Weddings and Celebrations!

As I finish my 3^rd week here I have had the opportunity to attend both a Wedding Introduction and a Birthday party, and let me tell you Ugandans go all out for their celebrations. People in the family start cooking days in advance so that there is an endless mass of food. As I mentioned before, my homestay family has a cake business and the cakes made for these occasions are both elaborate and absolutely delicious. Although in Uganda the “vanilla” cake is actually a brown cake made with real vanilla (not extract) and has raisins in it (it’s less sweet, but the frosting here makes up for it).

My JaJa during the negotiations

Wedding introductions are basically the US equivalent of an engagement party and are considered to be as important, if not more important than the actual wedding itself. In the traditional Buganda culture, the wedding introduction is the time when the bride and groom’s family discuss negotiations for the marriage. The groom must pay the bride’s family a bridewealth in order to marry her. The bridewealth is important to the Buganda culture because it signifies the transferring of the bride to her husband’s clan (which follows the husband’s lineage) and it pays respect to the family who raised and invested so much into their daughter’s upbringing. The introduction I attended was for my mother’s cousin and JaJa was the paternal aunt (who is the representative for the bride in all the negotiations, and basically runs the whole show). The feminist in me thought it was a little weird that the entire ceremony was about the groom’s gifts to the bride’s family, yet the bride herself was allowed to do very little. Until the negotiations are made, the bride must sit on the floor to eat (traditionally men and elders are the only ones to sit at the table) and cannot take part in any of the negotiations regarding her future. After the negotiations are made, she is presented and can join the ceremony with her fiancé. The women wear gomezis and the men wear canzos as traditional dress.

The infamous cow

During the ceremony which was about 5 hours long and in Luganda (so I’m not exactly sure what happened), many generations and family members danced and gave blessings to the groom’s family. About halfway through the ceremony, a stray cow walked in the back and ran into a bunch of the parked cars, setting off a bunch of car alarms. Apparently that’s normal, but my aunties found it hilarious that Maddie (my school friend) and I were so amused. Someone eventually got the cow and tied it down, so of course we did what any normal American would do and took selfies with the cow in our traditional wear. There was also a crowd of village children that came to watch the wedding, but an even larger crowd showed up when they spotted the 2 muzungus wearing traditional attire. There might have been 50 kids watching us take pictures with a cow who crashed a wedding, which to them seemed absolutely ridiculous. The actual bridewealth part of the ceremony was so elaborate, with almost an hour of family members carrying baskets of gifts for the bride’s family. The gifts ranged from cases of soda, to fruit, to suitcases, to a lifetime supply of laundry detergent, some chickens, and even a cow. The gifts filled the entire room, and just as you thought the gifts were finished, ten more would come out. The ceremony was very different from anything I’ve ever seen in the US, but it was amazing to me the tradition that is preserved within the introduction. One of my aunties told me that after this ceremony, the marriage is considered valid in the Buganda kingdom, and some don’t even have an official wedding with a marriage certificate. Ugandans know how to throw a great ceremony!

Bringing the gifts for the bride's family

Yep. That's a rooster (the guy is wearing a canzo)

One of the other students on the program invited all of us to his homestay brother’s 1^st birthday party earlier this week. He also invited me to bring my little sister Grace who was in the same class as his other sibling Amos. After class, we went to the Primary school to pick up Grace and Amos, who were so excited to see us. I have to say that we probably gave them a really great popularity boost because all of the kids were stunned to see their Muzungu siblings, however it kind of looked like we were kidnapping them with the 5 of us walking around with 2 little children (we got some confused looks on the street). The party itself was relatively small, mostly just family and us, but we had a blast hanging out with all the kids and just being together. Birthday parties here are kind of like at home: loud music, dancing, so much food (although it’s Ugandan… I mean matoke food), cake and overall just a time to have fun. The one thing that is very different here is the way the kids are treated. The children are always served last. When it’s time to cut the cake, the kids must walk around and serve cake to all the adults before they are allowed to have any which was super strange to me, especially at a little kid’s birthday party.

Overall it was so much fun and it was nice to have a celebration amidst all the negative outlooks on development we have been learning about in class. Because development is so complicated we are constantly learning about the things that don’t work and the many issues Uganda faces, which makes things very bleak and difficult to come to terms with reality. However, the more time I spend with people here and the more I experience the culture I realize the many things that are going well and right. Despite the corruption of the government, conservative social atmosphere, and poverty that affects so many, the people in Uganda are the opposite of hopeless. They are hardworking, community oriented and overall joyful people. My experience thus far has taught me the many challenges that are in front of me and African development, but has also inspired me in so many ways through my daily interactions.

