Runyoro/Rutooro Language Class

Here are a few pictures from my past week in Kyenjojo. Language training and homestay have both been a tremendous challenge for me. A week and a half to go!

Here are the nine of us that will be serving in the western part of Uganda. From left to right: me, David, Tom, James, Becca, Hope, Coy, Katie, and Danielle. We will be spread throughout the region, but I think remaining within an hour or two of each other. It is a wonderful group and I am thankful to have their support during this portion of the training. The language is getting the best of me and beyond simply greetings, I am lost. In all honesty, it's a difficult language because it's a spoken language, past down through the generations (not taught in schools), and I'm not the only one struggling. The grammar, spelling, and pronunciations are bizarre. 

These are some of the girls from my homestay family. They are playing with a deck of Uno cards that I brought from the US, but they prefer to play some kind of matching game rather than the actual Uno game. I tried to teach them the real game, and they will play it with me, but left on their own, they play the matching game. I think my homestay has been difficult because there are so many girls coming and going. They are all orphans and bounce around from homes to shelters. There are about ten regulars at the house that I have gotten to know, and another ten that may look familiar, but I couldn't tell you their names or backstory. The parents (pastors and the founders of the actual shelter that houses 90 children) are rarely home either, so the girls fend for themselves and do their best to take care of me. They are very sweet, I'm just overwhelmed!

My new yard pets. I'm enjoying the chickens that run around. It the comic relief at the end of a hard day in language class. I hope to have a few when I get to my own home. 

This is Moreen. She came to the home at age 11. She is now 20, finished with school, and stays at the house to do the cooking and cleaning. I would be lost without her!

I saw this bamboo fence while walking around the neighborhood. I thought it was well made, very pretty, and a welcome relief to all of the barb wire strung up around here. 

Ugangan cake... Can you tell from the picture how horrible it was?!!! Hard and dry. That was the worst cake I have ever eaten. We went to a wedding and there was one if these cakes on every table. The Ugandan guests seemed to be enjoying them. It was only the table of American guest that were unable to choke it down. 

This was a fountain at the hotel we stopped at before the wedding. A monkey spitting water! The bride and groom actually got pictures taken by the fountain. Now that's class!

I'll finish with a beautiful pineapple plant. There are two kinds of pineapples here; the one found in our US grocery stores and a smaller, sweeter one. The fruits are the only saving grace for me as far as food is concerned. I will have to do a blog entry at some point on what the locals eat. Hint... Don't come to Uganda for the food! You will be crying for home by the week's end.