Extend

The dreaded words “extend mzungu”. I roll my eyes and shoot a dirty look at the conductor who said this. He wants me to move even closer to the person that I am already snuggled up more tightly than lovers would be. We have to try to squeeze one more person into this mini bus (live a mini van with seats for 19 people). Children are sitting on strangers laps, bags are piled high on top of the mini bus and shoved in all free space, people are standing hunched over using up literally any free space possible. I am already sitting in the most awkward position and have been for the past 2 hours. Sure I will try and move closer to my neighbors, I would love to have more parts of a strangers sweaty body on my sweaty body. Why not?

Transport is always an adventure. My absolute favorite form of transport in Uganda is my own legs. No one else can dictate my speed, no one can get to close to me. I do from time to time have to deal with the occasional harassment but that is well worth it for the fresh air, beautiful views that I can actually see and the comfort of having a fairly big “American” sized personal space bubble where most of the time only my friends cross. The exercise as well is awesome, my legs are going to be so strong just from walking to work and back home (you can ask my mom, sometimes we catch each other on the phone while I am walking up the big hill and am panting out of breath).

Then there is the boda boda or boda for short. Its a motorcycle that you can hop on the back of and pay to drive you where ever. This can be wonderful on a hot day. Its a great way to air out your armpits...let that wind blow. But if the weather is to change, which it does often, it isn't such a pleasant ride. As my co-worker calls it the “open roof” doesn't offer much protection during a rain storm. Not to mention, when you are carrying a heavy backpack and on a boda for an hour your back starts to get sore. I also have the tendency to squeeze my legs together the whole way. Like I think this will save me from falling off. Who am I kidding? But it is a great inner thigh workout. The sensation of going quickly over these dirt roads and feeling the wind in your hair (and armpits) is something that I will miss, maybe I will just get my own scooter or motorcycle when I get home. Boda rides, I would say, are much more enjoyable out in the villages. When you get on one in Kampala, the capital city, I fear for my life. Although, I should probably have a similar amount of fear in the village with the sharp turns and quick drop offs and not great roads. Kampala is filled with buses, cars, mini buses, bodas and people everywhere. Bodas are constantly weaving in and out of traffic, disobeying traffic laws, squeezing through spaces I swear aren't big enough to fit the bike, and narrowly escaping accidents. However, you do reach your destination much quicker than when you are stuck in traffic and obeying the stop lights, and in Kampala you can sit in traffic for hours.

Then there are the buses. Think Greyhound buses just the really old buses that we no longer want in America sent to Uganda. The prices to different destinations are “negotiable”. You have to know what it is supposed to cost and refuse to pay more. The conductor always tries to get more out of you, especially when you are a foreigner. Some buses in Uganda are really nice, they run smoothly, they only stop at the major bus stops, they are clean and the conductors are honest, but that would just be too easy. The buses that come all the way out to where I stay only run on certain days of the week, the are old, the conductors just want to get as much money as possible out of the trip. This can come in the form of taking advantage of people who don't know what the price should be. Perhaps, they try to charge insane amounts for putting your luggage under the bus, or they stop for every person standing on the side of the road even when the bus is full and the aisle is filled with bags and standing people. Sometimes, even, they tell you the bus is going all the way to your stop, when in fact it is stopping in the nearest town (1.5 hours away) and not proceeding further and its 8:00pm at night when it is dark when we arrive at there final destination not mine. Not that I am a little bitter about that or anything. Buses do have their advantages. Sometimes they are playing really awesome music that you can get into, other times it is blasting the same 6 gospel songs on repeat for 10 hours. If you get on the bus super early and are one of the first few people to board then you can get the front seat where there is only one seat and no neighbor and you have the whole front window to see out of and don't need to be prepared for territory wars, but that means that you have to wait for the entire bus to fill up before leaving the bus park. If you do get a seat where you control the window then that means that well, you have control of the window which is priceless. Also seats in buses tend to be your seats and although sometimes you have to play territory wars over your space, the amount of space that you get does tend to be much larger than the dreaded MINI BUS.

Mini buses are quite pleasant in Kampala. There is a seat for everyone, you are not packed so tightly, the prices are cheap and they go just about every where. You just need to figure out how the mini bus system works, but each time I go to Kampala I get better and better at it. However, mini buses in Kanungu and I am sure other rural areas where police are easily bribed and traffic rules are more like guidelines aren't quite as nice. Each row is supposed to have seats for 4 people, except in the front with the driver which only has 3 because there needs to be room for the stick shift...So how many people do you think can you fit into a vehicle? That is a question I cannot answer. I am always impressed at the ability to find space for just a few more people. I am also impressed at Ugandans lack of anger for paying for a ride on this mini bus and then being squished in uncomfortable positions for 5 hours while the vehicle stops every 10 minutes to pick people up or drop someone off. As this occurs and the more and more intimate I become with my neighbor and the more times the conductor asks me to 'extend' the more and more the anger and frustration builds up inside of me and the dirtier the looks I give get and the shorter I get with people calling me 'mzungu' or just trying to talk to me. I am pretty sure you could gauge how long I have been traveling for based on these characteristics. Clearly, if you haven't figured it out yet, mini buses in the rural areas are my least favorite form of transport unfortunately, sometimes it is the only means to get from the nearest town to my bus stop.

Although transportation can be a pain in well you know what, I wouldn't change my commute for anything. A 2km walk each way full of beautiful views, fresh air and if I see more than 3 motorcycles along the way I am curious as to what is going on in the village. Luckily this is my commute and I don't have to deal with close quarters, crazy music on repeat, and traffic (what is that again?)