Me and my homestay mom

Also, I am leaving tomorrow for Rwanda and Western Uganda so I won’t have internet for a week or two but there’s more to come! 

For All the Foodies Out There

Like nearly every other culture, food is very important in Uganda. The days here revolve around sunlight and meals, and everything else works around that schedule. Like home, there are 3 mealtimes, however  breakfast is much earlier (around 6 am) and dinner is much later (between 8-10 pm). The food we eat is determined by what is available locally and what is in season. Since we are on the equator the products grown are very consistent throughout the year. Uganda’s main foods grown are bananas, coffee, wheat, avocado, tomatoes, potatoes, greens, onions, mangoes, ground nuts, rice, passion fruit, popo (a giant fruit that has a strange taste), watermelon, sweet potatoes, jackfruit (kind of slimy fruit), tea, sugar cane and pumpkin. As you can see there is quite a variety of food and everything we eat is locally grown.

Prepared matoke

Bananas are the most prevalent ingredient in food and there are many ways to prepare it in dishes. In the unripe form bananas are called matoke and they are mashed up and cooked (like mash potatoes). Ugandans are obsessed with matoke. They literally eat a mound of it every meal and it is always their favorite food (to me it tastes like bland heavy starch with a strange texture). The matoke is usually accompanied by 2 other starches: rice, spaghetti, bread or potatoes.  This part of the meal is the “food” and the other parts that have flavor are considered “sauce” (beans, veggies, spices etc). Lastly the meat if available (usually chicken, but sometimes beef or goat) is killed just before eating.

Last weekend my mom took me to my JaJa’s house (grandma: pronounced juh juh) to visit with the extended family while she ran errands for her mother. JaJa is the definition of a matriarch and everyone in the neighborhood treats her with great respect. Most of her family is not biological family, but extended family of her “children” that she has taken care of at some point, so they now look after her and work for her. She is like the boss that orders everyone around and supervises (the family has a cake business and sells chickens on the side). JaJa does not speak very good English, but was very kind and we spent hours learning from each other while we sat under a tree drinking tea. As we were sitting there a chicken walked by and I admired it. A few hours later while we were having lunch, I complimented the food and she proceeded to tell me that the chicken I was eating was the chicken I had admired. I was slightly freaked out, but she was so proud of it that I quickly came to terms with it.

Cakes my family made. (All of it is cake!)

The reason they day revolves so much around food is because of the time it takes to prepare a meal. So much effort is placed into each meal, that it is considered very rude if you do not finish your plate. The only problem with this is that the portions are HUGE, like a giant pile of food on your plate and if you are served the food, you must eat it. The meals consist of so much starch and very little meat or veggies, so I’ve had to learn to ask for katano (Luganda for less) rice and matoke with my meal. Even the “salad” here is really coleslaw, and vegetables are not considered food but instead are “vitamins”.  “Food” is that which fills you up and sustains you; vitamins, sauce and meat are additions to the food. Ugandans generally eat so much because many have very labor-demanding jobs which burn a lot of calories, so by the time you get to the meal you are very hungry. Additionally, bigger is better here and people want you to look “fat” to signify that you are well fed. Fruit is generally a snack, dessert or made into juice. The fruit tastes so much sweeter and fresher here, it’s by far one of my favorite things to eat.

This is what the normal meal looks like here

People never eat on the go here and meals are not rushed. Because meals are respected, people must sit down and take their time eating, sometimes meaning that your meal can take hours. If you get street food such as kabobs or chapati (like a pita) you must sit at a table before you can eat it.
The biggest thing I miss from home is the amount of vegetables I can have in a day. Because of this, my friends and I usually will go to the market and by avocados, tomatoes and other veggies to make salad for lunch every day. The food is so fresh, and almost nothing is processed here. Even the wine is Ugandan (although it is passion fruit wine, not grapes), and the beers are all from Eastern Africa.

The most important detail that I forgot to mention is that I can eat gluten here! The way they process gluten is different here and doesn’t make me sick so I am able to eat bread, and anything with flour as long as it is from Uganda. I never used to understand the locavore craze, but now that I am eating only foods that are grown locally I must say that the quality of food is much better and cheaper! 

