Wise Words from Muna

So our wonderful Minister of Transport is named Muna and he ALWAYS has many words of wisdom to share with us SIT students so I feel like I should share the wisdom with all of you!

1. So the luckily we have a gorup of 17 where it isn't just 15 girls and 2 boys  (like the last group). We have a pretty equal ratio of boys vs. girls so all the guys are referred to as "Generals" since they're basically in charge of making sure we ladies are always safe : ) yayyy BUT apparently the reason why Muna gave the guys the name "Generals" is because male Elephants are big (obviously) and tend to take care of the pack, especially since Elephants are really big into community and family (awww). So that's why the guys are the "Generals."

p.s. Muna LOVES animal metaphors for his wise words so get ready!!

One of our first nights here we had dinner at this awesome Indian food restaurant and this is where we learned how much Muna loves to share his words : )

2. When the waiter came around Muna said "I'll eat later" (which we later learned made sense since his Muslim and it was still Rahmadan at the time) so we were like "why aren't you eating" and he said "i am a bat!" "I only eat at night" and then made this really funny bat eating some fruit impersonation and it just ONLY got better from that point on at dinner...YES.

3. Then one of the students, Margie, made the mistake of asking Muna what some names of good Ugandan music artists were and he became silent..."I can't tell you that." And we were like "why not Muna??" Then he proceeded to explain how he doesn't listen to music or like music because it spoils your brain. That's all I really remember specifically about that rant but it did last about 20 minutes...maybe longer? Haha he kept having to start over because he thought we didn't understand him or agree even though we were like yes yes yes yes, but anyways it was definitely entertaining.

4. His next words of wisdom were sooo awesome and true! Basically he was talking about the idea of the ying-yang, how there's good and evil, and what not. He said that you need to take everyday as it comes. One day will be good, but the next will be bad. With good comes bad and with bad comes good so you just shouldn't worry about it because that's just the way it is! My friend Tim and I have decided that Muna is in fact, a ying-yang, which is pretty cool.

5. One day when we had class at Mekerere Univeristy we split up into small groups to brainstorm ideas for our group constitution and Muna sat with my group. He said that he had a VERY important rule for us to at to the constitution but he wanted to wait til we were done brainstorming before adding it. The concept was entitled "leave a mark." At first I was very confused when I heard this because when I hear leave a mark I think of the opposite, the girl scout motto "leave only footprints, take only pictures." so at first I was very skeptical but then he proceeded to ask one of us draw a snail (which only furthered our confusion) UNTIL he explained that when a snail moves its goo leaves a mark, a trail, and that we as students in a different country should always leave a mark. Meaning, if we go somewhere we should always let another student know so that they "leave a mark" and we all communicate and take care of one another! That piece of advice was the hit of the brainstorming session even of course.

6. How can an elephant eat a pineapple? Good question. You eat a pineapple like an elephant so if there's a hungry lion and a tree with many thorns would you rather face the lion or climb the tree? Answer: climb the thorny tree to live. Muna: YES so the elephant wants the pineapple so even though it's sharp on the outside it will still eat the pineapple because he wants it.

IN addition Muna was saying that you basically just need to be flexible in life. Don't always eawt with yours hands. If there is a fork then that's great, but if not use your hand as a tool. You will be seen as foolish if you are found dead from starvation because you didn't have a fork, but you did have your hands and other innovative ideas to eat the food.

7. These words of wisdom were alot like Stings glorious song if you love somebody set that free. Muna was saying how you can love someone or something too much because then you become blind to how it is or might be hurting you. For example, you see cute little monkeys everywhere in Uganda and you loooove love love them but then you dont realize that you're too close to one and then maybe they bite! which is no good!

8. My homestay is luckily really close to SIT so its a very short taxi ride home or about a 45 minute walk. But what's even better is that Muna is one of my neighbors! Whooo! So yesterday when we went as a class on a field trip to various cultural sites like the Uganda Museum and the Kings Palace (fancy i know) Muna just drove me home instead of having to take a taxi! So of course he had many wise words to share with me on this journey back to eka or home. First I asked what the last SIT group of students was like and at first he said "no one is holy" which in Muna talk means no one is perfect (that was another word of wisdom he gave previously in the ying-tang conversation) and then he started saying how funny we SIT students are because we complaaiinn and such things, which I can definitely see ahah. But then he got frustrated because apparently some SIT students would say they think they're homestay families only do it for the money (which is rather rude) because Muna way saying these families don't even need money. A lot of our homestay families are pretty well off so I can definitely see that, plus they all seem to be just incredibly hospitable and kind people (like all the other Ugandans I've met) so Muna was very upset when a student would say that since it blatantly isn't fair, which I totally agree with.

9. One his best pieces of wisdom though was that no matter what you (meaning SIT students) will learn so much or even at least something. He said some students may think oh I did not learn anything from this experience, but no matter what you will learn something valuable whether it's knowledge about a field, or just how to greet someone politely! Whether it's learning Luganda or learning how to take a taxi to and from school everyday. No matter what we will all come away with various insights and experiences that will stay with us forever sooo yay : )

That's all! Hope you enjoyed Muna's wise words of wisdom. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Sibabulungi! (have a nice day!)