Feel free to prime yourself for this blog entry with this YouTube video, which was totally hot when last I was connected to U.S. popular culture (okay, that’s never, but you get what I mean). Okay, apparently the video is not available in Uganda, so just google “Like a Boss.” Uganda is not my first… Continue reading Like a Boss
I don’t have the greatest track record with summer jobs. In high school, I worked at Sandia Labs in Albuquerque. Aside from the obvious ethical downsides of working in a weapons laboratory, I had nothing to do and spent most of my days watching Home Star Runner (which now sounds almost as dated as playing… Continue reading Shatya
Our research requires us to find a place where we can divide 70 people into numerous groups and conduct several activities both simultaneously and confidentially. In tiny communities like the ones we are visiting, schools tend to be the only places that fit the bill. As a result, I spend most of my days in… Continue reading Words to Know
I worked hard in college. But I never pushed myself physically very much. While people around me would get in fights about whom was more sleep deprived, I can count on two hands the number of times I worked past midnight. The typical cycle of exhaustion mediated with caffeine and exacerbated with alcohol was, for… Continue reading How Far Our Bodies Go
I’ve stayed faithful for months now. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to give into temptation, but I resisted. But, it had been a long week, marked by not enough sleep, too much work, and constant frustration. The never-ending deprivation from things I’m used to was really starting to set in, and I needed a pick-me-up.… Continue reading Cheater
I’ve been told that Ugandans are very indirect (as compared to Kenyans, who are apparently quite blunt). This indirectness is, hilariously, exemplified by Ugandans who are – you guessed it! – giving directions. Every day of our field research is a series of semi-contained catastrophes. The fourth or the fifth disaster of the day tends… Continue reading “And that, my friend, is the way you don’t go”
Here is a short list of things in Uganda which suck: Bread. Cardboard boxes. Pens. Ketchup. It’s not complete. There are a lot of things here that suck, actually. The fact that children here die of easily preventable diseases, for example, sucks. The predicament of adults who planted coffee because some Mzungu researcher told them… Continue reading Piece of Crap
Mitch Duneier – the ethnographer who advised my thesis – wrote a book called Slim’s Table with a chapter asking “I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent?” It’s a complicated question, but in Uganda, the answer is fait accompli. A few days ago, our project manager – a Ugandan named Charity – approached me and said… Continue reading You’re Stealing, I’m Exploiting. You’re Black, I’m White. You’re Fired, I’m Fine.
It finally happened: we got a day off. It took us working until 5 a.m. on Friday night, but today, we were indeed, really and truly, free (at least, as long as I kept my cell phone on silent and studiously avoided reading any text messages from my boss). So far, I’ve really enjoyed experiencing… Continue reading State of De-Nile
There are borders to how far I wanted to go with the whole “living like a Ugandan” thing. For example, Ugandans have high rates of rather exotic maladies and afflictions. I was hoping to avoid that part of life in the third world, but that’s not how it turned out. For the sake of the… Continue reading Going Native, Part II
Alex V. Barnard - Sociology 