Knicker Washin’ Day

Washing knickers is Raelee’s job, one she enjoys doing! (That’s good because I don’t!) We were getting cans of water and Jenifer commented on the cans that were full, she has been filling them in the day. I told her Raelee was washing and she said that was so good, the Ugandan girls are taught early to wash, cook and clean. I’m not sure what they think we do in America, if I start doing work outside everyone wants to do it for me. I sometimes have to wait until the gates are locked to work in peace! I guess they think we are all spoiled, which to an extent we are with dishwashers, washing machines, running water! I told her that we have raised all of our kids to do all things. I didn’t want our sons to find a wife just because they couldn’t wash their own clothes and I don’t want our daughter to find a husband because she can’t put oil or change a tire on the car!

There have been no boys hanging out wanting lunch money so we haven’t had our water cans filled as much, Raelee has been pumping and I carry them in. I have had to stop some of the guys from helping her – I try to explain that it doesn’t hurt her to work. It’s funny that this impresses them when there are 4-6 year old girls here pumping every day! I don’t like being set apart as not having to do work, there is no reason she and I can’t do some of it. They say the other “Americans” didn’t make their kids do any work and I tell them I can’t speak to what anyone else does or doesn’t do, we just feel we aren’t above working hard or sharing the work and don’t want Raelee to grow up feeling like someone else should do everything for her.

English lesson for the day:

Because the British settled here, there are many cultural things that are still influenced by the Brits, but not the same! There are “scones” but they are not like the English scones, they are like our dinner rolls. Fish and chips, some are real battered fish and chips but sometimes it is just regular fried fish and fries called fish and chips. There is tea and biscuits, all cookies are called biscuits. Glucose biscuits to be exact. And tea consists of one dip of the tea bag into the water, five or six tablespoons sugar per cup and a splash of milk. That is if they use black tea like we do, there is a mix of spices some people use as tea that has nutmeg and cinnamon and a few other spices but no “tea” in it. (I use this with pumpkin squash to make pumpkin bread.) So it is basically milky sugar-water! Gasoline is called petrol. I don’t know if this is “British/English” but they call the baton a batoon, beauty salon a saloon. A thermos is a flask. And I’m sure you know what knickers are! 🙂 So added to learning Lusoga, we have to interpret English words as well!