So it’s really kind of bizarre to be as average and as unassuming as I like to because of the opportunities and the socioeconomic strata that I am classified in, a government in this current world considers me as a part of their threat category.
I’m a pacifist as anyone comes. So is my husband. I have seen him tremble at the mere presence of a firearm that my Second Amendment friend was carrying with them. But because we meet the classification categories of a 3rd world govt’s definition of threat…we have been watched, monitored. We also suspect some of the late night thefts have been an attempt at pounding that errant nail in (how did I become an errant nail?) so that we are encouraged to slowly lose our motivation to flourish at life and pursue our simple dreams. We have been very careful about anything we say or do. We are careful to not complain publicly about the broken highways and insinuate that a politician is responsible. I allow myself only to grit my teeth while struggling through a dusty mid-day traffic-jam on the main highway, as those responsible for the condition of the road turn on their sirens and take their motorcade of tinted SUVS down the center line, which has worn off decades ago. I wonder whether I should or should not withhold from painting the house because it might give off the impression that we are better than our neighbors.
Yet oddly enough when we drink coffee and eat pizza at Café Java‘s in Kampala, we get eyed by the mayor of Kampala and our children look at each other and want to play. Same with the children of the other most powerful individuals in the country. Because of who I am, an American, I get the same status of the most powerful in some situations but struggle like the peasants day-to-day. And I worry what will happen if our children like each other too much.
It is truly the most fantastic juxtaposition to be in! If one likes oxymorons, I live one. Check out the 10 minute tour of our place.
Shared Frontiers, Uganda 