A Week's Worth of Updates

We just got back from rural homestays yesterday afternoon, and since there is so many stories, I thought I would just copy excerpts from each of my journal entries over the week…

Sunday, February 22, 2009
…I am staying with the Okol family, and they are of the Teso tribe (which I just learned today have been split by the border of Uganda and Kenya). When I first arrived yesterday morning, I was greeted by Mama, who gave me a tour of the compound. There is one main house made of brick and a tin roof, then there are four traditional mud huts with straw thatched roofs (I slept in one of these). Then down a path, there is a tiny hut as the latrine. They grow many things on their land, like avocados, oranges, mangos, guavas, and sweet potatoes, but since it is the dry season nothing is ripe. Anyway, that first day Father (Stephen) was gone the whole day to attend a funeral. I spent about an hour cracking open ground nuts (similar to peanuts) in silence with the girls that live here, since they don’t speak English. There is a lot of silence here, but its so peaceful…We went to church this morning, where I was welcomed with a song and a “big clap”. I was asked to give a sermon, so I used the passage in 1 Corinthians about the body of Christ. Afterwards we walked into Kyere town to buy some greens for lunch, which of course turned into a several hour ordeal, since we must greet every single person that walks by. I must have met about 200 different people.

Monday, Feb 23, 8:00 a.m.
Last night as I was falling asleep, I tried to imagine being back in America, but it is getting harder and harder to remember what it feels like, especially living in a rural area like this. I kind of feel like I’m in a weird cultural purgatory, where the African culture is foreign (although I’m starting to feel accustomed to it), but if I was back home, the American culture would be familiar yet unappealing…The days here are incredibly long, and I am amazed when they finally end. Here are some random observations:
-chickens/goats everywhere
-donating and selling eggs for church donations
-Karamajong tribe has stole my family’s cattle 20 years ago
-Guests eat meat and eggs, so everyone was surprised to see me carry greens (similar to spinach)
-“snaps” = photographs (i.e. “Let’s take a snap”)
-Had conversation with host dad about Amin. He was fine saying that he was just put in place by God. It was a little frustration to see apathetic attitude about someone like Idi Amin, but I don’t know if its necessarily wrong.
-Passed an empty ginnery that used to be owned by Asians, but they were run out by Amin
-Had terrible dream about being forced to eat a chicken gizzard

Later that day…
I went to fill up their jerrycans with water from the local well, which is about 1 mile away. The sun is brutal here, and I felt like I was going to pass out because I was so thirsty. It really made me remember the people who live in conditions like this, and actually have zero access to water. I just ate lunch while watching a 6” mini tv that Father had hooked up to a huge battery for a couple minutes. They were covering the Oscars. It was very surreal to see that while sitting in the middle of Africa.

Tuesday, February23, 2009 8:00 pm
The biggest spider I have ever seen in my LIFE just ran in front of my feet (Antony stomped on it, thankfully). [Ellen, if you are reading this, I don’t think you could come to Africa…this spider was a monster] If God protects me from getting crawled on by that during this homestay, I will never complain about insects ever again. Ever.
This morning, I left around 10 a.m. with Father to bike ride to a nearby church for a baptism service. The ride was about 30 minutes long, through the Kyere village, and was just wonderful. It was a rough dirt path, with picturesque African bush all around. I was (yes, once again), spur-of-the-moment asked to give a sermon, so I used Galatians 3:26 and told the people that their American brothers and sisters in Christ keep them constantly in their prayers…After the service, Father had to stay around for a meeting with other teachers to talk about a school they might be building in the area. The meeting lasted for a good four hours, with me just sitting there daydreaming, because I couldn’t understand anything that was said. A good description of my experience that came to mind was that it compared to Merry and Pippin’s at the Meeting of the Ents in Lord of the Rings. When the meeting ended, we all rode our bikes to a close home for lunch. All the teachers were astounded that I was eating the local millet bread (which I happen to love. Side note: the best description of this bread is that its crap-colored, snot-textured dough. Don’t ask me why I like it). Father translated for me what everyone was saying about me. He was telling them that I eat all the local food and do all the same house work as the rest of the family. A woman teacher told me that it made her so happy to see white people like me, that learn their culture and assimilate fast.

Wednesday, Feb 24, 2009 ?p.m.
Today I stayed at home the whole day while Father and the children went off to school. I helped my host mother wash dishes, I washed my clothes, went to the bore hole (pump well), and carried the jerrycans on my head for the first time! After lunch, I toop a nap, during which I dreamt I was standing in a parking lot in America, dancing to a Sam Cooke song [interpretations, anyone?]. I think my brain is trying to adjust to the lack of musical stimulation, since I spend so much time listening and playing music back in America. Today, while washing clothes, I tried to sing one song from every Beatles album in chronological order, just to keep that part of my brain stimulated. After lunch I walked with Father to this huge rock formation and hiked up it, and we got a wonderful view of Soroti. I also saw three monkeys! While today was great, I admit I was getting really tired of being white, and everyone making such a big deal over me. I want so much to just blend in, and not make babies cry. . . Just got back from prayers and dinner. I really enjoy singing hymns in the Teso language.

Thursday, February 25, 2009
I can’t believe I have gone almost an entire week without so much as seeing a single other white person or talking at all to another American. Around 5 p.m. I walked with Father to a neighbor’s house (aka a mile away), because the man has really innovative farming techniques. He gave us a tour, and apparently people from all over Uganda (including the government) come to learn from him. He does a lot of cross-breeding with plants and animals and is working on new irrigation methods. It was really interesting especially to see how the people here are taking their future into their own hands and being innovative. I’m about to go to sleep…I am getting picked up at 10 in the morning tomorrow. It’s been a wonderful experience.

P.S. The Teso phrase after sneezing, translated literally, means “grow up”.