Home Stay

I've spent the past two weeks or so staying with a lovely Ugandan family. The family consists of two parents, three children ages three, six, and nine, three visiting aunts that are in their late teens to early twenties, and a sometimes visiting uncle who is an adult. The family is very kind and accommodating, each in their own way. My baaba (father) gives excellent Lusoga lessons and lectures on how to clean and purify the local water (he is a water quality control tester). My maama (mother)attempts to find vegetables for me and tries very hard to understand why I eat so little and have such strange food preferences. (No meat?!? Only one egg for breakfast?!? You don't like matooke?!?!?!?) My little sisters love to play with me and sing with me, and basically cling to me at all times. I love it. My aunties (who are younger than me) are endlessly entertaining. When the adults are out, we talk and laugh openly about their opinions of young Ugandan men, and I ask themfrank questions about the role of women in their society, what dating is like here, and what they think of their education system. With my uncle, I talk politics and education and current events all while he's constantly quizzing me on how to say things in Lusoga. I feel very lucky to have a little bit of everything in my temporary family.

While it's still very early to draw any conclusions about Ugandans in general, I will say that they seem extremely welcoming and hospitable. Taking the time to greet everyone you know at length as you walk through the town is of critical importance. One saying here that I love is, "Feel free," meaning, "Please, be at home."

While my evenings are spent with my home stay family, my days are filled with language learning. I have two fabulous instructors who are remarkably patient and good at what they do. They call themselves "sympathetic listeners," and that is exactly what they are. I'll be feeling pretty good about my meager language acquisition in class, thanks to my sympathetic listeners, and then I walk outside. Ha! I instantly remember that I am, in fact, in a foreign land and I do not understand a word anyone is saying to me. It's very frustrating until I recall that I have only had SIX days of language instruction! "Oh, yeah," I think, "it's probably normal not to speak the language yet."

Fun Fact: In Lusoga, there is a single word to say like, love, want, and prostitute.

What I'm Reading: I thought it might be fun (for me) to report on what I'm reading. Mainly, I just want a record of what I've read since my memory for that is poor. Who knows, maybe you're looking for a good book? Normally, I'll just write about one book, but I have some catching up to do...

1. The Rithmatist by Sanderson. * * Love this author, cool idea for a plot, but dumb dialogue and a dumb ending.
2. Allegiant by Roth. * Third book in a trilogy, didn't like it at all, worst ending ever.
3. Flora & Ulysses by DiCamillo. * * * * * (My highest rating!) Holy bagumba, was this a good book! It was surprising and funny and beautiful and full of truth. I loved it! Kate DiCamillo never disappoints.
4. The Tao of Travel by Theroux. * * * This isn't really a novel, but rather a collection of quotes and excerpts by various authors about different aspects of travel. It made me remember why I travel, and why I'm here now. "Travel is flight and pursuit in equal parts."
5. Language Manuals. Just kidding, but that's why I haven't done more reading. That and the fact that I somehow left my Kindle charger in Kampala. :(