Just another day in Uganda....

We sadly said goodbye to my Mum on Saturday night as she returned to Scotland. We had a good visit with her and enjoyed our time together.

I am going to share with you a day with you that Mum and I had together. It started out as a normal day whatever that is in Uganda. :) We had a couple of things to do in town but unfortunately our car was out of commission as two of the wheels nuts on one tyre had sheared off. Don't ask me how that happens. Anyway due to the condition of the roads here I didn't want to chance it and have my tyre come off so we hired a MAF car for the things we were to do. It is a saloon car so already you need to drive a bit differently. With our 91 Landcruiser people move out of the way but in a wee toyota corolla people think they can plow through you and have every right to cut you off every which way. As we were driving down Makindye hill I was aware that something had bumped us. I looked in the rear mirror to see a cyclist jump off the ground out of the way of an oncoming matatu (taxi bus). I stopped the car and went to look at the rear of the car to find that he had broken the light of the car and put a good dent in the back. I wasn't sure where the guy was but passersby told me just to go as it wasn't my fault (if someone hits you from the rear it is always their fault). Being a mzungu (white foreigner) can be a bit tricky in situations like this. Anyway I followed the road back a bit to find a small crowd round a man with a rather twisted bike. "The crowd" told me he was okay and I should go. He looked fine apart from having a sore leg. Well I took "the crowds" advice and went on my way. After a bit of thought it was kind of embrassing to think that I had been hit from behind by a cyclist. I guess I wasn't going that fast :)

The saga continues...Mum and I had to stop at a shop and pick up some mosquite curtains that I had had made for Zara's room. You would think that all you would have to do is go in and pay for them and come out but no not here. Everyone has to sign a piece of paper and the man that needs to sign the next piece of paper is not always at hand so the whole drama can last a bit of time. When I finally got to the last desk the man behind it said I need to see your passport. I just about laughed. I have never been asked before to show my passport in order to buy curtains (just another day in Uganda :-). Well as you can probably guess I didn't have my passport on me but thankfully had my Uganda drivers licence so i was able to finalise the purchase. What a marathon!

After these two dramas I still had the British High Commission to go to and wondered if it was a a wise option. However, always up for a challenge, well mostly, we headed onto the British High Commission. After we managed to arrange for them to write a letter for me we exited. Mum made the comment that it was like going into a jail with all the security, doors etc. Thankfully we didn't have to stay :). We finally made it back to Makindye without incident and and dropped off the car at the MAF office.

The story is not over yet...In Uganda it is always advantageous to go and write a police report at the police station when you have been through an incident whether it be your fault or not just so the other party doesn't cause problems for you. I decided to do this. I got on a Matatu and headed to the police station. Police stations are not always the nicest places to go to as they are not always above board in their dealings and like a bit of "tea money" in order to meet your request. After asking God to give me wisdom I entered the Police Station. There was quite a hive of activity and two Police ladies asked me what I needed. After enjoying hearing my story they passed me onto the next office. As I crossed the courtyard to the next office I had to navigate myself through a couple of hundred boda bodas (motorbike taxis) which had been confiscated off the road. I finally made it into the office where there was a "queue" of people. I asked where I should sit and then everyone laughed. Mmmmm better just to laugh along with everyone else. I opted to continue the banter by asking the policeman about all the bodas stacked outside. He asked me if I wanted to buy one but I am not sure who would have got the best deal :) I was glad that I got the young police lady in the room as she didn't look so intimidating as the rather full lady at the back with the sullen face. Well just my luck they transferred me to her and told me to sit. This was a problem as there was no space so I said where and she said next to the lady behind me (in Africa there seems to be the philosopy that there is always room for one more). I weasled myself into the space and hoped that the guy at the other end of the rickety bench didn't fall off. Anyway I went through the happenings of the morning in which she made very little comment but her pencil kept moving so at least she was writing something down. They asked me where I was from and I told them Scotland. At this point the countenance of the Police lady changed as she recounted how her favourite football team (English league) had a player from Scotland in it. After that we were best buddies and her parting comment to me was that I was very smart. I think she only said that because I had greeted her in Luganda.. They like that! Well I made it through the gauntlet of the Police post thanking the Lord as I went.
Now to find a matatu to take me home. I had considered walking but already the heat and dust were at a level that taking a matatu seemed like a better option. I was beckoned from the other side of the road to drive in a specific matatu and was ushered to the front seat next to another man of African descent who I later found out was Ethiopian. The journey should have taken me no longer than 5-10 minutes but, of course, we had to stop at the petrol station because they had a problem with one of the tyres of the matatu. Anyway after a short time that was fixed and we were off again. The man next to me began chatting and eventually got onto the Bible. He told me that he was Rastafarian and believed that King Celeste of Ethiopia was a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. He told me to go and read certain portions of the Bible and I would see it too. I told him I believed that Ethiopia was mentioned in the Bible but Kind Celeste was a bit of a stretch and told him that is might be worth reading the whole Bible and not just picking pieces out of it and merging them together. We parted amiably each encouraging the other one to read the Bible (not a bad thing :)and me telling him that God only had one son and that is name was Jesus and that he hadn't been reincarnated. An interesting conversation. By the time I got home I was ready for a wee cup of tea and a seat on the verandah. Just another day in Uganda......