Black Bird: November 2012

I was kind of anxious for Thanksgiving. Maybe because I would like a change from eating rice and beans everyday. Another reason I was anxious for Thanksgiving was because my mom was sending me a package that contained boxed macaroni and cheese to make for people. The package arrived the day before Thanksgiving. I was surprised to see that my mom put more in the package than I was expecting.

Mac and cheese, Triscuit, Ramen, Tuna salad mix, gum, Tic Tacs, Sunflower seed,

hand sanitizer, deodorant, and 10 Blistex chap stick.

(well I think I am now set on chapstick. Thanks mom!)

This was my second time celebrating Thanksgiving out here. Which means that in the last 10 years I have spent more Thanksgiving out here in Uganda than I have back at home in California. My goal is to make it home for Thanksgiving next year. Anyway, we celebrated by playing football, which Ugandan students stopped and watched us as we played. We also had a big Thanksgiving meal and desserts. Below are some photos of the day.

First, I wanted to say what I was thankful for. I am thankful that God sees me and knows where I am at. I am also thankful for great family and friends that I love and miss dearly.

Setting up teams

Action shot!

I had one touchdown and intercepted a pass for a touchdown... I'm pretty badass

Look ma! The mac and cheese you sent me with some extra cheese on top!

Dinner time!

So that is about it. The students leave in two and a half weeks. The new set of students arrive January 4th. I'm really gonna miss this group. I'm glad they were all part of my Thanksgiving experience.

I have been meaning to write for the past week and a half, but my thoughts and online habits seemed to only focus on the US elections. Let’s just say I’m happy with the outcomes… and so are Ugandans. I have realized that Africans love them some Black leaders. The football stadium here is called Mandela National Stadium. Near Kampala there is Martin Luther King Jr. Technical College. In regards to Obama, there are tons of "Obama" named restaurants in and out of the city. The past two days I have had Ugandans come up to me and congratulate me for Obama’s second term. I say thank you, but I truly don’t know how to respond. This post is not about Obama, this is writing about where I have been the past couple of weeks.

I don’t know how many people know this, but when I was in Uganda in 2006 as a student I had to spend two weeks doing rural homestays in Serere (Eastern Uganda). All students still participate in this adventure. This consists of living in a rural village for a week. No electricity, no running water, no paved roads, huts for your home, and if you want something to eat you go to the garden/farm to get food (talk about organic). For the most part I enjoyed my rural home stay, yet I did have some complications.

I was the first Black student this program ever had. When it came to rural home stays I was paired with another student who was white. At the time, and still now, many Ugandans were shocked that there are Black Americans. I think there might have been some sort of lost-in-translation moment with my host family because they treated me like I was my roommate’s servant, and also their house help for the week. “Tiffen, Tiffen!” were the words heard the whole week that called me to attention and caused me to shudder. My favorite story I tell people about my time there was my host mother Toto Florence (Toto is like saying mother) talking to my roommate and I. “Tiffen, you take a nap and wake up and make orange juice. Holly, you take a nap and wake up and drink orange juice.” The whole week my roommate sat around and talked with the family about being a Catholic and other things while I did chores. I did have a good experience with funny stories and memories. Once the program found out about me being the house help they decided to tell future families that when a Black student is staying at your house he/she is still a student and not house help for the week.

My rural home stay experience was in 2006. Flash forward 6 years later I am working for the program I work for now and heading to rural home stays with the students. As a program assistant I go with the students to rural home stays, but stay in a guesthouse while they are living with their new families. I went to church that week with co-workers in the rural area. While I was there someone sat next to me, well more implied that I make room for her. I looked over and it was Toto Florence. It was so great to see her until she started to remember that I was once her host daughter. “Tiffen, go take communion.” I got up and went. Hearing “Tiffen” still brings a twitch to me when I hear it and causes me to shudder in fear on what I might be asked to do. After service she was talking to me and wanted me to come visit her house (since she is really close to the guesthouse and her brother does coordination for the program in that area). We were all sitting and eating and she said, “Tiffen, I remember you made good orange juice.” Aaaaahh they still remembered. They actually wanted me to make some that day, but her brother said that I am a guest now. So I guess I’ll always be remembered as Tiffen and that I make good orange juice (they even have a picture of me making orange juice from 2006!).

There was some brightness visiting my past host family. They heard that I was looking for sweet potatoes that are orange on the inside (remember that blog post?). They said they have them! Yes! The whole week I was anxious to get them. I was waiting for them to bring them to me. We were leaving on Friday and on Thursday I still haven’t received the sweet potatoes. My co-worker (who was staying with my past host family) sent me a message from Toto Florence the next time he saw me telling me that if I want them I come to dig them up. The only time I have ever dug anything was sand at the beach to build a sand castle when I was little. I have never used a hoe before or have had any concept on how a farm work. I was excited for the task though.

Do you know how hard it is to use a hoe? One of the girls who lives with Toto Florence told me to put “more energy” when I use the hoe to dig into the ground. I could have sworn that I was using energy, but I don’t have Ugandan energy. Yet I kept at it and found an orange sweet potato. Yes I wrote “an.” There were more orange sweet potatoes, but again, I am a failure at farming and only found one. Well I actually only had energy to dig up one. In the end, I got my sweet potatoes! I made a pie, which still kind of looks like the last one I made. I haven’t tried it yet, but when it did try the steamed sweet potato, it wasn’t as dry as the yellow ones. In conclusion, before I move on, I had a great time in Serere and I am glad I got to see my host family again. My co-workers call me Tiffen now. I shudder every time I hear it.

Here are some pictures of my time in Serere...