Random things

You guys are not going to believe this - but it's raining AND there is still power. This never woulda happened last time. In any case, I'm tired and the rain suggested I quit working - so I thought I'd post a few random things quickly.

Have you ever seen fruit bats? They are large. I knew this, but I don't think I got a very good look at one last time. The other thing - they are really loud - constantly squeaking. On my run this morning I found a tree they roost in and I could hear it a ways away.

You want to know what a common toad in Uganda looks like? Pretty much just like our toads.

Did you know that if a bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) driver runs out of gas, he can still get you into town by getting off the bike - tipping it and shaking it to adjust drops of gas. He restarts the bike and you head into town. Well maybe not ALL the way to where you wanted to go, but really close.

Here's something that annoys me - There was a lady in the supermarket the other day... (there is one small, modern Japanese supermarket and there are a couple really small Indian-owned places that have non-local food)... I get a few things at these places that keep me from having to cook for every single meal (ramen, yogurt, bread, nutella!, etc...). Anyways, this lady first caught my attention because I heard her asking if they had "Ragu." Really? Ok, whatevs. They'd never heard of it. She was slightly disappointed. Then I saw her cart - and she had all the American stuff she could find - including 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal. Let me share why this bothers me... it costs almost $15 (USD) per box! There are other brands of cereal available; there is bread and jam available; eggs are everywhere. I promise you won't starve without your cereal. Clearly you are here to try help in some way (I don't think people vacation here) - and you are spending almost $50 on cereal?! You are aware that $50 could feed a kid for most of the year, yeah? ... This has to be a short-term trip because that would obviously get expensive and you don't see foreigners who live here buying that sort of thing. It seems like these people come for a week or two - everything is organized - they get carted around in a van - they stay at their hotel - they eat "local food" a few times and skype home about it (I've heard this) - and then they grace the locals with their presence when they venture slightly outside their bubble. It's like, "I'm here to help! (But I don't want to have to, like, live by you)."

[I didn't talk to her - so I don't know her story - maybe I'm being too judgmental or maybe I'm way off base. And I'm not bashing all short-term service trips - although my starting place is skepticism. And I'm sure I do terrible or stupid things too - I can't say I pinch every shilling while I'm here or never do anything unnecessary.]

As for research - things are going well. I have two groups set up and 3 individual interviews set up. I've also already had about 8 hours of conversations with various community members (but not my formal participants) about fathering.