Happy Birthday, baby country!

The first 2 weeks of July are busy ones around here!  South Sudan celebrated its first year of independence on July 9, 2012, and I was so fortunate to be here in the country.  I had asked my friend Richard to take me out, but he (along with half the rest of the population in Juba) decided to stay home and watch the parades on t.v.  Not exciting enough for me, so my kawaga friends and I walked about 8 hours - over to Freedom Square to see the celebrations.

Juba had been decorated all of the days leading up to the event - with big and small South Sudanese flags all over fences and cars and different roundabouts throughout the town.  It's hard to describe the feeling of elation shared among people on the streets as we walked.  Everyone was full of joy beyond joy - cars honking, police sirens, people shouting, singing, and all sorts of makeshift musical instruments.

Once we arrived at Freedom Square, crowds were milling about - everyone shaking hands and slapping each other on the shoulder.  We did have to walk through a metal detector to get into the square - but I'm not sure if there would have been any action taken if we had had been dangerous.  Lots of police were available - some of them drunk, others not - several friends got stopped as we tried to take photos, but nobody seemed to care at the end of the day.

There were so many cultural groups performing local dances - we almost didn't know where to look!  Lots of ladies and men in traditional dress, really looking incredible.  There was a parade of military tanks, soldiers, and the biggest guns I've ever seen - definitely a huge show of power on the part of the government.  We weren't really able to hear speeches taking place by world leaders, but the grande finale was two helicopters that flew over the crowds - waving and tossing out pamphlets highlighting South Sudan's epic history of independence.

There have been a lot of articles about how little South Sudan has accomplished in its first year as a country.  A lot of bullshit articles in my opinion.  How long does it take to build a nation?  Well, for the U.S. it's been over 400 years.  Kenya received its independence over 50 years ago, and look at how far it has come.  That world of 50 years ago was completely different than the world is now.  South Sudan has more to do to catch up to the rest of the planet - and they are making an incredible start.  Of course there is far to go - ministries, basic service delivery, infrastructure, stability, nationbuilding - all of these things take both time and resources.  I have rarely been so inspired by a country's determination for freedom and self determination as I have here.  Here's to many, many more July 9th celebrations!

an Acholi wedding, part 2

All of the groom's side met outside the venue and were bussed over to the wedding site. As we arrived, there were dancers and singers who surrounded us, and we danced our way into the venue (an outdoor affair, obviously, with 5 lovely tents surrounding a circular ground - I was in the VIP tent. Believe it).
Then came the ushers - each new group of people is brought in on a white carpet, and they dance their way into the little arena. Each group is requested to search for the groom or the bride (depends), but no one can find him/her until the very end. Ushers are female, by the way. They wear traditional Acholi dress, which are called gomasis, and are quite intricate to put on. They have these huge shoulder poufs, which look hilarious. The goma is supposed to accentuate the woman's features - especially her bum. They will make you pad your bum if it doesn't look big enough. The gomasis also have a sash around the waist - as my friends tell me, "You cannot dance like an acholi unless you have something tied around your waist." They are a hundred colors, and look truly fabulous.

The ladies march their way in, and each participant is given a special envelope from the groom's side with money in it. So nice and, I imagine, so expensive! The MC asks the groom if he can find his bride among the ushers, no, no says the groom, my bride is not in that group. Then the flower girls march in - precious - but the groom cannot find his bride amonst the flower girls. Nevertheless, they are paid for their efforts. Next come the aunties, who are more splendid than any of the previous groups - in their gomasis. They search and search for the groom, but they cannot find him. The aunties are rewarded for their search.

Now I've written this in the course of 10 minutes, and it probably took you less time than that to read it, but these activities have taken place over the course of several hours. It's probably 5 p.m. by now, and we started around 2. There's dancing, MC chatter, and refreshments all along the way. Finally, finally comes the bridal party - the bride with her maids (their term not mine). They are all dressed alike - not in gomasi, but in beautiful red and gold under-dresses with a red sari on top. The bride - well, you're not supposed to know it's her - but her outfit has a lot more gold than anybody else's ;) So Bill's sisters come down out of the raised VIP tent to look for Joanna, and they make a whole game of trying to find her. When they finally find her, there's great rejoicing, ululating, and dancing! Bill's sisters made a sweet speech to welcome her into the family, and then all the VIPs were requested to bring in the family gifts. Each gift is symbolic - carrots, sim sim (sesame) seeds, onions, etc, and each is carried in a basket. For the ladies in the group, we carried them on our heads, and danced our way up to Joanna to present the gifts.
Then came the final moment - introducing the groom to the bride's family. Joanna's aunties came back down the aisle, and searched and searched for Bill in the VIP tent. Finally they found him, brought him down to the front, and presented Joanna to him. All his family was there to accept her, and her family was there to give her away (having already negotiated the dowry several days before).


Ok, introductions completed - then it was time for dinner! We ate delicious local food - chicken, beans, rice, bor, beef stew, and fresh fruits. Bill told me that the number of attendees kept changing - at first they expected 600, then the number dropped to 400, then increased to 1,000, but he insisted they would only cook for 800. Then, let's see - there were speeches by Bill's dad, Bill and then Joanna. (Joanna was wearing a black gomasi at this point, with beautiful patterned colors all over it).
Then I believe there was another break for Joanna to change again - her final outfit was this hot pink wrap dress that had gold sequins all over it. She looked stunning! Joanna and Bill cut their cakes, which were modeled after typical Gululian homes (little clay huts with straw roofs). Then it was the maids' job to serve the cake to the guests. Typically they would have to walk around on their knees to do this, but I guess this was a more forward-thinking couple :)
After dinner and cake, Bill and Joanna opened the dancing to all by making a full circuit around the mini-arena dancing in true Acholi style. At that point it was all over - you couldn't have keep us off the dance floor if you wanted to!

