Monday, June 7, 2010

Zimbabwe and Stuff


I have met scores of travelers here in Uganda, largley due to the fact that my office is in a hostel and, until about a month ago, I lived in one. This encounters have been both pleasant and unfortunate, which can only be expected within the wide spectrum of people who decide to "explore the continent." Naturally the pleasant encounters aren't all that interesting or exciting - when are they ever? - but the unfortunate, or douchebag, encounters are almost always memorable.

Recently a young(ish) American male came to Kabale. He was traveling alone, having begun in South Africa and slowly making his way to Egypt. He had been able to spend a few weeks in each country, so naturally we (I and others around) were in the presence of a great Africanist. According to this seasoned scholar, the whole Mugabe-dictator-problems-in-Zimbabwe-thing is all just a Western media construct (Yes, he used that word!), because he was just there and in Harare there was food and people were smiling when he greeted them. So, you know, you could just tell they were happy and stuff.

My god, we've been fooled all along.

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