My New Umbrella

I was in Mbarara the other day buying what I described to my coworkers as “very important Muzungu things” that I can’t get in the village (Nutella), when it started raining heavily. My umbrella had kicked the bucket three weeks prior, so I was in the market for a new one. Luckily, the little shop where I escaped the rain had some for sale. The store owner held up two and asked me if I wanted the blue one or the red one. I will always choose red last, so I overpaid for the blue one.
I wasn’t even out the door before I was opening it…and it wasn’t even opened all the way before I realized what I had, in fact, just purchased. It was not a solid blue umbrella, as I was led to believe. It was a red, white, blue, and black umbrella, with two pictures of Barak Obama’s face in the white portions, and “New Life” printed in the black portions.

I have used my new patriotic umbrella 3 times since purchase. Each time, I have been complimented on my very “smart” umbrella, and how great it is.