Shabbat with the Abayudaya

Alright, now for the long awaited (at least by me) Shabbat post.  It's a long one...

Friday morning we decided it would be best if Becca (who apparently spells his name Baker, who knew?) took me to the community so that I wouldn’t be picked up by a stranger.  In order to make everyone more comfortable with the situation, he would go with me and check out the place before leaving me there.  We did not have exact directions, so we ended up stopping every so often to ask which direction to go in.  Oh, we figured out that the place where the Abayudaya live is called Putti village.

It was actually a really nice ride, chatting with Becca about life and people.  Apparently when I hurt my knee he wanted to take me out for a drink cuz he felt bad but knew he couldn't since we're not allowed to drink.  We made a lunch date (though without a real time...) which I'm excited for.  We'll have to decide when to go for that.

Anyway, we arrived and were warmly welcomed.  It turns out that Becca went to school with Enosh, the man I have been e-mailing, who is also apparently the rabbi of the community.  He and his wife, Shirah, greeted us and we sat for a while talking.  Enosh explained how they have different donors funding different projects.  One donor helped them build a well closer to the community, since the old well was a long walk (I think 2 km and that would just be to fill one jerican of water).  Due to the donor, they were able to build their own well and have I think three water tanks very close by.  They are even able to use it for drip irrigation, a concept invented by Israelis that helps water farms efficiently.  Now they even have too much water (which is not actually a problem) and can provide for the whole community.

In addition, they had a donor who wanted to build them a new synagogue.  As I understand it, this donor died when the foundation was built, and his brother took on the project.  When the basic building was completed, however, I believe that the brother died as well.  Now they have the structure, but are still working on putting in windows and doors and some of the internal structures.  Actually, on Sunday, I believe all of the new pews came in on this truck which was pretty cool.  (They have a good collection of siddurim, prayer books, and other Jewish books, and they have enough talit katan, but they only have 12 sets of tfillin for around 40 people who would wear, they also would like to have more mezuzahs to hang on door posts, two projects which I think I will try to work on.)

Not the best picture, but here's what the front of the synagogue looks like.  The Torah is in that black box.

The men's section

The big brick one is the new synagogue, and the small one is the one they still use.

The inside of the new synagogue.  That section to the right of the photo will be the women's section, and the big block will be the bima.

The new ark (and the rooms on the sides are to keep the siddurim.

They also have another donor working on building them a hospital (a small one, more like a clinic), where Shirah would like to work as a junior midwife when she finishes her schooling.  They hope to have dental care, care for pregnant women, and one other type but I forget what.  They also wish to build a toilet, so that it will be cleaner than the latrine they have right now (which I was correct, it was a hole in the ground... yay for squatty potties).

In addition, they have a single school room.  The Jewish school just opened and they already have 15 students, so Enosh would like to expand it, since they will probably get more.  He thinks that there are ten people he can get to come and teach.

The schoolhouse with the solar panels

With all of these projects, they already have a small guest house, a house with a bedroom for Enosh and Shirah, a nice sitting room, and a nice guest room with two mosquito netted beds (where I stayed).  There is also the old synagogue, an old building that is used for storage because it is too old and not safe for people to stay in, and a small cooking building (I think there may also be a room in there for the kids who stay with them).

Enosh and Shirah's house

The guest room I stayed in

The guest house

The kitchen building

Oh, someone also paid to put in solar panels so they can use solar power, which is pretty cool.  I think it may just be in the school room and their house.

Anyway, now that I've described the place and plans, I will describe my time there.  I'll start by saying there is obviously only one of me and many of more than just one person in the community, so I struggled a lot with names, but I will try my best.

Shirah and Enosh have four children, three of whom are away at school, so only their youngest, JJ (I think?) was around.  I'd say he's maybe 3 or 4?  He's adorable and I think decided he was my husband while I was there.  He spoke to me all weekend but all I ever understood was when he'd call me muzungu... other than that I just nodded and laughed and pointed and talked to him in English...

