I’m finally somewhat settled in my placement up in the hills of Kiyoora, Ntungamo. It’s about 15 km from a town that has Internet, a market and even fish ‘n’ chips. After over a month of calling my organization to get a motorbike, and being treated like shit on the phone, the Canadian branch of my organization intervened and I had a nice bike delivered last week. It’s a Suzuki 2 stroke 125cc dirt bike. Driving down to town to buy food is always an adventure and I feel pretty bad-ass driving around Uganda on a dirt bike. The scenery is really beautiful. I drive along a dirt road that’s more like a dry riverbed, with banana plantations on either side, rolling hills in the distance, and smoke rising over the hills in little pockets where people are making bricks.

Everyone waves as I go by and the children and old ladies scream “muzungu”. Most people do the trade mark Ugandan wave of a hand in the air and then a hand extended to have something like money put in it. I try to ignore this annoyance as its’ so much a part of everyday life here.

The other day I stopped in a trading centre of about 100 people. Someone came up and said “buy me a soda muzungu”… which I’m so used to hearing. I told her that she should do something for me if I’m to give her money. One of her only possessions was an electric razor, so I told her to shave my head and I’d give her enough money to buy 4 sodas. I felt that it was a way of making someone work for their earnings. Here, for some reason, even though someone may own several ares of land and several cows, they still ask everyone who looks richer than them for money. They say it’s cultural. I know that a cow is a symbol of wealth, and it’s worth about $150. Someone with 30 cows will refuse to sell one to pay for their child’s school fees and ask people in the community for the money instead. I’m not sure why but it’d really like to know. Anyways, I’m glad that I paid 4 times the regular price of a haircut to have my head shaved by someone, instead of giving it away. I look pretty funny with no hair by the way.