The curse I can't shake...

Sunday Morning 6/24

I just met my teacher at dinner on Friday night. His name is Komokech (komo-catch) Shagold (pronounced like it looks). His first name is actually Shagold, and his Acholi name is Komokech. The Acholi give their children a name at birth which tells of something that is happening around his/her birth or something having to do with their birth. For example, there is a little boy maybe 6yrs old who lives across the street. His name is Munzungo Christopher. You may remember that muzungo means white person. He is in fact a little acholi boy, but he was delivered by a white midwife, so his mother named him muzungo. I think that is hilarious!

Komokech actually means unlucky. Names here are different than in America. No American parent in their right mind would name their child unlucky, but it’s different here. When Komokech was explaining his name to me at dinner on Friday, he said that his name means unlucky, but now that he would work/teach with me his name should be very lucky. It was really touching, and one of those really cool moments. (they come often here.) He actually told me the word for very lucky, but I can’t remember. Sorry.

I met with Shagold again yesterday, on Saturday at Awere. There are 5 American teachers at Awere, including myself. We all walked over to the school, which is really close to where we live. The headmaster, Matthew, gave us a tour, and showed us around. There are some boys who board there, and live there all the time, so there were still some students around on a Saturday. Actually, there was even a chemistry class which was meeting, and there were about 60-70 students present. We all went into the class, and introduced ourselves. It was fun, and all the kids laughed a lot. They were so excited to see us. We then discussed how the reaction of American students would be drastically different if a Ugandan teacher came to America, and how many students would probably just sit apathically in their seats when introduced to the Ugandan teacher.

So, on to the title of my posting. It’s a little more dramatic than it needs to be. Anyway…

When I was meeting with Shagold yesterday, he informed me that he was going to have another child. I was shocked and confused b/c the night before he told me that he had a 4 yr old daughter, and a 2 year old son, and he mentioned nothing about his wife being pregnant. He then explained that he had taken his sister to the hospital the night before b/c she had gone into labor. Of course his sister is not giving birth to his actual son, but here in Uganda, they don’t have a name for cousin or niece or nephew…they are all just apart of the same family. I am also unsure if his sister is married to the father of the child, b/c it seems as though she lives with Shagold. So on Saturday after he and I met and started some preliminary planning, he had to go back to the hospital to see if his sister had given birth yet. It was just ironic and I couldn’t help but think that every teacher I’ve worked closely with so far, has had a newborn baby in his house. So just as Scott, my co-op at Upper Merion, didn’t get much sleep b/c of his son Liam…now Shagold will probably not get much sleep b/c of his sister’s new child. So I guess if you don’t want a newborn baby, don’t sign up to co-teach with me! :o)

Oh, and I almost forgot, the best was that Shagold didn’t know if his sister had a boy or girl. So we both made a bet, and then I told him that sometimes in America people find out the sex of their baby before it is born. He was totally shocked, and definitely looked at me in disbelief. I then tried to explain how an ultrasound machine works (thanks TFI), and how sometimes doctors can tell if the baby is a boy or girl. I am hoping that he doesn’t think American medicine is something crazy and miraculous…but you know, I guess sometimes it is! (right rah rah?)

That’s about it for now. It’s 6am here, but that means it is 11pm back home…so, Goodnight! Good morning!