Update...Finally, 01-02-09

So the second week of our homestay went really well. Last Saturday we were preparing for the big “family gathering” on Sunday, which I thought would’ve meant more cooking than it actually did. Christine and I did get to help peel sweet potatoes, at least until I cut my thumb! It was a baby scratch, but of course Mama Faith was all worried and even brought me some mystery goo to rub on it! Medicinal assistance is always such a relief. : ) We also helped our little brother David crush groundnuts, but he kept saying, “Stronger! Stronger!” Which meant that we had to lift the mallet and smash it down harder. It was pretty funny to see him encouraging us.

We also got to go “fetch firewood” with our older brother, Samuel. I was a little anxious about going because I’d see him and two other boys making trips back and forth with loads of wood on their heads already. However, it turned out that mostly we were just there for company on the walk, and probably because he thought we looked bored, just playing hand games with the kids. It was a really long walk, but some of it was through the “bush” which was all wild and jungle-y and pretty. Anyways, Samuel did let us carry one piece of fire wood each and don’t laugh! They were long and awkward, and most of the walk was uphill! Just because his two friends loaded about 30 pieces (that’s not and exaggeration) onto the backs of their bicycles and then pushed the bicycles through the bush and up the hill, that does not take away from my achievement! They really do like to use their bicycles as wagons- especially with water, green bananas, and wood. It’s impressive.

On Sunday we decided to go to church not at the “church on the hill” where most of the USPers end up going, but with our little brother David. He was getting confirmed at the Anglican cathedral near UCU, but none of the family was going so we figured why not keep the kid company on his big day? Anyways, it was worth it, but such an ordeal! Luckily we met an American woman who sings in the choir at the service and she introduced herself a little before we went inside, but after David had had to abandon us for his confirmation group. She counseled us to get something substantial to eat from the little snack stand if we hadn’t had breakfast. Sound ominous? It was. She also said we’d probably be in the service until 2pm, and it was only10 in the morning! Also, the service was in Luganda, so we didn’t understand a word. However, all I can really remember is how happy David was. After the priest/reverend/bishop/whoever he was blessed David and his group and they took Communion, they all got into a line and filed back down the aisle. David looked all somber and serious in his suit, but right before he sat down he looked right at us, smiled so huge and waved like a maniac. It was a great moment.

Once we finally got home from church we had to head straight to the “family gathering.” David took us there then scampered off, for good reason. We were already pooped and what we thought was going to be a party turned out to be a series of speeches. Our father was so happy that 105 of his relatives had turned out, some from farther than 6 hours away! But all 105 of these honored guests had to stand up before the crowd of us seated there, introduce themselves, say their position in the family, and give a short statement. Can you even imagine? And all in Luganda, again.
But the good part is, we’ve been talking a lot about how tribal/clan loyalty is a huge thing for Ugandans, and this really helped me to understand that. Our father is from the Impendi clan, so now that’s Christine’s and my clan, too. My Ugandan name is Nalube Emily, and hers is Namugenyi Christine. They always give their African name first, but it’s not a family thing, like an American surname would be. It’s more like everyone has an African name and an English name. Some are quite odd, like “Alinda Bob Charity” is one of my friends in the honours college. But it was sweet of Mama Faith to give us the names, and they really liked addressing us by them more and more loudly until we remembered to respond!

The rest of the week was pretty mundane, with classes and doing homework and hanging out with the family at night. We didn’t get internet very much at all, and this six page history paper kinda took over my life. But it flew by, which was bittersweet. Actually I forgot- on Tuesday Christine and I made dinner for our family! We came home early from school and our brother Enoch met us at the grocery store. A friend from my dorm, Sarah, had picked me and my roommates up some vegetables earlier that day, so we didn’t need those. She is so sweet –she heard Ashley needed to go to the market and she refused to let her go because you have to barter and Ash totally would’ve gotten cheated. Not in a big way, it’s just the principle of the thing. So Sarah took this big list from me, Ash, and Kels and went shopping for us all by herself. I love her, she is such a blessing. She’s the one that took us to get the hot water kettle, too, and taught us to do laundry. You could pray for her –she’s fasting right now in order to seek God more fully about a big decision in her life.

