The Family We Find

Friday January 13th, 2017

My family had a dress made for me! I feel so special, I never want to take it off! I asked them if I could wear it "ining paraan" (every day) and they said "haha, mam (no). Just for special occasions."

I was standing here, looking in the mirror, feeling special and loved and then there was a knock at the door—it was iMaggie and iFelly, my favorite sisters, and THEY WERE WEARING SKIRTS MADE OUT OF THE SAME MATERIAL AS MY DRESS! SO WE GET TO MATCH TOMORROW (at the homestay farewell ceremony). They looked BEAUTIFUL, and I feel so incredibly grateful to be part of this family. 

I didn't even know I was getting a dress (Toto had mentioned it before, but it always seemed very nonspecific, like a "someday" kind of a thing) until Toto Marion actually showed up today at the school where I go for the Ateso language training with the tailor so he could take my measurements and make the dress before tomorrow. She also brought fabric choices—one that Felly had chosen because she thought I'd like it best... and three more because Maggie thought I should have options to choose from, just in case I didn't like the first one. (I chose the first one, it was absolutely beautiful!)

So when Maggie and Felly came into my room tonight wearing the skirts, I told them that Toto Marion had made sure to tell me that Felly had chosen but Maggie had options, and we all laughed and I thanked them both for loving me. 

I'm going to miss them so much! I know I'll visit often—thank goodness, they only live a half an hour "taxi" (giant van that provides cheap public transport here) ride away from my site—but this has become a home to me and I'm going to miss living here. I'll miss the way Felly says "Wow!" and her eyes get wide and it's so genuine and wonderful. And the way Maggie calls me "dia" (which is "dear," with a Ugandan accent) in her sweet little voice. And every morning—actually, every time Toto Marion walks into a room and sees me, and I say "Totoka!" (my mother) and she says "Kakoku!" (my child) with a warm smile on her face. 

I love this place so much. I honestly can't believe this is my life. 

With Maggie and Felly! 

v

Proud (and a bit nervous) as I gave my family the chicken I bought for them (which will hopefully lay eggs) 

The certificate of gratitude my family received from Peace Corps!

Update: The homestay farewell ceremony went very well! We read the speeches we'd prepared (our language trainer had helped us translate them into Ateso) and sang a song we'd written, and danced together with our families. My sisters wore their matching skirts and I wore my dress, and we were all happy to be celebrating the month we'd spent together in Kumi. 

A member of Peace Corps staff, Lillian, gave a beautiful speech and said that she could see how we'd been accepted by our families and had made an effort to become part of the community here in the Teso Region, and summed it up by remarking that "As we go back we shall not remain the same people." 

I know I still have a lot of time to spend in this country, and I'll be in the East for two years. But I already feel that her words ring true for me—I'm a different person than I was a month ago, before I had the honor of getting to know and live with this incredible Ugandan family. 

Buckets and Basins and Boreholes, Oh My!

Today, after school, I did laundry. 

Back in America, that would have been such a simple statement. But, in my life now, it's a whole event! From what I've seen, laundry here in Uganda is always done by hand, in buckets or basins. It's a bit more complicated where I am in Eastern Uganda, because there's a water shortage. So, water is brought from the borehole in bright yellow jerrycans—20 liters each! (I can barely pick one up, let alone carry a full one!) We pour the water in the first basin, add in our clothes, and scrub with soap—which is bought here in literal bars, they're about two feet long and you cut off a small chunk with a knife whenever you want to use some. After the first scrubbing, the clothes are dumped into another basin for a second scrubbing, and then back into a basin of clean water to be rinsed. 

Luckily, when I got home today I was greeted with my smiling sisters yelling "inacka!" (pronounced ee-nach-ka) which means "my sister!" My two favorite sisters, Maggie and Feli, were already in the courtyard doing laundry. So, I quickly grabbed my laundry and joined in, and we had a great time! As we sat there scrubbing our clothes, they taught me the words for various body parts in Ateso. They laughed along with me as I struggled with some of the pronunciations, and they were proud of me when I remembered the words for "thighs" (amuros) and "fingernails" (abelekeka), which they'd taught me a few days ago. They proceeded to teach me a song in Ateso, one that students apparently sing at the end of the school day to say goodbye to their teacher. We must have been quite the sight: sitting on the ground, scrubbing clothes in basins, and singing children's songs across the courtyard to each other, while surrounded by the plethora of ducks and chickens that wander around freely here. 

And after all of this, my wonderful sisters taught me how to tie my underwear to the clothesline, so that it doesn't fall off into the dirt. 

So.... after school today, I did laundry.

Sitting with my sister, Maggie!