Keep Smiling and Have a Nice Day

After about 2 months, I can confirm that I can drive around a bit of London (about 5 miles around our home) and am very pleased with my rate of grasping things. I am deeply disturbed by the description of summer in this country, it is very different from what I expected it to be. I understand it officially begins in June and ends in September and apparently it is the only opportunity for people to have a life of barbeques and beaches (poor things!). If what we have just gone through is the best they can get, the good citizens of Kabale are having a blast. Meanwhile, the lack of human labour in this country is disturbingly irritating. It has finally brought me face to face and full speed with the flat parks from IKEA. Surely, IKEA must have been founded by a woman. IKEA is a leaf from a book written by the 21st feminist’s titled – How to decimate a man’s ego. For the past few weekends we have consistently turned up at the IKEA store in Croydon to find furniture and furnishings for our new home. My heart rends as she flips through the pages of the IKEA catalogue for because I know it will be me to suffer with the assembly of our fitting. For some curious reason people in this town of the mighty and most civilised don’t talk to each – not even our neighbours talk to us. I thought it could not get any worse until I started commuting to the University. Yes, I enrolled for a post graduate degree in Construction Management out of boredom. After visiting my ever reliable website when it comes to getting around London (tfl.gov.uk has no equal) I discovered that the quickest way to get to the University of Greenwich would be by train – national rail to be precise – first to London Bridge and then out on the South Eastern to Dartford. While on these trains, I noted that people don’t talk, fear to make eye contact and bury their heads in books and free newspapers. Now that the temperatures have started coming down especially after a miserable summer, I am tempted to blame it on the weather. If indeed it is the weather, then I can only assume that it is going to get worse at the peak of winter – I am not sure I am looking forward to a gloomy weather and even gloomier people for company on a train. Rather than celebrate the noble idea of a free paper on a train, the makers of Metro, Lite and London Paper should be sued for exacerbating an already bad situation. I have a feeling that by doing this, the rich but stressed people of London miss all that is good in life because they continue to live in their small worlds. If one is not reading they are having a pair of earphones plugged in their ears so as to have nothing to do with any body else. I love Africa, even in abject poverty people are smiling and making the best of their day. What an irony, the smiling people are inhabitants of the world’s poorest lands.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is calling 'Mzungu' being Racist

My answer is No and this is why. I recently returned home for the summer holidays and literally walked into this row (some white friend is complaining about being called ‘Mzungu’) by kids and adults alike. Coincidentally, I had just returned form Accra in Ghana where I had spotted a letter to the press complaining about the same thing, - apparently someone was unhappy about being called Oburoni (the equivalent of Mzungu in East Africa). Anyone who has been to this dusty town of ours knows what this term means. The children will cry out ‘Mzungu how are you’, the vendors will call ‘Mzungu come and buy’ and some naughty men will propose to white women by calling them Mzungu (you must have heard of the local hit ‘Omwana w’omuzungu by the late Paul Kafeero’. Now, I do understand when white folks complain about a title that classifies them by race, especially when they come from the politically correct communities of UK that think that calling me black is being racist. I have been in t...
Read more

FORTY THINGS ABOUT ME

Turning 40 is meant to be a time to assess where you’ve got to in life and to measure your achievements against your youthful dreams. A lot is said about turning 40, some of it scary. I woke up today expecting to experience some of those things. It was like any other day in my life. I looked in the mirror; there were no obvious signs on my face to show that I am 40. My yesteryear memories began flashing before me as I recollected. I thought of how lucky I am today, to have the most amazing wife and be a proud father of four! While I was still contemplating my past, I thought of the 40 things that have come to define my life thus far. Even I found some of them interesting (and surprising): 1. I have no fear of caterpillars, chameleons or lizards but I would not sleep in a house with a snake that has not been killed. 2. And I’m neither superstitious nor religious! 3. My wife and mother are the most important women in my life. 4. I did not celebrate my birthday until I was 15, even then...
Read more

Getting Married in Buganda

On a number of occasions, friends and relatives have approached me to help them wade through the intricate matters of getting married in Buganda.   Overtime, I have noticed that many are not even aware of the simplest and obvious steps like initiating contact with the girl’s family.   I write this commentary to try and explain the simple but lengthy process of getting married in Buganda.    My post is not based on extensive research or study but rather on what I know and have learnt over the years.   A few years ago,   I used to officiate at Baganda traditional marriage ceremonies (okwanjula).  I wish to declare that I am not an expert on Buganda culture, nor am I a specialist in Buganda traditional marriages; my involvement at such a high level (omwogezi) was at best accidental, although we shall keep that story for another day. Initiating Contact Getting married in Buganda is seemingly easy but folks complicate it for unknown reasons.   Ye...
Read more