A Final Overhearing

I rode public transportation with my host brother on Monday. We slumped into the low-sitting middle seats of the van and sat in silence between several other Ugandans as we looked out the windows at the craziness of downtown Mukono. After coercing as many people into his taxi as possible, the conductor jumped into the van and told the driver to go. He seemed to be in mid-conversation, and as the van started he turned back and looked right at Peter, a broad grin on his face and the story still coming from his lips in rapid Luganda. Peter smiled and nodded at the conductor, who turned back to whoever it was he was talking to.

A few minutes later I asked Peter what the conductor had been saying. Peter told me he was just being silly- making a comment about how even policemen are afraid of their own guns. I nodded and smiled.
It was a throwaway moment: Peter didn't seem to think the conductor was really that funny and I didn't really care about the man's opinions of the Ugandan police. But as I dwelt on his words, it struck me how the scene I had just witnessed- the conductor turning to look at Peter, his wide grin, Peter's nonchalant response- had been almost devoid of meaning to me only seconds before. The whole scene might as well have been a silent movie with no character development. Yet Peter's explanation infused the scene with sound, color, and meaning such that the event was now planted in my mind.

I'd been thinking about this "last blog in Uganda" for a few weeks, and about a dozen stories I wanted to share came to mind. Yet as I thought more about the blog, I realized that they were stories that even I'm still struggling to understand.

So here's where you come in. I'm going to need you all, like Peter, to help me to fill in the meaning for all of these thought-provoking, joyful, and difficult stories. There's so much I can't wait to share with all of you, and I really hope I'll have the time to have a two-way conversation with many of you about our last 4 months.

See you in May!

From left: Christine, Emmanuel, Eunice, me, Peace, host-mom, Esther, Rita. And yes, that outfit is coming home with me.