Tori and Cyndi's Sweatshop

I have officially survived my first full weekend as an African daughter. Though I was nervous about it a week ago, by Friday night I was excited to have the weekend at home with my Ugandan family. Slowly by slowly I have been becoming increasingly comfortable and closer to each of my family members. I was excited to see how they spend their days when Cyndi and I venture off to school each morning.

Saturday morning started around 8:00am. Our first order of business was laundry. My sister, Sarah, quickly assembled the four buckets of water we would need for this lovely chore. I must say I failed quite miserably, even with previous bucket washing experience, in comparison to Sarah’s amazing skill. I think she could outwash me ten articles of clothing to my one. My sister, Kevin, discovered the joys of my digital camera and carried it around everywhere, talking pictures of me, the clothes washing, our house, our siblings, herself, random children of the neighborhood, and so much more. It was interesting to look back through them all and try to figure out what, when, and where.

We had morning tea at around 11:00am. The milk tea that is so common to tea time here was the same as always…not exactly my favorite but not something I have to force down. But then I had the opportunity to try something new…a samosa! At first glance, they look like a triangle of deep-fried wheat bread, which is basically what it is. However, when I asked my family what it was, they said it was wheat with peas in the middle. Awesome…I basically despise peas, to say the least. But rather than insult them, I smiled and quickly took the smallest looking one. Not a minute later, I was silently kicking myself for that choice. I absolutely adore samosas! Even more than chipati…which is saying something. The stuff on the inside of the perfectly crispy fried bread didn’t taste like peas…it tasked more like beans and onions. In some ways, it was like eating a bowl of nachos in a tiny triangle of friend bread. So delicious!

Cyndi and I also got to help Sarah (pictured here) make matoke for dinner, which we ate at around 2:00pm. Our job was to cut the peels off the plantains. This might seem pretty straight-forward. However, when you have two very dull knives and a bunch of sticky, un-ripe bananas, it becomes a pretty interesting process. It was definitely fun though, mostly because Sarah and Kevin laughed at/with us the whole time.

The rest of the day was spent resting, as Mamma instructed Cyndi and me to do. She still tries to treat us as guest sometimes, and that was one of those times. So I spent the afternoon catching up on sleep (which was so wonderful!), reading, and journaling. It was very restful, which made Mamma very happy. She’s so funny.

Sunday morning, we went to an Anglican church near campus. I absolutely love watching Ugandans’ worship Daddy God. They are so happy about Him and aren’t afraid to show their love for Him. I really enjoyed going to the Cathedral, which is what the church is called. The pastor was passionate and knowledgeable. I learned so much simply from listening to his voice and watching his joy.

Sunday afternoon was spent much like Saturday afternoon…resting. Luckily, Cyndi (pictured here) had a brilliant idea to offer to hem some clothes for the family. It wasn’t long before I had joined in. Our family, specifically my brother Sam, had so much stuff that needed sewing. Cyndi and I joked we had opened our own sweatshop as more and more articles of clothing in need of patching appeared at our feet. It was good to feel needed. Being a guest has been nice, but I can’t wait until we are fully family rather than the white sisters that don’t do anything.

And now a new week has begun. I wonder what it will hold!


** The video below is a few of the little kids that live next door to me. Sarah told me they were playing wedding or something. If you watch all the way to the end, which you should because it's not too long, you can see the point when they realized I was watching them. They're so cute!