Sunday, February 10, 2013

Muzungu

This was my first full weekend in Kampala so we decided to explore more of the city center.

First we went to 1000 Cups Coffee, a really great coffee shop popular with the "muzungus" in the area. (Muzungu means "European person" and is used to refer to any person of lighter skin). I've yet to figure out if this is a derogatory term...




For my Uncle and Aunt back home. :) 

We also explored all the arts and crafts shops around the city center. There were too many things I wanted to buy and here it is common to bargain for everything. I was never very good at bargaining in Shanghai but I thought I'd try it out. Throughout the process of bargaining with a woman for a picture made of banana leaf I thought she reminded me a lot of a patient I had in the hospital. I realized that for me the few thousand shillings difference was a difference of a dollar but for her it might be a meal or an outfit for her daughter. It made the whole process seem silly to me. 

Today we went to the Gaddafi National Mosque in Kampala. Apparently only 10% of the country is Muslim. We were all required to wear skirts and head scarves to go into the mosque. 


This seemed really unfair to the feminist in me because all the guys got to wear whatever they wanted. 







Stairs we climbed to get a view of the city.



Kampala is a lot bigger than I thought it was... given that I've just been exploring on foot in a 3 mile radius from Makerere it's not surprising. Sorry for another post full of pictures! I'll try to write more about the experience next time. I miss you all back home! 

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