Driving legal in Uganda

Driving in Uganda.

You will never catch me driving in Kampala, but I have managed to drive in Arua six different times since January.

It’s not the driving on the left side of the road that is the problem, it’s the other people and motorists. I can’t and won’t even begin to explain this.

In Kampala, specifically, is some of the worst driving I’ve ever seen. Experiencing my sister driving in Tel Aviv, Israel, was pretty bad, if I remember correctly, but Kampala ranks right up there with the worst. I think there are even videos on You Tube of Kampala traffic you can see for yourself

Anyway, I had to get my driver’s license the other day, so I inquired about it from a couple that has lived here a little longer than us. They said it was just a small process.

We would have to pick up forms, go get a medical exam and get “cleared” by a physician, then go back for pictures. Not bad, and even better since rules are fluid here, and our friends went to pick up the forms for us, and convinced the employee that we were healthy and he could wave the medical examination. Cool, right?

The forms we had to fill out had numerous questions about whether or not we had amputated limbs or had seizures or mental issues, so we did our own medical examination, of sorts.

Anyway, the reason I’m telling this story is because of the photo process. Doug went first, and the man took a couple of pictures of Doug, got his fingerprints, his signature, and he was finished.

I sat down for my picture, and he took one, then he took another, then he took another. Then he closed the curtains and took one, and then he took another. Then he had Doug hold up a sheet beside me and took one and then another.

Side note: I’m a counter. I love numbers. I count tiles in the bathroom; I count dots on the ceiling when I’m in the dentist’s chair; I count reflectors on the road; I count stairs. You get the point...I’m weird. So, you know, I counted the number of pictures that man took of me. THIRTEEN.

I don’t know how Doug got by so easily, but apparently his camera is set on a “darker” setting, and my skin color was making my face show up like a light show. He couldn’t get the room dark enough, and I don’t know if he didn’t know how to change the settings, but he finally succeeded in getting a decent picture.

Glamour shots Uganda style.