T.I.A

 T.I.A – This is Africa - A phrase commonly used when on the continent of Africa; usually in conjunction with a resigned shrug of the shoulders and a knowing look on your face. Best used when something has gone slightly awry or somebody demonstrates the use of “African time”.

Examples of good usage:

1. When the organizer of a trip tells you on the phone, "Be here at 6am. 6-A-M. Not 7. Not 6.30. 6! We do things by Mzungu time here!". The morning of the trip having arrived one, of course, feels the need to jump out of bed at 5 and hot-foot it to the meeting place for 6 on the dot expecting to see vans packed-up and waiting to go. In reality the vans will not arrive for another hour and we won't depart until 45 minutes after that. Having set off one needs to expect further hours spent playing "who sits where in the van?", "shall we stop at this garage?" and "is the big barrel of beans still upright?"; all excellent fun and a great time to sit back and say "TIA".

2. When you spend an hour preparing a class for a Monday morning only to arrive at school and be told "scrap that old chap, your going to teach a different class and there's nothing for you to do until Thursday".

3. When a town not 3km from a massive hydroelectric Power Station has no power for five days.

4. When a town not 4km from a massive hydroelectric Power Station has no power at all.

5. When a Matatu (mini-bus-come-taxi) to Kampala costs the same as a beer in the Mzungu-heavy bar I'm in right now.

6. When a policeman (who I had only known for 10 minutes at most) starts a long oratory about Jesus and how I really should have him (Jesus, that is, not the policeman) in my life.

7. When 5 people on one motorbike seems almost normal.

8. Learning that it's genuinely acceptable to respond to "Mzungu" (white dude) with "Mudugavu" (black dude). Sample conversation: "Mzungu, bye!", "Mudugavu, bye!".

Next time I'll perhaps talk about the change of schools which happened (somewhat out of the blue) last week. As for now I have to give a "shout-out" to my "Ugandan" friends; in large part because they keep complaining that they're not included in my blogs. So, here we go then: Hello, Charles. Jambo, Michael. Guten Tag Debi. Done.

Bye for now and always keep in mind: T.I.A