A few weeks ago our southwest group left our training site
in Kulika and headed to Kinoni (Che-no-ni) for a month of homestay. Nine of us, plus our two language
trainers along with all of our luggage crammed into a taxi and made the 5 hour
journey to Kinoni. The drive was
beautiful, but very uncomfortable since the conductor of the taxi decided to
come along resulting in me being squished with half a seat. Rarely do you ever get your “own” seat
in this country. My family has been really great- my host father, Reverend
Balaam Katamba, is a retired reverend, although he still works when he gets
called. My host mother, Beatrice, is a teacher in a different city and is gone
Mon-Fri. My host sister Linda, is 18 years old, just finished high school and
will be going to university in August.
She traveled back home from Kampala when she heard I was coming so that
she could prepare meals for me and keep me company…..The dynamics of the
household are MUCH different than what I am used to. Linda does EVERYTHING from
cooking all the meals to fetching water for me to cleaning. The gender roles are definitely very
defined and at times this is hard for me.
I have definitely connected the most with Linda and am so happy she is
around because I think if she were not, my experience would be much different.
I attended church 2 Sundays back with my sister and it was basically an hour
and a half of me having no clue what was going on..i guess that’s kind of the
theme here lately. The service was
all in Runyankore, the language I am currently learning, although Linda tried
to translate some for me.
Everyone in my family speaks English well, which has made
the language barrier pretty much non-existent. I use a pit latrine outside for
a toilet, I take bucket baths outside in a bamboo structure, our house has no
electricity and no running water….so pretty much it’s back to the basics for
me! But I don’t mind and it hasn’t been that much of a struggle because I
really do love my family. There
are also 3 workers who live in separate quarters, 2 males and 1 female who has
a son named Roland. It has taken
some time for him to warm up to me but I am happy to say we are now bff’s! The
dynamics of having workers is also something very odd to me. They do not sit at the same table for
meals as we do and at times it seems they get the “left overs” after we have
taken our share. The workers take
care of the cows, goats, chickens and banana plantations, as well as walk about
15 minutes down the road to get our water.
So my family can say some pretty funny things…here’s just a
few…
Linda: “ I want to be taller and FAT!” (the desire to be fat
here is very real! It is a sign that you can afford to eat well)
Reverend: “ Now that you are my daughter, I REALLY hope you
are planning to marry”
Me: “ Yes, I plan to get married in the future”
Reverend: “I am hoping very much that you will pro-create
because I want more grandkids. And
it would be so nice if you would send us tickets to come to your wedding!”
Reverend: “Eat more! By the time you leave us we want you to
be very fat! Then the whole community will say ah! The reverend has fed her
very well!”
As you can see, he is really taking his “host fathering”
VERY seriously. This past weekend
Linda and I traveled to Mbarara- a city about 30 mins from Kinoni, where you
can find just about anything you need, including American food! I ate a veggie
pizza and it was delicious! My meals thus far usually consist of rice, beans,
cabbage, matooke and sometimes meat. Surprisingly I am enjoying the food ive
been eating at homestay much more than that in Kulika during training! The whole “boot camp” model for
training is really wearing on all of us.
We have no free time and I feel like I have been non stop go go go since
I arrived. Because of this I
think, I got sick a week ago with what seemed to be an upper respiratory
infection, I am feeling much better and am just waiting for the cough to leave
me.
To summarize…. I am learning:
- to be
content with never feeling clean
- to do
“short calls” (pee...you can guess what long call is) in a night bucket
instead of walking in the dark to the pit latrine at night
- to be
ok with not knowing what’s going on most of the time
- to
accept being eaten alive by mosquitoes despite the fact I put bug spray on
all the time!
- (attempting)
the local language, Runyankore and hoping I pass my oral language exam
next Friday!
Here are some photos from homestay…more w/ my family and I and the traditional introduction ceremony to come...
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our crowded taxi to homestay |
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waiting for our homestay parents in the pouring rain! |
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church my family attends |
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The kids love to gather and stare at the muzungus in class |
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my walk to class every morning |
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My family's house |
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where i "shower" |
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my toilet |
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our classroom for language lessons |
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meet Roland |
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kitchen |
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My bedroom |
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The avocados are HUUUGE here! and super cheap :) |
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Jackfruit....im not a fan. |
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Roland and I bonding over kicking the balloon |
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one of our cows |
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view from my yard |
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whacking the beans out |
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Linda and the workers Emmaculate, Charles and Moses |
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Roland and I chillin |
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My sister Linda and I |
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Kinoni |
Hi Sweetheart~ I have enjoyed your new blog, and the pictures so much! I am so happy to hear that you are enjoying everything and adjusting well. All of the pictures are great. I am so glad to meet your Family, through the Blog. Yes I hope that when you get married, This wonderful Family will be able to come to your wedding! I would love to give each and every one of them a great BIG HB Hug!! And please tell Linda for me, that she will make a beautiful bride! She is very pretty! I can't wait for the next blog. Life is very interesting in Uganda. I am saving all the pictures you send in a separate folder, so that I can go back and look at them often. You look fabulous, and happy! And that is what matters! Miss you, Love you! Grandma.
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