Basically, viagara can be a life or death decision here in Uganda.

Other news, don't be gay in Uganda (or Africa in general) because you just might get killed. The whole country treats the issue with such irrationality that they make Pat Robertson seem like Gary Kasparov (Dad? Does this analogy work?).

In case you didn't pick up on it, the other day I had a very long conversation (fascinating at times and deeply frightening at others) about domestic violence (the scary quote on yesterday's blog) , sex, homosexuality, demons/possession, and gender roles in society (both in the U.S. and Uganda). It was about 3 hours long and would have been even longer but lunch came and silenced us.

Anyways, some more Ugandan English. (Breakfast) Rolls are called "scones" here. I'm still trying to find scones to see what they are called. Also to "beep" someone is to call their cell phone but hang up before they answer. Nearly everyone here has a pay-as-you-go phone and so when a person is short on airtime but needs to talk to someone they will "beep" them, hoping that they will call them back. The reason for this is that incoming calls are often inexpensive or free.

More Random Notes: There is a growing list of misperceptions about the U.S. and myself that I have combated during my stay in Uganda. These include questions and statements like:

"Have you ever seen matches before?"
"Have you ever walked this much?" (asked after we had been walking for 15 minutes. They didn't believe me when I said one time I'd walked 20 miles in one day )
"Have you seen an ax before?" (They didn't believe me when I responded that I knew how to use one.)
"You know about the Green Men, right?"
"You know that AIDs was originally a U.S. military biological weapons project intended to suppress people of other countries, right?"
"People in the U.S. prefer [to have sex with] dogs, right?"
"If the U.S. stopped importing or producing crude oil, the government has enough crude oil reserves to last the country 10 years." (The real answer I believe is less that a month. I haven't had the chance to check online, but I would bet my life it's not a year, much less 10. The man still refuses to believe me)

Sorry. Most of these questions are amusing but not bothersome. I know people in the U.S. (myself included) have warped visions of life in Africa, so it is only natural that it works the other way. The only time I get bothered is when university educated people misconstrue things (aka Green Men/ U.S. military and AIDs) and refuse to believe anything I say in response.

Finally, I'm going to Kampala tomorrow to visit the city (my first time!) and to go to the Wyclef Jean concert (in Uganda? Craziness). Also, the following weekend (August 9th) is rafting on the Nile! Then, the 16th I get to visit the southern hemisphere for the first time and begin my 55 hour journey back to beautiful Columbus, Ohio.

It all goes quickly. Or as they say here in Uganda, "the days are running".