Oli Otya

• Greetings! I meant to write about this a while ago. Greeting people is very important in this country. How you do it obviously differs from tribe to tribe. When I was in the mountains the family I lives with spoke Kupsabim. The greeting there is so long that you normally only do half of it. You shake hands (in a different way than we do in America) and then you say "Takweno" and they say "Ego" and you say "Chamagae" and they say "Eeh". Basically you ask twice how they are and they answer ok/good. If you are going to complete the greeting there are two different ways that they then ask you how you are. But I didn't learn those. Its too long. Most people don't get to that part. On my last day with my family we had to walk down this huge hill (read mountain). We were lugging all of my stuff plus the many gifts they had given me (pounds of coffee, fabric, and passion fruit). But I had not greeted a few important people in the village yet. So with all of my things in tow we stopped and greeted MULTIPLE families. It was not an option. It was basically you do this or you will be considered incredibly rude. We had to hike up muddy hills and everything. It wasn't like we just ran into these families. In my house in Mukono greeting is not complicated, it is just necessary. Before I leave the house I acknowledge everyone's presence. When I return from school everyone acknowledges me. "Welcome Back". But no one says goodnight. One by one people just start to disappear to their beds. They have an amazing ability to sleep through loud conversations. Anyway if you call someone in Uganda and you don't first take the time to greet them before you ask your question, they will think you are incredibly rude.
  

  
   

• Yesterday was Women's Day in Uganda. I think it is like Labor Day in America. School is out but there are no real celebrations. We had a party at my house. It started as just a couple American and Ugandan students wanting to bake. But it quickly spread and we had a ton of students and neighbors over to share the food. I love cooking in Uganda. It is a huge challenge to figure out how to cook everything over the fire. But I can now make cupcakes, lemon bars, peanut butter chocolate bars, and chocolate chip cookies. Of course there are no chocolate chips in all of Uganda. So that can be a problem. I also love that there are tons of people to share the food with. The neighbor kids, the carpentry guys who set up shop in the front yard, my always hungry family and my starved for American food UCU friends. I love it. I am creating a cookbook for future students of this program.
  

  
   

  
   

• I miss Judson. I am incredibly annoyed with some policies that the school has. As well as some very bad advice I was given that is forcing me to stay in school longer. BUT I miss the people a lot. I know my practicum class has been praying for me and I appreciate that SO SO much. A couple weeks ago I was texting Sarah while she was in practicum. I told her that I couldn't sleep because the rats were being so loud. She and the class prayed for the rats in my room to be quiet. It is such a little thing that meant So much to me. Sometimes my friends here talk about how people at home don't really care about what is going on here. Many people are confused about why we are in Africa. And it is sort of like an out of sight out of mind thing. I guess as I am looking forward in my life and hoping to live overseas I am really thankful for relationships that I am able to maintain back home. And incredibly thankful for people who still care even though I am far away! Love you guys!
  

  
   

• My friends just told me a funny story about two people they just met named Mormon and Mommy. Seriously. Remind me of my friends in China named Do-Do, Pei-Pei, and Wee-wee. You cannot make this stuff up.