Let's Talk Romance

As Laura said in her previous post, one of the great things about Uganda is how friendly people are. But as a girl, it's a little bit hard to distinguish when someone is being nice to you, and when someone wants to marry you and come to America with you.

An example: both Laura and I were propositioned by some men last week who wanted to marry us. I was in a taxi headed to Iganga, and told my lovely proposer that I had a husband in America. "But America is so far away!" he said. "And I'm right here!" For Laura, her beau told her that his grandmother, before she died, told him that he would marry an American woman. And then he spilled Caroline's (our intern coordinator) drink all over the place.

People will come up to you, and ask you for your number. I even met a man in a church where I was giving a talk about savings culture - I gave him my number because he was interested in learning about the SACCO where I worked. Only after a couple of sketchy phone calls did I finally label him in my phone as "Creeper."

On a positive note, they usually give up very quickly! You say no, and they take it like a man. And let's face it, we get bothered just as much by guys in America.

But we don't hate marriage in Uganda! Laura attended a wedding last weekend, and her host father told her that "she's next." Time to look for some prospects...