Really?!

Today was a day that I had to just shake my head and laugh...A kinda day where you sit and ask yourself, "Did that really JUST happen or am I having some kinda crazy dream because I know this doesnt happen in real life...usually!?"

So I have come to realize that some things that don't happen in "USA" life are totally normal here in the UG...yes...its true...but today...my goodness!

It was about 1:00pm and I had decided to go into Kampala to pick up a box from the main post office and to look for some child development books in a nearby bookstore...little did I know what I was in for...

A friend of mine text messaged me while I was on the taxi into town and said she had to go to the PO box too and so we decided...since I had a box and she had a car...it would be a perfect match...

Little did I know...it may be better to take public transport to the main PO box in Kampala...at least I know for next time...

So at 1:30, Kate and I are at the PO Box...by "at" I mean we are driving around trying to find a parking space BUT we can physically see the office...

At 2:00...we are still "at" the PO box and we are still looking for a parking space...

At 2:30...its the same story...

At 3:00...Kate and I are seriously questioning whether picking up our packages are worth the hassle and decide to flip yet another U turn to find a parking space...this U turn backfired and before we knew it we had a traffic officer opening the back door to Kates Rav4 and sitting in the back seat...

Apparently its normal for the police to get in your vehicle...yet another new thing I learned today...

So this officer tells Kate to drive to the police station...which we werent to sure where it was but we did what she told us and as we are driving she is telling us it was illegal to pull a U turn...

We of course are apologetic trying to explain that we didnt see a sign for no U turns and that we didnt know it was a law...

After about 20 minutes we finally are in front of the police station...the cop tells us to pull over and proceeds to tell us that what we did was illegal and that the police at the station are going to impound the car. She hesitates and says...what would we do if that happened...

Our response...then we have to walk I guess...

Then the punchline...she says she will have forgivenness on us...BUT we have to pay for her forgiveness....can anyone say BRIBE!

Good ol Kate says forgiveness is free and unless the cop wants to give us a reciept for her forgiveness we werent paying...

Here it comes...BRIBE request #2...well...can you pay for my lunch then...its time for me to eat...again...Kate asks for a receipt...you have to love her persistance!

Then bribe #3...well I cant but you have to pay for my transport because you drove me all the way to the police station and how am I supposed to get back to work...haha..gotta love that...because WE really wanted to drive her there in the first place...so we volunteer to drive her back instead of giving her the money...

At 3:30 we are finally back to original place we got pulled over and guess what! We see a parking space...we park...along with the rest of the cars there and get out...so excited that we are finally about to get the packages when we hear...

"excuse me"..."you cant park here"

We look...parking attendant...

Kate and I ask why not and he says...well this is a no parking zone...so we proceed to ask about all the other cars parked there...

"Well...they are just stopped, not parked"

We look...there are no drivers in them...so pretty much...they are parked...

Then we ask, "we have parking tickets, can't we use these to park here...?"

He says..."how long will you be?"

In which we reply...about 20 minutes...

He says..."well...your tickets wont work BUT how much will you pay ME to park here"

HAHA! Bribe Request #4...REALLY!

At this point Kate and I roll our eyes at each other and are back in the car, back on the road with no place to park and pretty much no hope for packages...

After a few more turns we finally made it into the post office and got our packages...they werent as big as we were told they were so we were probably better off taking the public transport, saving 3 1/2 hours and the headache of avoiding 4 bribes in one afternoon...

But oh well...so is life in UG...

As I got out of the car at my place...Kate turns to me and says "Well...I never have a dull day when I am with you Lena"

Gee...thanks Kate...I think!?