Family, Food, and Fun!

When I sat down to name this new post I was going to name it the 3 F’s and then I realized that that could be a little misinterpreted. Way to go Kiersten, nice job thinking that through (it’s a new character trait I’m trying out ☺)! Since this post would be as long as nose hair of an elephant if I included all three of those aspects I will have to do it in parts.
Part 1: My Family
Reverend Musumba Henry: This is my father. He’s about 32 I think so I don’t call him Dad because he would have been 12 when I was born…. so I call him Musumba or Henry, but I’m thinking about trying out Rev next! He’s the associate pastor of the Anglican Church just up the road so he’s a busy man. We have a lot of visitors come in that he calls brothers or sisters so for a while I thought his mom really took to heart the verse “be fruitful, and multiply!” However, that is not the case (she only had 10 :P), they are all people from our church.
Oh, let me explain something before I go any farther. In Uganda when a baby is born they are given at least two names. A Christian name (Henry) and at least one, but often more than one, Luganda name (Musumba). There is no such thing as a last name. Your Luganda name does indicate what tribe you are from. My name here is Nalubega Kiersten. The other interesting thing about family connections here is that they don’t use words like cousin or aunt much, just a lot of sisters and mothers so I never know exactly how I’m related to anyone. All right, onward…
Mama Irene: Irene is my mother and she is very quiet and a little more reserved so I never quite know how to be around her or whether or not she looks down on my impromptu dance parties or not :S However, I don’t really get a chance to find out because she is doing her residency for nursing in Kampala and so can only come home every third weekend or so.
Uncle Kaagwa Elisha: This is Henry’s younger brother…and I mean younger. He just turned 17 so I don’t call him uncle. He’s quite the character though! He was super awkward at first and when he would talk to me his voice would hit an unnaturally high level! He’s still learning to master English yet too so sometimes my comments are lost in the space between us. He has a great laugh and a huge mouth when he opens wide…. I wonder if they are correlated?? Elisha does a lot of work around the house and cooks a lot and Henry tells me that he’s a better cook than most of the boys his age.
Aunt Ncato Rebecca: Again this is one of Henry’s younger siblings, but she’s a little older…she’s 18. Rebecca is probably the one I connect with the least in my family because she doesn’t speak a ton of English and she is always cooking or doing something around the house so I can’t just sit down with her and chat. One day my roommate Stephanie and I were learning her Luganda name and Stephanie sometimes has trouble repeating the same syllables so instead of saying Ncato she said Ntaco, everyone in the room busted up with laughter including me because in Luganda taco means butt! That happened last week, but every time someone visits or we meet someone that is one of the first stories that is told followed by tears because people laugh so hard! Rebecca headed of to boarding school the other day though so I won’t see her until the end of November again.
Rita: Rita is a boarder at our house. She goes to the school near our house and has stayed at Henry’s during the school year for the past couple years. She’s 19 and has one semester left of high school. She speaks English very well and is probably the one I connect with the best. We are becoming quick friends! She’s beginning to get the hang of my humor I think and we teach each other dance moves at night to Bob, the country radio station. Nothing like a little line dancing to Cotton Eye Joe in Africa
And now for my favorite…
My little Brother Enoch: This is the two-year-old joy in my life! He is the master of the house! He is really good at the fake cry to get what he wants and most of the time they give it to him. He can’t speak a whole lot yet and the words he does know are in Luganda, but laughter and enjoying each other’s company does not need any of those silly languages. When I get home he comes running up to me when he sees me and blabbers and leans on me with his arms up until I pick him up. It’s probably my favorite part of the day. I really love to offer this service to him except when he su-su’s on me!! There is no such thing as diapers for this boy and he is not potty trained so when I was holding him and thought I was getting sweaty I discovered that he was using my shirt to help soak up his pee! He also finds it very humorous to walk into my room without his pants on, stare at me, and then let flow all of his pent up liquid all over my floor or any other floor he is standing on! The term “go with the flow” has taken on new meaning for me! I found this hysterical, but then when I found out that my family just lets it dry on the floor…. Hahahah, I might try this myself when I don’t want to walk out to the squatty. Don’t worry, almost every morning the floor is washed…almost every morning ☺ Last night, after supper, Enoch fell asleep in my arms and I almost started to cry because I just felt the pure emotion of love for this little baby and contentment as we just rested there. I also realized what a beautiful picture this was of how content and safe I can feel and rest in my God’s lap. He could fall into a deep sleep and completely relax in my lap because he trusted and knew me. Oh if I too could trust and know God with such completeness.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. Psalm 103:13