“Muzungu, how are you?”

This is the phrase I hear at least 25 times a day as I traverse the markets and take my walks. English is the official language of Uganda, however, there are 33 local languages that dominate day to day conversation. Apparently, anyone who has had any schooling learns this exchange: question - “How are you?” and reply - “I am fine.” Seeing a white person seems to spark memories of this tutorial and everyone springs this little conversation on us. Another popular query is “How is baby?” I always reply that we are “fine” or “well” or “good”. I’ve already tired of these responses and am considering responding with “I am fabulous” or “I have had better days”, depending on my mood.

In Mbarara, the local language is Runyankole. The only words in Runyankole that I know are “Agandi,” which means hello and “muzungu,” or white person. I usually know when people are talking about me when I hear murmurs of “muzungu” but I haven’t a clue of what they are saying. The attention is starting to get a little tiresome and I have a smidgen of sympathy for celebrities. At least I’ll appreciate our anonymity when we return to Berkeley. Ani, on the other hand, will likely need therapy to recover from the attention withdrawal she will face when we return. She has started to wave to everyone like she’s the local festival queen in the 4^th of July parade.

For now, at least, we muzungus are doing fine.