Culturisms #5 , #6, and #7

#5 Shoes

We've noticed how important it is to have clean, freshly polished shoes. At the wedding we went to last weekend, everyone had to make sure their shoes were polished and shiny. People here may have one nice outfit that they wear on special occasions, but, they will always have shiny shoes. Our roommate, Mel, said that the other day she was going into town with her language helper, and her language helper asked her why she hadn't cleaned her shoes before they left. She was a bit taken aback.

#6 Clothes

It is important to dress well here in order to show your worth. For example, when we were in Kumbya a few weeks ago, there was an entire team of people from EMI (Engineering Ministries International). All but one were North American (we egocentric citizens of the USA want to say Americans, but we must include Canadians here). Because we were on a lake, and the team had to tromp around in the woods and work in a rustic cabin, they were always dressed in casual clothes, usually jeans and a t-shirt. The one man from Uganda was dressed every day in nice slacks, a collared shirt, and shiny shoes (we would call it business attire). It was pointed out to us that in this culture you must dress well to prove you are intelligent and capable. The North Americans did not care about dressing nicely, they dressed how they needed to to get the job done. This is not to say that dressing well and/or expensively is not important in America. It is often seen as important, often to show wealth, but, it seems to be on another whole level here.

#7 Cell phones

Along with nice shoes, cell phones are prized possessions. Most of the missionaries here have old, beat-up phones, while many of the Rwandans have new, shiny phones. In America some of the poorest people have televisions. Here, it seems that most people we come into contact with have a cell phone. Granted, some of the very poor in the countryside don't have phones, but it seems like most people have them. We've even seen Rwandans cleaning their cell phone battery, something I've never done in the almost ten years that I've owned a cell phone. Most Rwandans will call and try to talk for as short of a time as possible, so they don't have to pay for extra minutes. Many times they will call a mzungu (white foreigner) and hang up before anyone answers, hoping and expecting the person to call back. Some have been known to call multiple times, to try to get you to return the call. We heard recently that there is a new verb in Swahili that means "to beep," which is the action of calling and hanging up before someone answers.