They also both have many siblings.  I spent a lot of time with Shirah's younger sister, Miram (pronounced Miriam, like my sister) who took the place of my sister for the weekend, though she is 19.  She is trying to finish the senior grades and would like to go to university to become a doctor, but she currently cannot afford to finish her schooling.  When all of the women heard about my work in Namatala, they all said that they wanted to be a part of it, though I sadly do not think I can make that happen.  They do, however, make kippot, and I am wondering if I can find a way to help them sell them in the U.S. to possibly make more money.

So Friday afternoon I walked around taking a few pictures.  Shirah showed me around a bit, but then had to prepare for Shabbat.  She makes her own challah, which is pretty similar to ours (not like the sweet kind), but it is made in the bottom of a pot, so it comes out round.  I asked if I could help with anything, so they brought me a knife to help peal potatoes, but I was too slow, so Avaran, one of the boys in the community (he's 20) took over.  He then showed me around a bit again, and opened the box that they keep the Torah in.  It is a nice Torah that someone donated, but until they build the ark in the new synagogue, it needs to stay in the box.

Shirah

Making Challah

Miram then took me out to visit her friend who lives nearby.  It was nice walking through all of the farms and seeing the nature.  Her friend was very welcoming, though they did not speak any English.  We visited a few times over the weekend.

Oh, yet again, as a visitor, they fed me CONSTANTLY.  It is very nice, but my stomach really just is not that big.  Before Shabbat began Shirah told me that she was worried I would get hungry, so she gave me this three layered box thing with potatoes in one, fish in another, and I'm not sure what was in the third.  Anyway, talk about being stuffed... and this was before dinner.

When it came time to light candles, it turns out that the person Shirah sent to buy candles had forgotten, so she split one she had in half.  Unlike us, they cannot afford to stock up on candles, so they just buy one each week.  Since I had not known what to bring as a thank you gift, I decided at the end of the weekend to buy them a stock of candles so they will hopefully have for a while (though Avaran ruined the surprise and told Shirah).

I am not sure if they have a light in the synagogue generally or not, but there wasn't this week, so we prayed Kabbalat Shabbat by candle light.  It was nice seeing everyone dress up a bit, and also seeing how many people showed up.  I'd say there were around 15 men and 10 women and of course lots of children.  It was cool how I knew most of the tunes, though some Enosh composed.  I really liked their L'cha Dodi tune, which apparently Enosh made and was pretty easy to catch on to (I wish I could remember it now....).  It was neat hearing them all recite the prayers, some better than others.  There were some words that I'm not sure they had exactly correct, but it was still amazing to see how similarly they practice Judaism to how I'm used to.  The shul we were in does not have a mechitzah to separate women and men, so they just sit on opposite sides of the room (though it's pretty small so everyone is still close).

After praying, Enosh gave a short d'var torah (sermon) about this week's portion of the Torah we read.  He just gave a brief introduction, finishing Saturday morning.  He spoke in English and one of the guys translated to their language (it's a whole different language yet again.  Apparently we were outside of Mbale district, in Palisa).  Then different people got up to speak, mostly to welcome me.  I was then asked to speak.  As anyone who knows me knows, I am not much of a public speaker... Thank goodness it was dark.  I stood up and basically just explained how I got to the be there and I was excited to be there and glad they were so welcoming.  I kept it as brief as possible without being rude.

We then went back to the house for kiddush, the blessing over wine.  They had a bit of wine that they poured in with some other drink... I'm glad Enosh warned me and said I didn't have to drink the whole cup they gave me, as whatever it was tasted very strong and I was not a fan.  I took a tiny sip then passed it on to people who actually liked it.

