My Internet modem is a USB stick (also known as a "dongle," but I can't take that word seriously), so only one person can use the Internet at a time. This isn't really a problem because the modem only works properly on the new computer I got with the Libraries for Life project. The 12 computers in the computer lab are so old that they have floppy disc drives instead of CD drives. Remember those? When I used the modem on one of those computers, the version of Internet Explorer was so old, it only let me open the Basic HTML version of Gmail. Also, half of the websites I tried to go to wouldn't even open.
After I got the Internet set up, teachers crowded around me and asked to have me help them open a Gmail account. At first, I assumed that once I had set up the account, teachers would know what to do. I'm not really sure why I made such an assumption. A few had no clue what do. They also had no one to email, except for each other and me. So for about two hours, I explained all the basics of email. Writing, sending, replying, forwarding and deleting. This was a serious test of my patience. Especially since there were 10 teaches crowded around me and one computer. In addition, the Internet connection is extremely slow at Namengo Girls with only 2 bars on the Edge network - you have to wait awhile for things to load. A lot of the teachers would constantly click on icons willing the computer to go faster. They would also also bicker with one another and yell at the person with mouse to "push it again." Then they would all say, "Ah this is too slow!" I had to explain over and over that clicking the icon "compose mail" 50 times was not going to make it pop up any faster, they would just have to wait.
I gave everyone my email address so that they could practice using email and so that we can stay in touch when I get back to the US. I think that my email class was successful because now I receive a lot of emails from teachers. Here are a few examples:
"What did you eat for lunch?"
"Did you go for roadwork this morning?" (Roadwork is the term they use for running)
"I had kawo with dodo for lunch"
As you can see, I don't think I will have a problem keeping in touch when I get back to the US.
As of last week, I think I have officially seen everything there is to see in Uganda. I was in Mbale, sitting in the Internet cafe, enjoying my iced latte, when a ton of boda bodas (motorcycles) came driving up the street. Everyone was honking and shouting, and people in the Internet cafe started to make their way to the door to see what the commotion was about. I was thinking to myself, "Mmm boda race? Parade? Circumcision ceremony?" More and more people were crowding around the door to watch, and I could see people outside on the streets observing something up the road. I decided to take a look for myself.
I looked outside the door and there was a huge mob of people crowded around the police station across the street.
I had never seen anything like it, but I knew it couldn't be good. I could hear people murmuring about mob justice. I finally asked someone what was going on, and he told me that a thief had stolen a boda boda. Other drivers found the thief and mob justice ensued. The police, however, intervened and rescued the thief from the mob. They took him to the police station, and the enraged boda boda drivers followed. Why? I am not so sure...to demand justice? Guess this is just how things are done. I could see some people holding rocks and bricks, aiming to throw them at the police officer standing outside. All I knew, this wasn't going to end well.
I was texting Maggie at the time, telling her about the situation unfolding. She kept saying, "Aubrey! Leave! Something might happen! Tear gas!" Trust me, I was thinking the same thing. However, if there was going to be tear gas, then I didn't want to be outside caught in the scramble. I figured I should just stay inside and let it pass. Plus, I was downloading an episode of Revenge and I really wanted it to finish...
I went back to my table, and continued chatting with Maggie via text. I told her nothing seemed to be happening, and a lot of people had moved from the door, they also got bored watching. All of a sudden I heard a loud bang and everyone in the cafe turned to look at the street. The mob outside started screaming and running down the road away from the police station. The waitress ran to close and lock the doors, while everyone else inside tried to see what was going on. All we could hear was boom, boom, boom as a police tank unleashed tear gas to disperse the crowd. Well, I guess I saw that one coming. Thankfully, I was inside so I wasn't affected by the tear gas, nor did I have to be caught in a mob of running people. All the mzungu in the cafe just kept looking at each other, shrugging our shoulders as if to say, "Huh, well, this is new. Guess we have a story to tell."
After the police fired about 5 things of tear gas (maybe more), everything seemed to settle down. People cleared away, which was what the police wanted. After about 20 minutes, people went on as if nothing happened - business as usual. And my episode of Revenge was fully downloaded. Phew!
On Saturday, Chelsea and I hung out in Mbale at the same Internet Cafe. Yes, I spend a lot of time there...they have good coffee. Plus, there isn't that much to do in Mbale except for going to the pool or using the Internet. Anyway, the cafe has a flat screen TV, and they play music videos all day. It's great - you get a mixture of African music and popular stuff from back home. A song came on and Chelsea said, "Oh I love this song! What is it?" It was an African song, and I had no idea. She tried to look at the TV screen to see the name, but there was a Ugandan standing in her way. The song ended, so she asked him, "Do you know that song?"
He immediately took her question as an invitation to flirt and came running over to our table. In rapid fire, he asked, "What song? You like music? Sean Paul? You like him? You want to dance?"
Chelsea looked up at me and mumbled, "Oh boy, did I just start something?" I put my head down and tried not to laugh. She turned to the guy and said, "No it's ok, thank you, sorry."
Well, this guy was not about to give up. He continued, "You want music? What do you like? Ah, Sean Paul? P-Square?"
In an attempt to make him leave she replied, "Yes, Sean Paul. Thank you, that's it. Thanks for your help. Bye."
Nope. That didn't work. He continued to ask, "You like dancing? Do you want to dance, do you want to sing?"
Chelsea looked at me and said, "Seriously? Uh, this was my bad." Of course, I was no help and I just sat in my chair laughing, watching everything unfold. I was glad he had no interest in talking to me. She turned back to the guy and said, "Yes, thank you. Have a nice day!"
This guy, however, was relentless. He asked, "Have you seen Titanic? Good movie. You be Rose and I'll be your Jack."
At this point, I was practically falling off of my chair cracking up. Chelsea was looking at me like, "Uh, seriously? How do I get rid of this guy?"
He kept going, "Ah Jack. I met him. Yes! Good man. He came to Sipi Falls. Have you been to Sipi Falls?"
Right, I am sure Leonardo DiCaprio came to Uganda and went to Sipi Falls. This guy seriously would not stop talking and he was going in all directions. He grabbed Chelsea's shoulder and asked, "We go to Sipi?"
Chelsea, who does not like to be touched, whipped around and said, "No! Please don't touch me. Thank you, ssebo. Goodbye. You can leave now."
I think he was startled by her abruptness, but he finally got the hint and walked away. I am sure Chelsea appreciated all of my help, but she seemed to handle herself well.
I only have 28 more days in Uganda!! I am getting really excited to leave, can you tell? Since I don't have a computer, I am stuck watching the same few movies I have on my iPad. Two Weeks Notice, Mean Girls, The Blind Side, Big Daddy, Dear John and all of the Oceans Movies. It is painful to watch the Oceans movies though because Brad Pitt eats such delicious looking food throughout all of them - nachos, ice cream...it's just not fair! Also, he only eats half of his bacon cheeseburger at the end of the first movie, which is the most criminal part of the whole thing. I basically drool when I watch. Ya, I know, I have a problem. Peace Corps gave us all serious issues with food.
No comments:
Post a Comment