Living in Africa -- Doing Everthing A Little Different #2

We have now lived in Uganda for 7 weeks.  This blog post continues on a theme of our adaptation process.  I will begin working at the church in a few weeks.  So, subsequent postings will probably focus on work there.

------------

As I mentioned in the previous post, most everything must be done a little different than in the West.  But knowing to do something the "African Way" and actually doing it consistently can be very different.

Starting about ten years ago I began driving my car with the headlights on during the day.  It helps the car to be seen.  After a while, the action of turning on the headlights became automatic.  But now I'm in Uganda.

Most drivers in Uganda will turn on their headlights about 30 minutes after dusk.  Yes, after dusk when it is very dark.  But that is another story.  Driving with the headlights on during the day just isn't done here.  In the past month I've driven a few times with my headlights on during the day.  But what I did in the US for the sake of traffic safety is a liability here.  Driving headlights on during the day gets the attention of people, like the traffic police.  I have now been pulled over twice.  The last time was yesterday.

"This is an offense," said the traffic policeman.  I have a copy of Uganda's highway law book, and there's no such law.  So, of course, he invented this as an excuse to pull me over.  To complicate things, I don't have a Ugandan traffic permit yet.  The event was stressful.  I apologized a lot, and he let me go without a bribe.

Hopefully I can stop this automatic behavior and do things the "African Way" of no headlights during the day.

John Eastham
New Missionary to Uganda