Hot airtime
on Thea's Blog (Uganda), 18/Aug/2009 12:59, 34 days ago
Normal0falsefalsefalseMicrosoftInternetExplorer4st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}Telephone etiquette inUgandahas some peculiar idiosyncrasies. Like the fact that nobody ever says who they are when they call, leaving you with the difficult choice of either pretending you know or rather foolishly interrupting the flood of chitchat to enquire who the caller might be. The other odd thing is that Ugandans never say goodbye on the phone. The first time this happened, I thought I’d committed some hideous, undocumented social error and been hung up on in a fury. But it happened several more times and it was then that I realised Ugandans just hang up mid-sentence.In between these two worrying silences, however, there is a staggering amount of chat. Admittedly this happens less on the phone, where every minute of airtime costs a day’s wage for many, but it is most definitely true of person-to-person conversation. InUganda, small talk is king. This has been one of the most difficult things for me– tongue-tied, impatient, chat-loathing, party pooper - to adjust to. Traditionally, once you have asked after the health of your friend, their spouse and children, you go on to enquire after their aunties, uncles, cousins, brothers-in-law, cows, goats and chickens. It is extremely impolite in matters of business to come straight to the point without first devoting the necessary time to such pressing subjects as the family, the weather, Michael Jackson, the football results etc.Money matters are a particularly delicate case as I found last week when VSO came to visit us. By far the biggest issue at stake at this meeting was the signing of a document authorising a subsistence loan to keep RFPJ’s doors open until Christmas. I had prepared the necessary document, put a big X next to where the signatures were required, and placed it very ostentatiously in the middle of Vickie’s desk for all to see. Although it was meant to be a 50minute visit, we spent a total of two and half hours pirouetting around the subject before it was finally raised by the VSO programme officer, not by Vickie. I had in the meantime been biting my tongue trying not to look like a tactless, custom-disrespecting European by insisting we cut the crap and get on with it. Must be more patient. Must try harder.