It’s almost been a year since we got back to Uganda from furlough. As I think back over the last couple years, here are some things that came to mind…

On Staying Relevant

We were stuck in Egypt. The man we’d hired to take us to the airport hadn’t shown up at the appointed time. Turns out, because it was Ramadan, he’d passed out on the way to get us and had to be taken to the hospital. 

I messaged my family about our quandary. My sister messaged back “Too bad you can’t call an Uber.”

An Uber? What was an Uber? I’d never heard of it before. So I asked. And she explained it. She was gracious. It hadn’t been a thing the last time I was in the US.

*     *     *

We hadn’t been in the States long when I needed to make a Walmart run. I found what I needed and made it to the cash register to pay without crying or having to ask for directions.

I hadn’t used a debit card in years. (Where we are in Uganda is cash only. I’m not aware of any stores in our town that take debit cards as payment. We used to have one but it closed.) 

I thought I knew what to do. I swiped my card. “Please insert card in the chip reader” came the error message.

“You can’t swipe it. You have to insert the chip,” said the lady at the checkout.

“I don’t have a chip,” I said. “All I have is this card.”

“No. The chip. The chip there on the card.” She rolled her eyes and walked around the counter. “Here, let me.”

Then she showed me how to use a chip reader. While everyone behind me also rolled their eyes and groaned. I didn’t blame them.

*     *     *

I needed a dish drain rack while in the US. In Uganda, I know of at least 5 different stores where I can buy one. But I stood in Walmart for a long time contemplating in which department I’d find it. I finally ended up wandering the aisles until I located them.

You see, dish drain racks are sold in plastics stores here, not in housewares stores.

You buy eggs at the gas station or hardware store. (You can get them at the grocery store, but you pay more there.)

You can buy hair dye and sewing supplies at the convenience “store” up the road.

To shop in Uganda, you have to think outside the box. It’s difficult to begin thinking inside the box again when you visit the US.

*     *     *

The term “fast food” in Uganda is a misnomer. “Fast food” here takes between 1.5 and 2 hours to receive once you’ve ordered it. We get around this by getting the phone number for our favorite places and placing an order a couple hours early so it’s done by the time we’re ready for it. 

The first time we ordered food in the US after living in Uganda for a few years, it came out in less than 30 minutes. 

“Did they even cook this?” I blurted before I even thought about it. We’d gotten so used to the wait, that it seemed abnormal to not have to wait very long.

*      *      *

We’re always surprised by the pace of life in the US. 

Everything moves slower in Uganda. You learn to expect it. Most people don’t rush around to do anything. You can get things done “now” — sometime in the future, eventually — or “now now” — they’ll be working on it in the next hour or two. If you rush around and try to do things at your own speed, you get frustrated. Consequently, you learn to do everything slower.

You learn not to arrive “on time” because “on time” here is at least an hour after the time they told you on the invitation or schedule.

You learn to talk slower because people can’t understand your accent and you struggle to understand (or pick) theirs.

Evenings are spent at home with family. You don’t go anywhere after dark because it’s not safe. There aren’t street lights so you really don’t see pedestrians or cows until you’re right up on them and it’s too late.

Then you reach the US where “on time” is 20-30 minutes early. People talk so fast you can’t hear them fast enough. You have one event after another scheduled throughout the day and into the late evening.

It’s overwhelming when you’ve adjusted to something else. Just simply driving after dark is terrifying when you haven’t done it for years.

*     *     *

There are also adjustments when we’ve been in the US and come back to Uganda. When we arrived back after our last furlough, we found out the water company was having problems. We were without water more times in the first 3 months of being in Uganda again than we had been the entire 6 years previously put together.

A grocery store we liked (because they sometimes carried items geared toward foreigners — like Chinese food) closed.

The internet, which had always been iffy before, was rarely faster than the old dial-up speeds from the 1990s. Sometimes it was off for days and weeks at a time.

The roads in our area had deteriorated to the point they were more pothole than road.

Uganda was still in a drought. Our once-green mountain was dry and brown. This lasted until we’d been back in Uganda for almost 4 months.

The changes were jarring. It took us longer to adapt back to life here than we would have liked. 

*     *     *

So, when you encounter a missionary and they seem clueless or uncertain, try to be understanding. They may not have any idea what is going on and are just winging it. Take a minute to let them catch up. Ask if they have any questions. Spell everything out, even if you think they should understand it. They might not. 

They may be overwhelmed by everything around them. By everyone around them. They may not be handling how fast everything moves. They might feel like crying every time they look at the available choices everywhere they go — from Walmart to restaurant menus. 

Because there’s always a learning curve to staying relevant to your culture of origin when you’ve been away from it for a while. And there’s always a learning curve coming back to your host culture.