myths

Feb 3, 08

I’m sitting here worn out and exhausted after a long joyful weekend and a week ahead full of work.
It has been the fullest weekend so far, and yet the best time I have had here in Uganda. We went on a retreat for a couple days with the Honors College and USP students and stayed in a convent visited before in entebe near the airport we arrived at. Right next door basically was lake Victoria , the Zoo, and big-time rich hotels. This was a much needed refreshing break after the homestays- warm showers, delicious food, the coolness of lake Victoria, and heat of it’s sand, time with friends and non-friends, real African worship, and peace. After our mini vacation reality hits again and school starts tomorrow with it’s call for papers, reading, and concentration.
On the weekend I got to participate in a joy I thought I would never have-an African choir. About 10 of us spontaneously got together and led church worship sun. morning. Everyone was singing and the sound was glorious. We sang a couple Swahili songs, some familiar hymns, and a new one as well. People weren’t afraid to move, to clap their hands, to harmonize, to move their bodies….it’s what worship should be I think and it was joyful, natural, connected to the earth and the Almighty God.
…Swimming in Lake Victoria was a glorious experience. The water was so cooling and refreshing and the sand was warm with welcoming. Next to the lake and its colorful lunch tables was the pool that we used as well. Surrounding the area were some pretty nice hotels that struck me as the ones that wealthy people stayed in. Maris (my roommate) and I got a soda and were asked by some sketchy South African men to join them for a meal. Pretty much that was a given answer to that- NO, I will not eat with you random stranger from a foreign land drinking beer. Call me paranoid but I’m done  with men trying to pick up us “muzungu” white women.  Anyway, then we journeyed to the zoo where I saw a lion pretty much within petting distance. I took a picture that is so close I could kiss his nose. Made me second guess the thin wire fence between us. The zoo kind of reminded me of the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I have to say that the Wild Animal Park definitely has done a good job of demonstrating African wildlife existence.
Our Uganda friends Susan and Rita visited our room tonight and we were discussing some pretty strange things…somehow we ventured into the topic of witchcraft here in Africa (Uganda specifically), as well as opinions of Asian-Indians, marriage and dowry, and some other random tangents. Many of the stories my friends share are valid and very true to Uganda culture, but opinions are also always shaped by background, status in life, gender, source of information, and age (to say the least). I had to remember this when Susan and Vicky were discussing the husband’s right to beat a wife here in Uganda, the difference between a man marrying a woman, and a woman marrying a man, witchcraft on campus and in schools, safety in Mukono and such.
…Witchcraft is very alive and real here in Africa. So said, Uganda is supposed to not be as bad as other countries like Nigeria. Many practices of witchcraft here involve animistic approaches involving creatures like tortoises or take place in sacred forest areas. Many of the stories were scary and real- it reminded me that those practices still exist in the states as well-I know it. I wonder how much is true though of these strange stories we heard of.