You're Welcome! to be :30 minutes late

As many of you know we are a timely culture in the U.S. The reality is that time means less and less in different parts of the world you go. Uganda is one of those parts. Each day this week we have been slated to get our days started at 9am and the earliest we have gotten out of the gate has been 9:30. the time issue is even more so magnified in the rural area of Gulu where we are now compared to Kampala. The people are wonderful, friendly and welcoming but the sense of urgency and attentiveness to time is something that is not a high priority, so this has been an adjustment for me of course. The other adjustment or mindset change is the “you're welcome” statement. At home when we say you're welcome it usually comes after a thank you. Here “you're welcome” comes when you come into someone’s office or home… meaning you are welcome to my place. At first it took all of us aback a bit as we thought it was a presumptive statement to our thank you that then needed to come, turns out they are just being friendly not rude.