Have you ever been stared at by hundreds of people?  Like really stared at...them turned 180 degrees in their seats, not blinking, not smiling.  It seriously has to be one of the most unnerving experiences ever!  But its the greeting that we got when we arrived at a traditional 'Give Away' ceremony in Mbarara last weekend.  First, you try to smile back...still they stare.  Then you try staring back...they don't even flinch.  Finally, you give up and just ignore them, turn around several minutes later to realize that they have been blankly staring at your backside this entire time.

After living in Uganda for over 4 months now, I've gotten used to not being able to go anywhere without standing out.  Still, sometimes I wish that I could just go back to being normal for a day or two...to be able to forget that I'm white and a foreigner...that I could go somewhere without being stared at, or hit on, or asked one of the usual questions. "Where are you from?" (Which is followed by an Obama comment 90% of the time) "How do you find Uganda?" "Do you eat matoke?" (I swear I get asked this question at least once a week...I've been here since August.  They eat matoke at every meal.  Yes, I've tried it by now.  And no, I don't like it no matter how big my butt is supposed to get if I eat it)

The beautiful hills of Mbarara with the ceremony tents in the distance

Yet, being foreigner has its advantages sometimes...like Nici and I getting to go to Emma's (a boy in our Hall) 'Give Away' last weekend.  The itinerary turned out as follows:
-Wake up at 5:00 in the morning
-Spend an hour waiting for our ride (who was obviously operating on Africa time)
-Spend 5 hours driving
-Spend 4 hours waiting for the rest of the groom's party to arrive (who were also operating on Africa time)
-Spend 15 minutes eating a feast of matoke, rice, chapati, peas, chicken, gnut sauce, salad and fruit (anyone who knows how slow I eat should realize what a big feat this was for me)
-Sit through 5 hours of speeches in Luganda
-Drive 1.5 hours to our hotel
-Spend another hour convincing the boys that no, we weren't going out dancing with them and to leave us alone so we could pass out
-Wake up and spend another hour waiting for the boys to get up and ready
-Spend 6 hours driving back to Kampala in a car crammed full of 8 people

With the groom and best man

The bride's party covered for the ceremony

All of that was still worth it for the experience.  We got to don traditional dresses (which I LOVED!).  We were allowed to march into the ceremony with the groom's party.  Once we were seated, the bridal party entered, fully covered including their faces.  They remained that way throughout the entire ceremony.  Traditionally, the groom isn't supposed to see the bride between the time that her family 'gives' her away and the actual wedding ceremony which is usually several days later.  The bridal party then presented the groom with several gifts.  Family and friends literally spent hours making speeches and adding their own contributions to the gift pool.  Since Mbarara is mostly a tribe of herdsmen, the bride and groom were pledged over 20 cattle by the end of the night...quite a haul!