Lost in Translation

Thought of the week:

I want to start out by saying thank you to my mom for giving me this idea for my thought of the week!

Some things are just lost in translation. Sometimes I have no idea what my host family is saying, and sometimes they have no idea what I’m saying. Even though this can be frustrating at times, it has also provided many good laughs. My sister, Faith, has many times told me I “look smart” and that I am “stubborn,” and for awhile I was confused about why she kept saying that. Finally I realized both smart and stubborn have very different meaning in Uganda than they do in America. “Smart” in America usually means intelligent, but in Uganda it is used when someone dresses or looks nice or cool. When she was telling me I looked smart, she was not telling me that I looked intelligent, but rather what I was wearing was cool/looked nice. Similarly, stubborn in America usually means that someone is stuck in his or her ways or refuses to do something. If you talk to my family or friends, they may tell you that I can be a stubborn person, but that is not usually the first word people use to describe me. That is why I was surprised when Faith kept saying, “Anna you are so stubborn,” while she was laughing at me. Turns out that stubborn here in Uganda means that you are funny, or that you are a jokester and like playing tricks. I was relieved when I found out what it meant, because I didn’t want my host family thinking I was a stubborn person.

Here are some other words that have gotten lost in translation:

• When I first said “gotcha” like “I understand you,” my sister Faith thought I was saying “culture.”
• When my sister Fiona says the words “fin,” “fan,” or “fun,” Marion and I have no idea whether she is actually trying to say “fin,” “fan,” or “fun” so we now do hand motions with those 3 words so we know which one she is talking about.
• The power went out one night, and Fiona said she was going out to buy (what we thought was) candy for us. Marion and I were really excited (because who doesn’t love candy?), so when she showed up back at home with candles, we were both pretty disappointed.
• They also have an extremely difficult time saying my name, so they usually just call me Ana (sounds like sauna), but sometimes they decided to try to pronounce it and end up saying “AAAAnna,” and it is actually completely hilarious.

Events from the past week:

Some of the really cute kids from our visit to the village last week!

The Source!

Throughout the end of last week, we finished the sanitation curriculum and went to the Agriculture Show to buy some gifts for our families and friends. The Agriculture Show had a ton of things like seeds, food, juices, games, and tons of different crafts. Marion and I went back to the Agriculture Show with our family on Saturday, and we spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with the other GESI students just hanging out. 

On Monday, we called Omar (the headmaster of the Ravo Primary School) to see which day would be a good day to come to the village to check on the progress of the bath shelters they are constructing. We decided on Friday, and he also informed us that they needed a few more materials in order to complete them. For the rest of Monday, Marta, Rida, and I worked on some journal entries and I skyped with my family on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, because we didn’t have much work to do, and we aren’t going to the field until tomorrow, we went and visited the Source of the Nile. We took a little boat tour to see the source, and we saw a bunch of different birds and lizards. It was kind of expensive, but I was really happy that I went to see it. 

Fisherman at the Source of the Nile!

On Wednesday, we went to the Nile River Resort to lie by the pool and swim. It was a lot of fun and really relaxing too. Today we have been doing work to make sure we are on track with our budget, and we also wrote out a structure for a sanitation club that could be implemented in the school. We are also printing out the finalized curriculum to give to Busoga Trust. We’re excited to go to the village tomorrow to check on the progress!

Nile River Resort!

Note: Although many of you have probably heard that there is an Ebola Virus outbreak here in Uganda, myself and the other GESI students are fine and in good health!