I think what I'll carry with me (in addition to the hugs and excitement of seeing my NUTI friends again), were Bill's words to Joanna: "It's taken me 43 years to find the love of my life, and I'll love you forever."

pictures to come!

an Acholi wedding

The first thing I heard when I arrived in Nairobi was P-I-M-P by 50 cent on the radio.  The second thing was Waterfalls by TLC.  Classic Nairobi.  I arrived at the Sankara at 9:30 p.m., had to run over to my friend's place and pick up a phone - but alas, we think it got stolen from her room.... So, back at the Sankara, no phone, had to be up in 4 hours to leave for Gulu.  ugh.  So, off to the airport, 5:30 a.m., 4 suitcases left at the Sankara, 1 backpack and a passport, and I was on my way.  My friend Sophia met me in Entebbe.

It's been 2 years since I've been to Gulu, and 2 years since I've seen any of my dear, dear friends from the Northern Uganda Transition Initiative (NUTI) program... the NUTIzens we called ourselves.  I came into town for a NUTI wedding - our operations manager, Bill, was marrying an Acholi lady named Joanna.  Bill is a delight if I ever met one, and Joanna is equally delightful.  So, 2 days of flying, 5 hours' drive to Gulu, and a minor car accident later... (our driver's fault, no one was hurt)...  Sophia and I arrived in Gulu town.  Gulu has changed quite a bit since I was there - there's a even an Uchumi Supermarket now!  big time.  We stayed with Sophie's cousin Joy, and her daughter Abby.  Friday, we went out for Ethiopian food - but the restaurant has moved twice since I lived there... so we had to do a little searching.  On the way there, we ran into Lydia, Patricia, and Lindah.  Lydia said her heart stopped beating when she saw me!  It was a great moment.  And a greater hug.

The next day I woke up with about 100 mosquito bites all over my arms & legs.  Way to not turn down the mosquito net, girls.  You would think we were n00bs.  Well, after a quick trip to the supermarket for breakfast (pizza, that's right) - we got ourselves all ready to go.  You should have seen us.  Actually, you will - I'll post pictures.  Now I knew a few things from my last Acholi wedding:
1. You always, always wear a long dress.
2. You wear as many colors as you can find.  Color blocking was invented by the acholis.
3. You never, ever, ever expect things to be on time.  There is a lot of waiting involved in Uganda in general, and even more so at weddings!  Eat in advance - dinner will certainly be later than you expect!
4. It's a bit confusing - but you first do the negotiation of the bride price, then the introduction, then the giving away of the bride to her husband's family - this can be several different events, or it can be one long ceremony, or a whole slew of mini-events.  Then there's a civil ceremony in a church (that can be a few months later - up to several years).
5. Dancing inevitably goes late into the night.  You can get involved in dancing at almost any point.  It's encouraged.

There are a lot more ins and outs than this, but for the mzungus - that's the basics.  So, we arrived on time, grabbed some lunch, and waited.  And waited... and you're going to have to wait too... for part 2 of this blog post and pictures!

Renewed impressions

I've been here 3 days, and here are some first (but really 4th time around) impressions of life:

1. we lost power in the airport twice while I was standing in the visa line - everyone got nervous and I could hear the mumbling crowd, but I'm a pro by now and had my headlamp ready.

2. I forgot how funny some of the phrasing is over here - for example: my driver picked me up from the airport, and accidentally rolled one of my suitcases over some dude's foot. The guy says, 'My friend, why are you trying to break my foot?'

3. Also forgot about generators - the one outside my hotel room whirrs into action every 6 minutes and turns into this buzzing that I think might be inside my head, and then magically it stops, and I think maybe I'm going crazy.

4. It's not rainy season (yet), but the rain is pouring down in sheets.

5. Oh yeah, the hilarious forward-ness toward mzungu gals - this morning, my chef asked me, "If I go to America, will I find a nice girlfriend like you?" I said, "You just try it and see."

6. The long speeches. Africans have this unbelievable speech-making ability - even the most unlikely suspects take one subject and turn it into a 20 minute speech. This morning my teammate Stephen (still hungover from last night's party at The 4 Turkeys) stepped up to give a recap of yesterday's discussion (which I was having trouble remembering in my non-hungover state). This guys talked, preached more like - for 45 minutes. He kept using these platitudes like, 'If I'm wrong I beg somebody will correct me' and 'Who is with me? If you're not with me, you must be asleep.' He wasn't even finished when we started pleading for mercy, so he made a 15 minute conclusion and sat down. And of course we all clapped - in true Ugandan style.

7. And finally, the african booty - it is so big. ask anyone who has been here - it's like a separate appendage. Sometimes I wonder if it's even connected to the rest of the body... it makes certain legendary American booties pale in comparison.

Sorry this post is devoid of pictures - I'll 'take some snaps,' as they say here, very soon.

ps. special thanks to Em for your editing assistance at 6 a.m.