Nomad's Pub

Countdowns, Tear Gas, & Theatres...

It is hard to believe that I have been back in Kampala for practically a full week tomorrow. Just a week ago I was in Rwanda. Now I have only just over two weeks left in Uganda. Although counting down the days here is not an intention, it is inevitable.

1 week left until my Economics research paper (25 pages!) is due.

2 weeks left until the final exam and the end of both this class and my literature class.

Then I have a few days break and then ship off to Kenya.

In fact, that break may be itself spent in Kenya if my companions and I can figure a way to the Indian Ocean for a few days... Wouldn't that be lovely? We shall see...

After Kenya, we will only be back here for around three days before heading off to our respective homes; I back to Europe, and the others back to the USA and other countries in Africa.

So as I said, the countdown is inevitable.

And how do I feel about all of this? I couldn't say...

Right now in Kampala, it is a time of "unrest." We were advised to avoid certain parts of the city for fear of rioting after permission to protest was denied... and indeed, there has been a lot of tear gas floating around the city these days.

Last night I went to the National Theatre. For those of you who don't know, yesterday was International Women's Day--a celebrated holiday here in Uganda. The performance last night revolved around just such a theme ("that unique human species called woman"). We laughed a lot. At one point, a stand up comedian said,

"Women are very emotional creatures. When they are sad, they cry. When they are
happy, they cry. They seem to have this emotional thing inside them
always--it must be tear gas!"

And of course, we all roared with appreciation; partly because women are indeed more emotional creatures than not, but partly also because of the abundance of actual tear gas in the city these days. TIA, as they say. This is Africa.

And I know that I will, inevitably, miss it, and that I have learned very much from it and the people here whom I have come to know and with whom I have interacted.

posted by Lada @ 4:28 AM