Whew, tangent. So Enoch helped us at the grocery store on our way home and Christine bought him a candy bar. We even got him to break the cardinal Ugandan rule of never eating and walking! Basically the candy bar was melting in the sun and in his hand, and he really didn’t want to miss out on that treat. He was pretty sneaky about it, though, because it’s considered pretty rude here to eat and walk. Apparently, the philosophy is that food deserves respect and should be shown the honor of taking a minute to sit and enjoy it. I think it’s a good mindset, but I do miss having a hot mug of coffee on the way to class. Not that it’s even that cold!

So Christine and I bought beans, rice, green peppers, onions, cheese, avocado, garlic, and I brought my Mrs. Dashes and Tabasco sauce. We also ordered 20 ciapate a little later in the evening (which are like fried, fluffy tortillas) which was apparently a completely absurd thing to do. Our little brother laughed at that request so hard and the lady we tried to buy them from was flabbergasted. We decided it was the equivalent of walking into McDonalds and saying, “Can I have 20 orders of French fries, please?” I bet the stares would be similar.

If you haven’t already guessed, we made burritos with guacamole, but it took like 4.5 hrs. We cooked everything on a little charcoal stove, except the beans. David did those in the cooking hut on the firewood stove. They really didn’t want us to go in there and help him, though, because there was so much smoke and they thought it’d burn our eyes. It was quite the experience making all that food with such limited cooking supplies/utensils. I felt like a child again, especially with Mama Faith getting such a kick out of our every move. The only thing that I didn’t need David to walk us through was the green peppers and onions, which I managed to sauté without assistance. Enoch did try to convince me to add more cooking oil, because they basically drown all their vegetables in that stuff all the time. He had no idea how I was going to get the vegetables to cook when all the cooking oil had seemingly evaporated. It was a pretty mystifying moment for him, I think. These boys (David and Enoch) do pretty much all the cooking in the house while they’re home on break, by the way, so they know what they’re talking about.

The finished product went over pretty well, I think, though personally I wasn’t thrilled with it. Our family was so so sweet, with Mama Faith saying over and over how proud she was of her daughters and how we had been so generous to them and how it was so good and she wanted to eat three more servings. David and Joel did in fact eat three more servings, and Joel couldn’t stop talking about how he wished his stomach was bigger. Our father found it a little bland, though, I think. Apparently our refusal to use the traditional truckloads of salt in the rice and beans did not tempt his appetite. He was very gracious, though, of course, and told us he was very grateful. Overall, it was a great experience and I have a vastly increased respect for the cooks of any household in this country.

Thursday night at the homestay was also really meaningful, because it was our last night. All of us USPers were inordinately excited, primarily to go to the resort of Jinja on Friday, but also to be returning to the comparative luxury and independence of UCU. Mama Faith made Christine and I a great meal of rice and beans and matoke, and the beans even had peppers and onions and tomatoes and all sorts of stuff. It was delicious. But the highlight of the evening was the entertainment. Our father had asked us during one of our first nights there to compose a song for us. He said all their earlier guests had done it and he was very much looking forward to what we came up with (I’m fairly confident this was a sweeping exaggeration of what previous students had actually done). So the pressure was on, and I’m pleased to say we rose to the challenge. Thursday afternoon during lit class I wrote a poem to the rhythm of “Bah Bah Black Sheep” that summarized our whole experience and highlighted each family member. I’d include it here, but I gave it to our family as a gift. I might remember it though and write it down during a boring lecture this week. Anyways, Christine and I practiced on the way home from school and in our room, and I think we managed not to rupture any ear drums. The family was tickled pink to hear themselves in a song, though they understood it better when Mama Faith insisted on performing an encore. That’s pretty typical here, that we are starting to understand the Ugandan’s English really well, but they still have a hard time understanding us. But the song went really well, and I was glad we did it. We also took a family photo, gave them their gift of postcards and “Ferrero Rocher’s” and called it a night.

This weekend at Jinja was amazing- but that story will be told mainly through the pictures I took. I have about 400 from just this weekend, but I’m not going to be able to upload that many. I’ll caption the ones that I have though, so you know what’s what : )