White Girl

(these pics dont really have to do with the post. . .except for the fact that is shows me as a typical white girl. =) )

The Trick
As I have mentioned, the children simply cannot help but stare at me. All the time. Try as you may to get used to it, it is hard to get used to. So I’ve figured out a bit of a trick.

Staring back. =)

This is not a full-proof trick, as there are many children (the real little ones) who have not yet developed a level of self-consciousness that makes them squirm when someone stares back at them. But the older ones--if I can get over my self-consciousness and just stare back for a little while, they tend to look away!

It always gives me a bit of a laugh too so that’s fun.

Typical Muzungu Girl
I went on a walk to take pictures one day. There were some kids from a nearby village on the road playing. Of course they kept staring at me, laughing, and yelling ‘muzungu.’ I smiled back and kept along my way. Well as I was crouching to take a picture near them, I heard something ‘thump’ next to me. Being a little startled, I looked around. To my horror, there was a lizard about a foot from me. No, not a little ghekko—a lizard. In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, I am a typical creeped-out girl when it comes to these sort of critters.

So I looked up and all the kids where laughing.

Oh how hilarious.

Throw a lizard on the nice muzungu lady taking pictures.

Praise God it did not land on me because they certainly would have gotten the show they were desiring—the muzungu running around frantically slapping herself and screaming at the top of her lungs. Instead, I calmly walked away from the site and looked disapprovingly at them. I wish I was the type of girl that could have picked up the lizard and done something funny with it to make friends with the kids. Unfortunately, the Lord has not wired me that way.

On my way back by them, I managed to say ‘hi, how are you’ in Luganda to them—probably more out of fear than love—and that did the trick of getting them to be nicer.

So I am just learning how to PRETEND to be fearless. That’s the trick with kids. When they come up to you with a worms and bugs and hold it close to you, what they are hoping is that you will freak out and run. In which case they will continue to try to scare you more. But if you say, ‘oh neat. We call that a worm in English. How about in Luganda?’ Then walk away like you don’t care—all is well.