Part Three: Extra-Familial Activities

This last section in the 3-parter is going to hit on life away from the fam. Namely a few of the events that I’ve experienced in the Ugandan culture.

WEDDING: I went to a Ugandan wedding last weekend and Henry told me that we would “sit and sit, and yawn and yawn, and then sit and yawn some more.” That almost exactly describes what we did and the thing I remember the most was how darn uncomfortable those benches were! We were supposed to leave for the wedding by 11:30 and get to the wedding by noon, which was when it started. Well these times were all meant in African terms of time. We left at 12:30 and the wedding didn’t start until closer to 2. The ceremony was almost exactly like an American wedding. It had all the same elements except they just took longer, a total of 2 and a half hours. It was all in Luganda, but Rita translated bits and pieces for us. Even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying I took in the incredible plethora of colors that everyone was wearing. The women wore the traditional gomisi’s with the poofy shoulders (that’s the best way I know how to explain it) in the most beautiful display of a rainbow I have ever see. My ears were also satisfied by the incredible choir that provided the music. I recorded a couple of the songs because they were beautiful, especially when they sang the Hallelujah Chorus! Another element that I found really neat was that they had the older generation come up and pray for the couple during some worship time and they had all of the mothers in the house form a tunnel that the bride and groom walked out through and held out their hands to bless and pray over the new couple.
After the ceremony was the reception and that was in the building next door and the benches were only slightly less uncomfortable for someone wearing a skirt. We had to wait for a long time before the bride and groom showed up after their pictures. When they got there then they started serving sodas and eventually got to cutting the cake of which we all got to sample a bite sized piece of. After that was the speech making and I think everyone and there dog got to speak! That might be a slight exaggeration, but it went on and on. An extremely shy girl probably around the age of 12 sat next to me and as the reception progressed she got closer to me little by little until she was just touching me and then leaning on me and then holding my hand in my lap. We didn’t exchange any words, but sat like that for the three hours we were there as I interacted with Rita and everything else going on around. Looking back on that time I realized how much I loved that interaction. Instead of having a child come up to me and want my full attention, be shy and wary of me, or start spouting off every English phrase they knew including “give me money” she just was present with me and even when I would interact with her she would answer simply with a giggle and a smile. Near the end of our time there the sun was setting so I turned to her and then looked at the sun and said “bye, bye omusana” (sun) and she quietly laughed for like 10 minutes. I’m not sure why, but it was so encouraging to me.
CHURCH: So my dad is the associate pastor of Sts. Peter and Andrew Cathedral Church (Anglican) just up the road from my home. We went to the English 8:30 service and walked into a church that looks much like what you’d see in America. The crowd was mostly the younger generation because they are the ones who know English comfortably. We sang some songs in Luganda and English and it was a mix of contemporary music (Blessed Be Your Name) and hymns with a band. I felt right at home in the worship because it felt like what I was used to, which surprised me a lot actually. The Anglican church is so much like American church and I wasn’t expecting that at all. It was a little bit more liturgical than at home and they had many more times where they led prayers or times of intercession.
Sunday is my favorite day in the States and that hasn’t exactly changed here either. It is a kick-back-relax day to the core here. After church you normally go visiting all of your friends and relatives or just putter around the house and possibly take a nap. The only thing missing is the FOOTBALL! If any of you have different updates or news from that wonderful game I’d love to know! I think I miss football more than a good pair of sweatpants!

From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16