Home sweet Ugandan home

The view from the front porch.

“This is it.  If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been,” says Samwise to Frodo as they venture towards an unfamiliar land.  I love this part in the LOTR fellowship movie because it reveals Sam’s willingness to go beyond the borders of the Shire to remain faithful to his calling.  I am sharing this quote with you because I had a moment similar to Samwise:  Yesterday marked the longest time period I have ever lived outside of the country.  It is a strange feeling knowing that this is only the beginning of my journey, yet it is already one of the biggest journeys I have ever taken away from home.

I have successfully completed two weeks of living with my first home stay family in Mukono.  This home stay experience is usually referred to as our “urban” experience, but you would be wrong to think that my “neighborhood” looked like an American suburb.  The location of my home stay would be characterized as rural by American standards.  My family had chickens, used fire/charcoal to cook food, had no indoor plumbing, and had a garden.  The house itself did not have an indoor living area, so I spent most of my time outside on the porch or in my room.

My family is relatively small in comparison to the size of other Ugandan families.  I had three sisters – Judith (who does not live at home), Vivian (14 years), and Faith (5 years) – and one brother – Devine (5 months).  My momma’s name is Monica and she is married to a man named Fred, who I did not have the opportunity to meet because he stays in Mbale for work and will visit every fortnight or so.  It was an adjustment learning the rhythms of Ugandan family life.  While there are overall general characteristics of Ugandan family life, every family is different from the next.  

In my family, we ate tea (or breakfast) in the early morning, lunch around 2:30 p.m., and dinner around 8:30 p.m. with pineapple as the choice snack before dinner.  Lunch and dinner were usually full of food, while the morning meals are much lighter. One morning with my tea, I ate popcorn for breakfast.  My momma loved to feed me the local food and was delighted to have me try “new” foods.  It would often surprise her to know that we had foods like pumpkin or noodles back at home.  She was very thoughtful into the types of meals she would serve me and it was a delight to be able to share in company with her during mealtimes. 

My younger sisters were a blast to spend time with and get to know.  Vivian (or Vivi) is well-mannered, organized, and soft-spoken.  Faith (or Fifi) is rambunctious, free-spirited, and outspoken.  I shared a small room with the two of them and I loved being able to see the relationship between the two of them.  Vivi was great to talk to about the youth of Ugandan culture and Fifi was awesome at teaching me dance moves.

Fifi loves to take pictures!

It was difficult going to school and practicum while living with a Ugandan family because I was busy with work and constantly having to interact with other people.  I love spending time with Americans and Ugandans, but I also love spending time alone and this is not something that you are able to do in small spaces with many people.  For example, my sisters loved to leave the light and radio on at night.  The radio almost always had a man shouting a sermon that would wake me up in the middle of the night.  Sacrifice is necessary to live in community.

One of my favorite moments with my family was cooking them an American meal – pancakes!  Honestly, I was quite frustrated with the entire process of making pancakes for my family.  My momma corrected my methods, my pancakes stuck to the pan, and it took much longer than I had anticipated to cook.  The most annoying part of the entire process was the unwanted assistance from my momma, who thought she was helping.  On a daily basis, I am consistently corrected by others about what I am doing or saying wrong and I wanted to be in control of my "American" methods of cooking.  What did she know about making pancakes when she had never heard of them?  Yet, in the end, I could not have made the pancakes without my momma’s help because I could not use the small charcoal stove or pan.  The process of cooking with someone exemplifies the aspect of living in unison with others and doing life together.  And it is now one of my most memorable times spent with my family.

Making pancakes with momma Monica.

The experience of living with a family is one that is unlike any other.  I am thrilled to be back on campus, but I will miss talking and being with them.  They have taught me many lessons and I am grateful for their welcoming of me into their home.  I still have one more home stay experience (a “rural” home stay) and have no idea what to expect after living with this family.

xoxo,

Emilia

My trip was made more financially affordable thanks to the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship (http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program)!