A note on the cynicism of recent posts: Uganda is a bit of a conundrum. Kampala is developed and landscaped. It has steady electricity and running water, a lively economy, and an extremely thoughtful population. It has great bookstores (well, one great bookstore, in three locations) and delicious food. Yet, get caught up in the inertial motion of its beauties, charms and intellect, and you’ll get a vicious whiplash when a newspaper prints that depo-provera is an ungodly invention or that it’s no big deal that gay Ugandans are being lynched. If I were viewing the U.S. through the same lens I’m viewing Uganda (with high expectations of an educated populace), I’d be horrified (see: all headlines pertaining to Charlie Sheen).

Incidentally, Ugandans, too, express disappointment in certain of their country’s systems and standards. I wouldn’t criticize the anti-contraception camp if my views weren’t in line with the polling of women who express a desire to limit the number of children they have but face constraints (religious and cultural).

Unrelated: Ugandans (cabbies, ForEx bureau workers, translators, hotels) won’t accept US money dated earlier than 2003. They’re very sorry, and they lament that they don’t know the reason, but they state categorically that slightly older, equally crisp $100 bills are somehow less valuable than their newer counterparts. Bank rules. Meanwhile, the whole world has acknowledged that the Ugandan Shilling has depreciated steadily this past month, but here in Uganda, the dollar is down this week against the shilling (I should be getting an extra 50-250 shillings for my every dollar, depending on whether it’s dated pre-2003). Are Ugandan ForEx guys pulling everyone’s chain, or is it coming from higher up, and we’re all just getting had? The newspapers have contemplated this.