My family loves the movie Pitch Perfect. We might
actually have an obsession with it if you account for every time that it has
been played in our household. I know that it seems strange for me to bring to
the surface one of my family’s many quirks, but it has relevance, I promise! In
the movie, Beca (the main character) says to her potential crush, Jesse,
“You have a habit of making yourself at home, did you know
that?”
I think he responds with an “uh-huh” or something really
profound. If Beca was indeed a real person and we were indeed friends and she
said that very same sentence to me, I think I would also mutter “uh-huh.”
Actually, I’d probably go with the indisputably more intelligent response of
“yeah.” I know, I know. I’m pretty deep.
I think the ability to make yourself at home is both a curse
and a blessing. The downfall is that I almost always feel as though I am having
to leave home and in turn the ones I love. My true home lies with my family in
Allendale and forever will. However, I vividly recall a brutal cycle of missing
home while away at college and then going home only to miss my new college home
with the same intensity. I made it even harder on myself by moving in with the
Ackerman family after college. It is so strange to have the same feeling of
coming home as you drive into a multitude of driveways. It should only be one
driveway that makes you feel that way. Somehow I have managed to snuggle myself
into people’s lives in a way that makes me feel like I am truly home.
A couple days before Christmas this year, I didn’t find a
paved driveway, but I stumbled across a dirt road that would lead to my next
home. You see, out of the group of
forty-some people in our training group, 7 of us would be eventually living in
working in western Uganda. Uganda has a plethora of languages that are spoken
within its borders. The western region speaks two, almost identical, languages
called Runyoro and Rutooro. The Peace Corps requires that we go through 4 weeks
of language training before we head to our final sites. The 7 of us who would
be in western Uganda (Brittany, Madison, Mike, Rachel B, Rachel C, Ravi, and
myself) were sent to Hoima, Uganda to complete our language training in
Runyoro/Rutooro. The Peace Corps also requires that during our language
training, we live with a pre-selected family to help us learn the language and
cultural intricacies of the Ugandan people.
We all were dropped off at a school in Hoima called St.
Bernadetta’s. There, we were ushered into a main hall where some of our parents
awaited us. This is where I met Maama
Akiiki.
**Side note: Those who live in regions that speak
Runyoro/Rutooro are unique. Part of the region’s culture is that when you are
born, you are assigned an empaako, or pet name. The region has a list of twelve
names from which you can choose. My mom’s real first name is Teddy, but she is
known by her empaako, Akiiki, as well.**
We sat and talked for a little bit, exchanging introductions
and all that jazz, and then we decided to head to her house. It’s an
interesting thing to meet someone you are going to live with for the first
time…
Maama Akiiki is a hardworking woman, still strong at age 65.
Her husband, who taught blind students at a nearby school, died in 1999. They had built a home together, cultivated
the land, and raised many children. She
birthed 9 children and five are still living. They all have kids and Maama
Akiiki, at one point or antother, has taken care of all of them. One came with her that day- a grandson named
Pascal. He is 15 now, but he has lived with her since he was 3 months old. I
also found out that another of her grandchildren stays with her. Her name is
Vivian and she is 3 years old. In return for all the love that Maama Akiiki has
given, her family often sends people to come and take care of her. A nephew of
hers, Michael, is 20 and he comes during his school holidays to take care of
the household business. On top of that, it is common for families to have a
house child. Christina is the house child at Maama Akiiki’s. She is 16 and
takes care of most of the household chores and cooking.
I’m diverting… Pascal and Maama Akiiki took me home to meet
the family.
By meet the family I mean everyone in the neighborhood comes
by to see the white person. Most of them thought I was from Germany. They
always think you are from Germany, Italy, or the UK. I gently corrected them in
the little bit of Runyoro/Rutorro that I knew. They showed me to my room, which
in my mind was absolutely perfect and left me to kind of unpack. Unpacking is hard to do when you know you
will be leaving in just a few weeks.
I found that Michael wants to be a doctor someday. He is
maybe one of the most literal people I have ever met (he never got my jokes..)
but he also might be the most helpful person I have ever met. It was like he
could read my mind if I was uncertain about how I was supposed to do something.
Next thing I knew, he was quietly demonstrating exactly what I needed to
do. Christina is full of life. I don’t
always understand the dynamics of a house child with a family, but I do know
that Maama Akiiki is kind and treats Christina like one of her own as well, and
because of that, Christina is light-hearted. Vivian… She is our 3-year old
pistol. She has dimples and knows how to use them! When she is happy, she is
the cutest thing on the planet earth. When she is unhappy, she lets you know,
usually by a glare that insinuates if she doesn’t get her way soon, we are
going to be sorry. I love it. That brings us to Pascal, who is the most
sarcastic Ugandan I have met yet. He is the exact opposite of Michael in
personality and they compliment each other well. Pascal also loves to pester
Vivian. She talks the most when she is talking back to him. He does it
playfully and she would follow him anywhere because of that. Pascal would often
send me in to fits of giggles.
Visitors come and go in Maama Akiiki’s house, but it is
important that I tell you about one visit. Her youngest brother’s wife (please
keep up) came to visit one day, bringing her daughter, Flossy. It is like
pulling teeth to get that girl to talk to you. PULLING TEETH. For a while, I
thought she didn’t know Runyoro/Rutooro or English. Then her mom announced that
she was going to leave Flossy to help with household chores for the rest of
break and Flossy turned to tell me she was so happy that she got to spend more
time with me. After breaking the barrier,
she turned out to be the sweetest girl you will ever meet. Once, when everyone
else was gone except for Christina and I, she asked if they could show me their
favorite dances. Who would have thought?
Beautiful, Jen!
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