In Rwanda, there are many things which can capture you. I have been held hostage by the rain, church, staff meetings, slow-moving goats, and mildly interesting spectacles on the road, to name just a few. Uganda has a different approach. Here, they capture you with machines and public holidays, then give you santimonious receipts to prove it.
This spring break, I went up to Uganda with two other PCVs. After a ten hour bus ride, we spilled out into the hot Kampala afternoon, tired, hungry, and in desperate need of a place to change money. But we'd forgotten that it was Easter, and there were no places open.
In what I had assumed was a brilliant move, I brought my American visa card, intending to simply withdraw cash once I got to Uganda. But clearly, I had forgotten the number one rule of doing anything, ever, in Africa--Nothing Is Simple. This is closely followed by rule number two--Any Day Can Be A Public Holiday. And, of course, rule number three--Haha, Stupid White Man.
There was a Barclay's ATM right down the street from the bus stop. We set off, with not a shilling to our names. I put my card it, went through all the necessary steps, and just when I thought the vacation would be financially feasible, the ATM began to shriek in what I can only assume were the throes of agony. After almost a minute of this, the ATM spit out a most unhelpful receipt. "Card Capture," it read across the top. "Please bring this receipt to your nearest branch."
So now we were left with the double problem of having no shillings and no way to get any. This is when we were saved by rule number four--There Is Always A Guy For That. In this case, it involved questionable modes of transportation, a semi-deserted side-street, and a guy with chapati in his hands and a fat stack of bills in his pants. Long story short, we got cash.
As today is Easter Monday (who knew?), I'm capture in Kampala until the bank opens tomorrow. With any luck, we'll soon be celebrating Liberation Tuesday...