The challah was very good, and then I sat down in the sitting room with some of the men to eat.  I always love eating with locals instead of always with Americans, in order to see how they eat.  Here, it's all finger food.  They take a bit of whatever starch they have (in this case a lot of posho and millet dough) and scoop up whatever they have with it (beans, small fish, eggs, tilapia).  They seem to eat all with their right hand, washing it before and after eating.  It was cool trying to eat the same way as the locals all weekend.  While we did not have meat, it turns out that two of the men (Tofa? and Moshe) were in Israel last year, and learned to be shochets (to kill animals in a way that makes the food kosher), so once in a while they kill chickens and can have meat.  This weekend we did not, which I think was probably better for my stomach, because meat after not having any for a month may mess up my stomach.

During dinner Enosh told me what he had learned about the Israeli flag, that the star pointed up and down to the heaven and above and the earth and below and to the four corners of the earth.  He also told me that the blue is for the sky and the water and the white is for the in between.

After I finished eating, Enosh told me I should go sit outside with the women.  There was no light out there, but the moon was so bright it was easy to see.  I love when the moonlight is like that and you don't need flashlights and the lighting is just beautiful.  Yet again, they put food in front of me and it was rude not to eat... so I tried having more.  The women are very cute and sit and chat and laugh a lot.

I'm not sure what time I went to sleep, but I shared the room with Rachel and JJ, who slept in the other bed. I was funny because when I got into the net JJ came over and stuck his face up close, which he then did again the next morning when he saw my eyes open.  So much for trying to go back to sleep.  This was definitely not a place to sleep in.  Right when sunlight hit the rooster ran around waking everyone up, and once everyone started waking up the noises began.  Time wasn't really a thing though, so I have no clue what time it was when I got out of bed.

Enosh had gone into town to pick up Cara, a Kampala U.S. Embassy worker who had come to visit.  She mostly only stayed during shacharit (morning prayers).  I tried to give her a siddur with an English translation, but then the page numbers were different so she ended up using the all Hebrew Koren (one of my favorites), despite being unable to read it.  The service was pretty typical, though they read the haftorah in their language, which was interesting.  Avaran explained that the book they read it from was the one translated tanach they have.  It's cool they have any at all though.

After services we went outside for lunch.  I was sitting with the men again, but when I had my fill (of lunch) I went over to join the ladies (who again fed me more... I ate that maize so slowly so they wouldn't try to give me any MORE food).  We spent a long time talking about businesses and marriage and children.  They told me I should marry a Ugandan man and that some of them want to marry American men.  A lot of the weekend they asked me why I wasn't married, if I had a boyfriend, when I would get married, how many children I would have.  They found it strange that I have only one sister, and kept telling me I'm the most loved since I am the younger.  They said it like it's fact out here, that the youngest is most loved.  It was fun talking about family though.  Miram told me she does not want to be married until she has her own job.  They also talked a lot about my hair and how long it is, and how their hair breaks when they try to grow it but a bunch of them would like longer hair.  Honestly, I think long hair is pretty impractical out here, and I wish I'd had a shorter haircut before I came.  It was nice just sitting under the trees and chatting, while the men played checkers under the trees (they also had chess but don't know the rules so they just use the pieces to play checkers).

After a while, Avaran and his brother, Moses (who I think is 28 but I was a bit confused and I no longer understand if they're actually brothers, I'm starting to think not), invited me to take a walk with them to their home.  It wasn't so close but not too far.  It was in another village, I think called Nasinye (something like that).  There were boulders out by where they live, and they kept telling me I was too weak to climb, but I was a bit worried about trying to climb in a skirt so I didn't even try to prove them wrong.  They basically spent the afternoon making fun of me that I was weak and lazy and tired and that I might start crying (I have no clue where they came up with that idea) and that I should join the army to become tougher.  On the other hand, they said they were tired and asked me to carry them, but I told them if I'm so weak I couldn't.  They also said that Americans don't eat any fresh food, which confused me, and I proved them wrong by eating mango and tomato that their mother offered me.  Their house was actually one of the biggest family homes I've seen, with lots of rooms.

