Otema household

This post is for Rachel Wrigglesworth (is that not the greatest name ever?). These are the crazy people who have graciously accepted me (being even crazier than them) into their home. Almost half of them dont usually live here, including myself I guess, but they are here for an extended stay of unknown length. I am pretty sure this is true at almost every home in Africa. Guests stay for extended periods of time departure date unknown to everyone.

Alisha

 The youngest member of the household is baby Alisha. She is the daughter of the oldest son, Richard and his wife Constance. Technically none of them live here. I think we should go youngest to oldest. That might be the most confusing method but I like things that follow a simple order. I wish I had lined everyone up in order of height. Hindsight.

Someone licked the kool aid packet

Gladys

This is cousin Gladys. She is from the village and is staying here during the school year. She is supposedly learning English but the only thing she and I can say to each other is thank you and your welcome. We have a VERY polite relationship.

Dorcus

This is Dorcus. She is the youngest child in the Otema family, although technically she is a cousin who has been adopted. But that is just a technicality. Dorcus has the most amazing world view. When we go for evening walks she describes to me how the world works.

Jeoffrey

This is the youngest brother, Jeoffrey! This kid thinks he can get away with way more than he actually can. He is always almost in trouble. Jeoffrey is angry with me this week because I make him do just as much work as the girls in the family (what a concept!).

Grace

Grace is the loudest woman in Uganda! She is 17 but basically the boss of everyone she meets. Most of my Ugandan female friends are fairly soft spoken, at least compared to my American friends and family. But Grace manages to be one of the loudest people I have ever met.

Martin

Also known as OMO

Omo is the strangest person I have ever met! Seriously. Sometimes we have entire conversations in fake sign language. Neither of us understand what the other is saying but they last for like 15 minutes. I think we both get the gist. The rest of the family is jealous. You can't see it in this picture but he is wearing light blue plaid shorts with this shirt. Its the best outfit ever.

Constance Aber

Constance is married to Richard Otema and is mama to the very cute baby up above. Concy is much smarter than I am. Sometimes she corners me and asks me if I know about the problem of the rising rate of inflation and do I know the rate of inflation in America and blah blah economics blah blah math blah blah. Seriously someone smart should come to visit so she can have someone to talk to!

Denis

Denis' angry eyes

To get this picture of Denis I first had to take 30 bad pictures where he is scrunching up his face into what he thinks is an attractive smile. Taking 30 pictures of someone pisses them off, hence the angry eyes. Denis is not a huge fan of the blog. I am pretty sure he has never read it. Which is fair since he has some soccer blog that I have never read. Mutual disinterest. That is how we thrive. He frequently tells me not to put stuff on the blog. The other day we were eating in town and he ordered pizza and milk. I made fun of him because I think that is strange (although isn't that something you do Michelle?). He told me to promise not to put it on the blog. I did not promise. Bwahahahaha (evil laughter).

Richard

This is the oldest in the family. Richard is quiet. And older than me. People who are older than me scare me so we don't really talk much. He is married to Constance.

Mom

Mom works for Compassion. She is very sweet. Her English is a little (very) hard for me to understand. Sometimes she tells me lengthy stories and I understand all of the words but I cant even get the gist of what she means. Dad isn't pictured because he comes and goes a lot. He works far away. He was just here today but I forgot to take his picture. Shame on me. I have a ton of respect for dad. He laughs even louder than I do which is really saying something. This might be the jolliest house is Uganda.

I feel like I am forgetting someone... Seems like we have more people than I actually wrote about. Its really nice to be in a house full of people. Nice and chaotic. :)

- Kels