Give us a kiss!

You might have thought you’d seen it all with Matthew in a dress but this one tops it all! Kissing a Kenyan giraffe is certainly an interesting choice and it just goes to show the deep impact that culture shock can have……..

Ruth gives the idea a whirl but decides that giraffes aren’t really her thing. She’ll stick to kissing Matthew.

In case you’re wondering why this strange behaviour, this is a photo of the time when we visited a giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi. The giraffes were very keen to be fed, either by hand or by mouth. By the way, have you seen how long their tongues are…….?

Would you like Jesus with your diesel?

Uganda is a very Christian country where it is very normal to be open about your faith in ways that you just wouldn't get away with in the UK.

A great example of this was last week when we stopped at a petrol station. The attendant who served us happily filled us up with diesel, washed our windscreen and then stood by the driver's window and said,

"And another thing.... my name is Annet and I select Jesus as my Saviour. What about you?"

As it happens, she was preaching to the converted, but I was challenged by her boldness to use her fairly mundane role as a way of sharing her faith - a good reminder that everyday we are surrounded by opportunities, if only we will look for them.

Is that Matthew in a dress?!

Last Friday we were privileged to attend an 'Introduction' ceremony. An Introduction in Uganda is the official engagement of a couple, where the groom-to-be is formally introduced to the bride's family. It is a grand and expensive occasion where the groom is expected to present numerous gifts to the bride's family in recognition of the investment they have put into her, as well as to show that he is capable of looking after her properly. So, the more educated the lady, the more gifts you offer.

In the West of Uganda, where cattle rearing is the order of the day, cows would be presented as gifts but here in the central region of Buganda, gifts could be anything from pineapples, salt, cooking oil, clothes and rice to live goats and even not-so-live goats - in our case a huge piece of meat ready for roasting was carried in by a few strong men! There was also a lone cow offered but I suspect they won't be calling her Daisy and letting her graze in a grassy meadow....

The dress code at introduction ceremonies is fairly strict and men are expected to wear 'kanzus' - these white dresses - underneath a smart jacket. Matthew certainly won lots of approval points for making the effort to be Ugandan! You might just be wondering if he is going to make a habit of it......

Women wear a 'gomesi' which is a traditional dress with lots of shiny fabric, a wide waist tie and funny pointy sleeves (see photo) but Ruth couldn't quite bring herself to do that so she opted for a more modern Ugandan outfit - the 'kitenge' , which was made for her by our Bambejja tailoring teacher.

So there you have it, you have seen us dressing as locals. Maybe we will need a bit of fashion advice when we come back to the UK again in case male dresses aren't en vogue!