A few more random comments and thoughts...

Me, to a group of "my boys" during lunch on Monday: "Boys are boys. You're all the same, all over the world." And then I had to explain... and clarify for them, that yes, girls are also the same all over the world.
.
Some boda driver hanging out on one of the street corners of Masaka Town (and this one is altogether common): "Sister, give to me for helmet." Umm, no.
.
Maama, the last time Benard brought me home from Town: "That one is really your driver. Maybe I should ask him to bring a bull, and he can marry you." To which Benard chivalrously replied: "It would have to be a cow at least."
.
Me, to Uncle Robert, who I periodically help to understand the poetry homework he gets for his university course, as we struggled with something written by Tennyson: "I'm afraid I don't understand the structure of this poem either... but I do really like the way it sounds."
.
Rebecca, as we discussed how men are the downfall of African society, and how neither of us could ever be a good wife to a traditional African man: "And that's when I realised I was a feminist."
.
From a commercial on UBC this morning: "We look forward to a time when getting tested for HIV will be a normal part of every person's life... You can be part of an HIV-free generation." While I understand and appreciate greatly this message and the need for getting tested to have less of a social stigma attached, I choose to cling to the (perhaps irrational) hope that we will sometime see an age when HIV is no longer a relevant concern for the vast majority of young people on this continent.
.
In an email from Uncle Benard Yiga, my friend from Bukoto village currently working in Canada with MCC, whom I've only met by email: "I have had from several people that they realy love having you and they enjoy your company. May be you should not plan to come back to America. Afterall it's very cold!" I don't miss the cold, and I don't make lightly my promises to return to Bukoto eventually, but still, I also look forward to the day when I can return to the US and reunite with the other half of my heart that belongs to all of my friends and family there.
.
.
.
the recent petrol shortage is affecting everything from the cost of my boda ride to Town (past numerous stations showing "0000" for the cost of petrol [by which they mean, we don't have any]) to the quality of the beans we buy for our school lunch.
.
i love living in a place where the post office clerks greet me by name, even when we meet on the street.
.
i've decided that i prefer the rainy days to the sunny ones. they're cooler, yes, but it's a whole lot easier to empty a few huge saucepans into our jerry cans than to pump and haul 40-100+ litres of water each day.
.
i try not to think about the illness possibilities inherent when i watch my students smash a few hundred mosquitoes against the wall of their classroom in a single day.
.
at some point in the next couple weeks, my fellow teachers are theoretically organising a "welcome party" for me... i've only been here 3 months and taught a full term, after all.
.
i read the constant gardener this past weekend. it is as thought-provoking and inspiring as the movie, which i first saw on this same continent a couple years ago. if you've never seen or read it, i highly recommend doing so, though be warned: it's not the kind of movie/book to take popcorn with or to joke around with friends immediately after. it's deep and heavy and may inspire you to go out and try to change the world.
.
a couple weekends ago, when i spent the night with rebecca for the first time, we rented and watched the happening. also highly recommended. also not a light or easy movie. a good one to watch with folks willing to engage in discussion afterward. and the ending... well, i think it's a tragic but true take on american society.
.
and to end on a lighter note, though i have no plans to celebrate the holiday here, happy thanksgiving to you all. may you spend the day with friends and family, and perhaps with those who have none. may you count your blessings and find ways to bless others. may you find ways to share with those who have less, but always out of love, and never pity, knowing that they have much to teach you about the world, love, god, suffering, perseverence, and true wealth. and may you join me in hoping and praying for peace and wholeness to become a natural state of life.