It depends...

Have you ever sat down and thought about just how huge the United States of America actually is?  I mean, think about it.  To drive across the United States, it'll take you about a week.  I guess if you didn't stop, it'd take what?  60 hours?  And that's just the horizontal part.  From top to bottom, it's still a couple days.  Even to fly across the United States, from LA to New York is at least a 6 hour flight, and that's only if you're lucky enough to have a direct one at that.  How many countries can really say that?  Probably just Russia, China and maybe Australia?  Bottom line: the United States is GIGANTIC!  And, not only is it physically huge, and not only do we have a lot of people living there, but we are a country that supports and encourages a lot of diversity.  So, trying to make generalizations about Americans can be tricky.

Of course, somewhere, in the back of mind, I did know all of this before coming to Uganda; however, it becomes more and more apparent every day that I live here.  Everyone is constantly asking me questions about life in America: what do people do, what do people eat, what's the weather like, do you have this or do you have that, when do you get married, what are schools like, etc etc.  More often than not, my answer is always: Uh, well, it depends.  And, interestingly enough, when there are a group of us PCVs being asked these questions, we usually have very different answers.  The only few straight answers I can give people, that we all can agree on, is: no, we don't have matooke and basically everyone speaks English as their native language, but even that one isn't quite true.  Beyond that, all my answers really depend on what part of the United States you're from, how you grew up, where you're from originally, what religion you are, etc.  I'm supposed to be sharing American culture with Ugandans, and so far, the best I can do is just say, well, it depends?

Yesterday, one of the teachers actually called me out on it.  He said he wanted a definite answer, not something wishy washy.  I finally realized that I needed to explain just how big America is, how different we all are and how individuality is something that we value.  He was couldn't believe how physically big America is!  I think the biggest shock factor I could give him is that Uganda is the size of one of our states (Oregon), and we have 50 states.

So, from now on, I think my main goal in explaining American culture is trying to drive home the point of how diverse we really are, and how the American ideal is the acceptance of everyone no matter what.  I know that's not always the case, but it's what we strive for.  And, we do celebrate diversity, which I think is one of the best things about being American.  Just one small example: when I was in elementary school, we celebrated Hannakah, Christmas, Chinese New Year's, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, and so on.  You have to admit, it's pretty amazing how much we value all the different cultures that make up the United States of America.  This core American value is definitely something I've come to appreciate since coming here.

As for me and my well-being, things are going good.  Believe it or not, I've been at site now for one month, and in country for almost 100 days.  Next week, the school term starts, and real work will actually begin.  I'm still not exactly sure what that will entail, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.