Home Stay

For the next two weeks, I'm doing a home stay in Mukono, meaning I continue going to my classes and internships during the day (I promise I will post more on those soon!) and at night I stay with a family in the village. I am staying with Godfrey and Faith. They have 5 children, 2 still living at home, an aunt who lives with the family, a couple cousins living with the family, and then some boys from the next door boarding school where Faith teaches who also live with us. Also there is another Uganda Studies Programme student. He's also spending the two weeks with the family.The Ugandan style of life is so different from America, and I know that above all else I learn in these upcoming weeks, the Lord will be teaching my patience, consideration, and maintaining a good attitude.

We have electricity in the home, but no running water. We bathe in a cement hut several yards from the home. We get to bathe with hot water, which is a luxury since I have ice cold showers in the dorms. I love how the Lord can change your circumstances and make you thankful for the small stuff! Our toilet is a whole in the ground, surrounded by a hut and a swarm of flies (remember what I said about God giving me a good attitude?).

So far, each meal has been about the same: meat, matoke (mashed plantains), rice, cooked cabbage, and small, extremely bitter vegetables that resemble shrivled up peas in their appearance that the Ugandans call eggplant. This is also something to be thankful for as it's alot more variety than what we eat on campus. We get fresh fruit between meals, which is awesome! Also, we are served tea steeped in unpasteurized milk, with a layer of butter/cream stuff on top. Now THAT is going to be hard for me to get used to. Apparently, Ugandan custom is to honor the host by eating a TON of food. At meals, we are continually offered more and more,not matter how much we refuse.

The family loves to teach us Ugandan customs. I have to bow to greet my "father" each night, and women sit on mats on the floor to eat. It takes some getting used to, but it's fun to experience another culture's customs. The family also loves to teach me phrases in Luganda (the tribal language in the area I'm staying) and laugh at my mispronunciation. These two weeks will certainly be a learning experience!