Pedicures and Potholes

Filda

Today we decided to take Filda with us and have a fun girls day while she is home from boarding school. Filda is a young orphan girl we took out of the ghetto over four years ago. She has become a special part of our family and such a joy to have in our lives.
We wanted to go shopping so we went to a wholesale market near the Old Taxi (bus) Park in downtown Kampala. Shopping in Africa is NOTHING like shopping in America. We drove down the insanely busy streets of Kampala, where the pot holes are so deep they break people's axles and there is no such concept of yielding to pedestrians, to a parking lot...the thing about parking lots here is that unlike in the States where every parking place you can get in and out of as you please, this one was completely grid locked. I watched in amazement as they packed cars in as tightly as possible. When I asked, "what if the person with the car in the back wants to leave?" Cliff, our administrator, looked at me like I was crazy. Tomi just shrugged. That was the only answer I got. I don't think there is really an answer. We amazingly found a place to park.
Making our way through the incredibly crowded store fronts we went vendor to vendor looking for deals. We bought Filda a sun dress and sweater in purple, her favorite color. Everything is on display and there are rows and rows of shirts, skirts and pants. The thing that cracked me and Lauren up were the mannequins. They have the biggest booties. The definition of beauty here is very different than the States.
I did not pack nearly enough clothes so I bought two tank tops that cost me $5.00 USD.
At the end of the excursion we drove to Garden City a Mzungu (white person) mall where we went to a movie, Narnia. Filda loved it! Then we ate chocolate cake at New York Kitchen and had African tea before ending the night with pedicures. They don't do the best job of painting nails, but their massages are awesome. And interestingly enough most of the employees at nail salons are men.