It's official!

There are so many cultural differences and unexpected things that I experience here everyday, so from now on I may begin each post with an "unexpected culture" section. So for today-

Unexpected Culture:
-Our host family loves country music and we listen to it on a radio station called "The Bob" every morning!
-When someone says "You are smart" they are complimenting you on being well-dressed.

As you can see from my previous post, my thoughts are very scattered because of culture shock. I hope that future posts will make more sense as I grow accustomed to the culture and learn to process things here, so thanks for bearing with me in the meantime!

Last night Caroline (the other American student rooming with me) and I were given names from the clan of our host father, the Reverend. So it's official - at my home here in Uganda, my name is Naiga, of the Kob clan, of the Muganda tribe. Reverend said that the name itself does not mean anything in particular but it sets me apart as a member of his clan.

So now, Nalubega (Caroline) and I are no longer visitors but are a part of the family! This means we get to learn how to do various chores like cooking over the fire, washing clothes by hand, and cleaning latrines I'm sure! It is so much less awkward now that we are not guests anymore because we can all be more open with each other. Last night was the first night that the 3 girls in the house, Rita, Grace, and Ema came into our room. We shared stories and photos, and it was just nice to finally connect with them on a more personal level.

I have finally had some classes now, and I can already see that this is going to be an incredibly tough semester, but definitely worth it. Unfortunately, I don't have any classes with Ugandan students, just USP students, but I do have some professors who Ugandan. It is a challenge to adjust to the teaching style and even the accent, but again it is an incredible opportunity to learn from the national perspective.

At this point, I really don't know how I am going to handle the challenge of time management this semester so I could really use prayer for this. I have just as much of a course load as a normal IWU semester, but now I am a commuter, have a family to spend time with in the evening and on weekends, and have very limited resources for books. We don't buy all our textbooks here, we just check them out of the library, but there are only a few copies of each book. I will have to be very disciplined during the day to do all my homework in the hours that I don't have classes, because when I go home I spend time with the family and do my share of the work.

I feel so blessed to be having this experience, but with classes it is simply overwhelming. As I get busier with assignments I definitely won't be posting every other day, but I will do my best to keep you posted.

Prayer requests:
-I am having trouble getting to sleep at night. I get so tired after dinner (which is usually around 10pm) but when I actually lie down I can't fall asleep for hours
-Learning how to show love and gratitude to my family here