Beth's Adventures in Mbarara Uganda

So, I've been walking a lot lately--for exercise--not just to get where I need to go (since I have no car). If I'm walking alone (as opposed to walking with one of my teammates/wonderful walking partners), I just grab my ipod and hit the "track" around our glamorous golf course here in Mbarara. The trick of walking here is knowing which side of the road to walk on because piki-pikis might just zoom up behind you. Of course with my ipod blaring in my ears, it's even more difficult to be ready for them.

Anyhow, I get lots of "looks" from Ugandans as I'm walking. I think this is mainly because I'm a muzungu (white person). And I'm not just talking about a glance here and there...I'm talking about full-out STARING. When I make eye contact, they don't usually even look away. So I decided to try smiling at everyone I passed as we made eye contact. I'll have to admit that I was pretty discouraged that most people didn't even smile back. . .

UNTIL, I remembered that people in Uganda often use and smile with their eyebrows. So I started doing the same thing. I raised both of my eyebrows as I smiled at everyone I passed. And it worked! The smiles started coming faster than you can say, "Power's out."

I guess smiles aren't always universal...unless you know what's considered a "smile".