Culture for dinner

Tonight at dinner my friends were asking why the USP (Uganda Studies Program; undergrads here for a semester) are different from me.  Apparently people find me to be free and social, and some of my friends think that the USPs just stick together, and only superficially talk to the natives.  We had an interesting discussion on how hard it is to be in a different culture and try to fit in.  It seems that they think that since I’ve done it, the USPs should be able to.  I had to point out that if I had another American in class, I’d probably be spending a lot more time with them.  Now my classmates are my friends, and it’s not an issue, but that first week when everyone was watching me to see what kind of American I was was hard.  So they hear me, but don’t seem to be fully persuaded. 

Another thing that came up was our discussions about the white missionaries and colonialism in the African Theology and African Church History classes, and yes, I’m uncomfortable hearing about and thinking of what my ancestors did.  Not in bringing Christianity, but how they did it sometimes. 

Side note:  I’ve been selectively asking people why they think whites are so special… is it just because they may not see many of them in the village?  The consensus seems to be that’s one of the major reasons (though with colonialism, I’m surprised they think so well of us).  My favorite answer is, “Oh!  You’re so principled!”  Coming from DC, I thought that was hysterical.

And as for yet another blog post… it’s not that I have a hard time writing a lesson plan for the book of Numbers.  It’s just forcing it into twelve lessons that’s challenging me – I’d love to know how our lecturer arrived at that number.  It’s just so arbitrary.  Sigh.  Next up:  a critical assessment on the speed, growth, and impact of Christianity across Egypt, Nubia (Sudan), and Ethiopia.