It's not unusual to see a slab of meat lying around in the living room. (this is a cow thigh)

My Homestay

On Friday I finally met my homestay family that I will be staying with for the next 6 weeks. Earlier in the week we received a questionnaire which gave us info on our parents, how many children, where they lived etc. I was both anxious and excited to meet them and to see what my home was going to look like. Each of the homestays are considered to be middle class families, but the definition of middle class is vague here; your home could potentially be a shack or like my home in Florida. When I walked into the SIT office to meet my family, my little sister was staring at me with the world’s biggest smile so I knew she was mine. I have 6 members in my family. My dad, Moses is an accountant and my mother, Victoria is a secondary school (high school) teacher. They have 4 children: Timothy (5), Grace (6), Elijah (12) and Ann (15) who is in boarding school so I haven’t met her yet (Apparently it is quite common to send children to boarding school so that their child can get the best education possible; it’s like the equivalent of sending our children to private school). We also have a house help (this is also extremely common, kind of like a live-in nanny) named Olivia. My African name is Namoli, which means flower in Luganda. In the Buganda culture each family belongs to a clan and my clan name is Enkima (the red tailed monkey clan!).

 My family lives in the Kyanja zone of Kampala, which apparently was considered bush area until about 10 years ago. When I arrived at my home I was extremely surprised to find that my new home was very nice and even bigger than my home in the US. I even have my own room and bathroom which I’ve never had before. It’s a great feeling to have little siblings. The 12 year old is constantly asking me questions about the US, my life and my interests. He is really interested in science so we have lots of nerdy stuff to talk about. Timothy and Grace are adorable, but literally never leave me alone. Timothy is constantly going through my stuff and Grace is always wants to play rock paper scissors. The first night at my homestay, Timothy kept walking into my bedroom while I was sleeping. At 4 am I woke up to find him staring at me through the bed net and then again at 7am because he wanted to play. I learned very quickly how to lock my door and ask for privacy (otherwise I will always have two little children glued to my sides). My family is very welcoming and they love introducing me as their daughter everywhere we go. My family speaks very good English and they are trying to teach me a bit of Luganda along the way. I’ve noticed aside from many cultural differences, there are many commonalities between us.

There are a few things I’ve definitely had to adjust to in my new homestay. First off, I have to bathe using a water basin (aka a large bowl that I fill with water) and the water is cold (but because of the heat, I definitely don’t mind). The meals we eat are absolutely huge and in this culture you are supposed to always finish your plate. Most of the foods we eat are also starch based and heavy foods, lacking the amount of vegetables I am used to. Because of this I’ve had to start asking for smaller portions and I’ve just accepted that I may gain a few pounds. In Ugandan culture, being larger is considered beautiful so gaining weight is thought to be a good thing because it means you are able to eat well. It was difficult to explain to my family that the standard of beauty is different in the US and I’ve definitely had to adapt to the food. I also have to wake up at 5:30am to get to class on time every day. The jams are so bad that it may take me 2 hours to get to school in the morning. Lastly, the lack of air conditioning has required me to adjust to the heat (about 80-90 degrees), and just accept that I’m going to be disgusting all the time.

I have really enjoyed my homestay so far and I am excited to learn more about their lives and learn more about Ugandan family life. I am blessed to have such a comfortable home compared to other homes that are considered middle class yet don’t have running water or an indoor kitchen. I am going to a traditional wedding this weekend so I will get to meet the rest of the extended family and experience another aspect of life here.

Picture of my home

Picture of my room. (bed net on the left)

Welcome to Uganda!

Hello everyone!
Today marks officially one week since my arrival in Kampala, Uganda where I will be spending the next 4 months. Since I just decided to make this blog, I guess I'll fill you in on the past week. Uganda is very hot. It is the end of their summer right now and we are located right on the equator so the temperature is about 80-90 degrees everyday. When we arrived at our hotel we were welcomed with bed nets and a fan that was broken, still wearing my clothes from the 40 degrees in Atlanta. The heat has been an adjustment, especially because the dress code is much more conservative here (bottoms must be below the knee, and everything must be covered). There are 4 other students here with me for the program and we all get along very well. We learned very quickly that when 5 Americans are walking down the street together we will be stared at and called Muzungu which means white people. Our program directors are all Ugandan and have been working with American students for years so they have been extremely helpful thus far. They focus on experiential learning, which means most of what we learn come from outside of a classroom setting. On the first day we toured Kampala by van and stopped at various locations to get a feel for the massive city (over 1 million, but really 2 million). We went through the basics: mind your bags, don't carry a lot of money, take your malaria meds, don't drink the water, how to avoid parasites etc. This was honestly terrifying and frustrating. After these classes, we felt very uneasy about how we were going to survive the next 4 months, with all the African stereotypes reinforced. However, the next day we began our discussion drinking tea outside in the garden and discussing the opportunities we would have during our research time and all the beautiful things we have to look forward to in Uganda. Knowing that my peers shared the same hopes and fears helped me to feel much more comfortable. Our program directors told us the best way for us to learn was to make mistakes, be surprised (or even a little culture shocked) and most of all process our experiences. Once we began discussing the challenges and the positive experiences we had, we were able to embrace the different way of life here and better understand how life in Uganda works. It was immediately after this discussion that I used my first pit latrine, and I'm happy to say it was not a disgusting experience.

