Learning to Live in Ugandan Time

Today was another early morning. Up at 7:00 am after an okay night of sleep, and on the bus at 7:45 am to go to MUBS for breakfast. Yep, you guessed it. I had a wonderful breakfast of toast yet again :)

After breakfast, all of us students went to the main hall on campus where were met with a professor to find out where we would be sitting during the graduation ceremony for MUBS. None of the students that we are getting to know were graduating, and none of them actually knew anyone graduating. However, we had received special invitations by the President of the college, so we couldn't just say no. We later realized just how much we wished we could have.

There ceremony cannot officially start without the arrival of the Chancellor of the college. The chancellor is the person that is the head of the college, but he is rarely on campus. This is because the chancellor usually holds a position in the government, so he can fight for funds for the institution, and he can help the college have a voice in the government. In other words, he's a pretty big deal to the university.

Before he arrived, there was lots of entertainment by some dancers doing traditional Buganda (one of the districts and tribes in Uganda) dances of celebration. It's really neat watching the tribal dances, and it makes me wish we had something similar to express our own culture in the United States. Of course, the Chancellor wasn't on time. Something we are coming to learn about Uganda. No one is ever on time. We've started to call it Ugandan time because they seem to have their own schedule, and their own way of figuring out time. So naturally the ceremony started an hour late! It was already suppose to last 3 hours, so none of us were really excited about the idea of being there for an extra hour.

The speakers didn't shorten their speeches either, so we continued to grow more and more behind schedule. However, due to the eruption in Iceland the guest speaker was stuck in London and unable to make the ceremony. This helped us catch up a little bit of lost time. Then we listened in the sun and heat as the students were congratulated. They didn't go up and receive their diplomas, but instead they stood when their degree/school was called and were all congratulated at once. The MUBS students told us they got to pick up their transcripts (instead of diplomas, they're called transcripts) after the ceremony.

I was also shocked by the amount of security at the ceremony. They were more strict at the ceremony than at any of the government buildings we have been to so far. They wouldn't allow us to bring in any type of camera, but here are a few of the pictures I got before we went through security. The robes the graduates wear came in three different colors. If they had red on the edges of the black it meant they were a post-graduate student, yellow meant they were a student graduating with their bachelor's degree, and pink meant they were graduating with a certificate, which is similar to graduating from a technical school in the US.

(Just to give you an idea of what they wear. It's extremely formal attire. Most of the girls that were graduating were in what I would consider prom dresses!)

(This is extremely nice attire for the women. It can also be seen worn on Sundays.)

After 4 and a half hours, the ceremony was finally completed and we were able to eat lunch at MUBS. It was a meal of rice and potatoes. I didn't really feel like eating anything else as I wasn't feeling the greatest, and it was extremely hot! In fact, during lunch it started to storm. This wouldn't have been so bad if we were eating somewhere else, but when we eat at MUBS, we eat at the guest house in the Canteen. The Canteen looks a lot like what a picnic shelter would in the United States, so there isn't a whole lot of protection. It lasted about an hour and then it stopped.

With the rain gone and more sunny skies, we took off for Movit. Movit is a cosmetic company in Uganda that sells different hair and skin products. The presentation they gave was mostly about marketing, so once again it was hard to follow along and really enjoy the speakers. However, it was still interesting, and we all enjoyed ourselves still. We even got some free products out of the deal. Since we were still on Ugandan time the presentation went much later than it was suppose to, which definitely wasn't helped by the fact that we had shown up later than we were originally suppose to.

(One of the semis used to transport their products all over East Africa)

(Some of the hair care products Movit sells)

From Movit, we went to Shop Right, a grocery store in Kampala to give students the opportunity to buy an groceries they might need. Many students bought candy to bring with them on the rural visit since the children here absolutely love candy! Then it was back to Red Chili for supper and the rest of the night.

I didn't have anything for supper as I wasn't feeling well at all. I had a stomach ache, headache, and achy body and stuffy/runny nose. I think I even developed a fever later on since my body seemed to be burning up while I was shivering. I used the sweatpants and sweatshirt I thought I would never need. Since the internet wasn't working last night, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to get everything done and crawl in bed early in the hopes of fighting whatever I had. (Don't worry Mom, I don't think it's serious. Probably just a cold. Lack of sleep probably isn't helping and my immune system isn't adjusted to all of the bacteria/viruses here, so I'm not worried. You shouldn't be either)

Tomorrow (or actually today) we are going on a rural visit to see how agriculture is done in Uganda. In fact, we get to meet Dr. Senteza's dad tomorrow too since he helps set up the rural visit.

But until I get that post up, I leave you with this...

(An incredible view of one of the seven hills of Kampala. I just wish it captured all of the beauty of actually seeing it.)