Exploring the city has been very exciting and has allowed me the opportunity to make mistakes and learn valuable lessons. During our first day without a guide in the city, we met a man who offered to show us his favorite restaurant in the city (we found out it was probably his cousins business). We followed him for 20 minutes until we arrived at a hole in the wall upstairs room in the middle of the market (look up pictures of a Kampala market to see). The 5 of us were given enough food for 20 people and had a delicious meal experiencing what we considered to be "authentic culture" (the other Ugandans took our leftover plates and began finishing them). When we were ready to leave we asked the owner for our bill and he told us 100,000 shillings (the equivalent of $8 a plate). We were shocked, but thought this may be normal so we paid and went on our way. When we got back to our classroom discussion we told our Director about our wonderful lunch. She started hysterically laughing and told us that the meal should have cost us 25,000 shillings max. At first we were humiliated, but we realized that this meal allowed us to learn a lot from the people around us, we had great food and we now knew how much lunch should cost and when to tell if we are being overcharged. We learned how easy it can be to be taken advantage of, but we also learned that this is human nature; to use someone else's available resources to benefit your self.

Although I have spent much of my time studying Africa because of my interest in public health, I am now fascinated by the way Ugandans act and care for one another. Everyone is family, tied through the kinship that is humanity, and everyone who shows kindness receives kindness. The people here understand what it means to be apart of a community and the essence of hardwork. I can say with great reverence that compared to most of the people here, I have not truly learned what hardwork is because they have to put in way more work to ensure success than I do. I hope that this program will help me to better understand a culture different than my own, take a break from the craziness of school and dispel some of the preconceptions people have about Africa. Some of the previous research conducted by students has been used to change public health policies, start government initiatives in Uganda, gained sponsorship from the Clinton Foundation, and provided careers for students at big name NGOs. Needless to say, I'm excited to know that the research I will be doing will serve a purpose greater than my own. My time so far here has only solidified my reasons for wanting to study abroad and go to Africa. Uganda is truly a beautiful place!


Random things I've learned so far in the past week:
1. There is always a Muzungu price when you are buying something in a market. If you don't bargain, you will pay way more than it is worth
2. Ugandans say hi to everyone they see, they will stop and ask "how are you?" in the middle of the road to a random stranger. They are never to busy to greet others before carrying on with their day.
3. "Africa time" is real. (see number 2)
4. There are massive pelican/vulture-like birds called Maribou Storks that live in the city (we call them pterodactyls). Their poop is toxic and you should avoid the falling white stuff at all times
5. There is really no poor areas or rich areas here. You may have a modern skyscraper in one place and a plot full of shacks directly across the street
6. If you tell someone you like their chicken, it may end up being the chicken you eat during your next meal. Basically, don't compliment anything that may be edible.
7. The "small plate" is usually enough food to feed 3 people
8. Uganda is a dirty place. I say that meaning, there is a lot of dirt (it kind of looks like clay) and the environment is very dusty in the city. However, Africans are not dirty, they are in fact very clean. They are  always washing their hands, and we could learn a lot from their sanitation skills.
9. Ugandans dress very well. You will see almost everyone dressed in their business attire despite the disgusting heat and dirt roads. You can never tell if someone is very rich or poor based on their dress. (I have seen men walk out of their shack home in fancy suits)
10. Every person has 30 cousins. (only some of them are real cousins) but regardless every woman is auntie and man is uncle.
11. There is always music playing somewhere
12. Don't expect to find air conditioning anywhere. The breeze is your best friend. And so is sunscreen
13. I have already found 3 restaurants with Obama in the name and a mural. They like Obama.
14. Almost everyone in the city has a mobile phone, some have multiple phones and numbers because they are prepaid phone lines.
15. Every Ugandan loves matoke. If you don't like it, then you don't like food.
16. Beware of the Jam. You think you have seen traffic before. You were wrong.
17. Boda Boda fellows (motorcycle taxi drivers) are everywhere. They will hit you if you are in their path.
18. Pedestrian Crossings are Zebra Crossings
19. Ugandan wine is Passion fruit wine. It's very strong.
20.  We're not all that different. Despite all the stereotypes we hear about Africa, it is very dynamic and diverse. Even in Uganda their are over 50 different ethnicities with many different ways of life. Much of Ugandan life is similar to a typical American life.