It started to rain so we went inside and they showed me some family photos.  Avaran explained how there are a few more Jewish communities around, but they are all conservative, with Putti being the only orthodox shul (except now Kampala is starting one).  He might take me to see others, though Becca also said he knows of one and might bring me there.

While talking about Conservative Judaism, the idea of homosexuality came up, since Avaran heard that it is allowed in the U.S.  In Uganda, same-sex relationships are illegal, so it is a pretty foreign concept.  They said they met a woman who was married to another woman, and it didn't make any sense to them.

They all call me Lillian, which I’ve started just responding to.  Avaran and Moses started calling me by my last name, which only like one other person in the world does.  They told me that the way it sounds it sounds like some tool that they use to harvest rice or something like that… aka I belong in the swamps according to them.  They also took to calling me government property and saying they have to protect me and I can’t get run over because I’m government property (aka the government knows I’m in Uganda and expects me to leave at a certain time and wants to protect me or something like that).

It started raining on the way back and I didn’t have a jacket and Avaran did and he told me I had to take it because I couldn’t deal with the rain, but I said I wouldn’t melt and was fine and managed to make him keep it.

We had a quiet evening back at  Shirah and Enosh's place.  Lots more food.  Then Miram asked if I play chess (I think they call it draft) and I said I can though not very well.  We started playing and I discovered the rules are slightly different.  For example, you can jump both forward and backwards always.  Kings doesn't mean you can go backwards, it means you can go multiple spaces at once, as long as you only jump one piece (unless of course you're doing a double jump, but you can only double jump if they are apart).  It was hard to catch on to, but I managed to win a few times, I just kept forgetting the rules.  Also, they call jumping eating, so they'd say you eat that one.  It was fun playing with them, Miram and Shirah, and then one of the boys who lives there, Aharon also played a bit, mostly against himself.

Aharon playing by candle light (oh yeah, the light went out)

I figured after eating so much during the day that I would just go to bed, but it turns out they start cooking after Shabbat ends (which is pretty late), and they had a problem with the fire, so we ended up eating around 10 (despite me not being hungry at all).  Shirah told me sometimes they eat as late as midnight.  While the kids were cooking they were also drumming on some of the empty jericans and singing.  I wasn't outside with them but it was fun to listen.  I also learned that I like the tilapia, but I prefer eating it when I can't see what I'm eating, the sight grosses me out a bit.

Sunday morning was very noisy so I was up by 7.  I played chess again with Avaran and another boy (not sure his name.... maybe Joshua?) and then Shirah joined us.  It was basically everyone against Avaran.  A bunch of visitors then came so I sat and ate with them, lots of fresh mango.  They also started playing local music and the young people (around my age) were dancing and tried to get me to dance, but I knew they'd just laugh since I can't dance like them (later, when Miram and I went to visit her friend again, I tried dancing and they laughed at me, but since there were fewer people I just dealt with it.  I also rode a bike there since they didn't believe I could, but it was really high and too easy to pedal so I felt like I was gonna fall off...) 

Anyway back to at Enosh's Avaran also made me try playing futball (aka soccer), so I played a bit to prove I wasn't as weak as they thought.  Thankfully they finally decided maybe I was a bit tougher than they thought... I think he was playing easy for me, but I still did pretty well considering I haven't played since I was probably 6.  Miram also tried teaching me how to sort through rice.  It turns out they buy it but it has lots of little stones in it, so they have to sort through, and then after they toss it a bit so that little pieces of grain can fly out in the wind, while the rice stays.  I was going to try to toss it, but realized I'd probably just dump all the rice, and I didn't want to ruin the meal, so I decided not to try (Aisha told me she might teach me with a small amount here at the casa).

Me sorting through rice and talking to my little husband while Miram peels casava (I let some of the kids try using my camera a bit.  Moses took this one)

It was a fun morning/afternoon.  I was supposed to leave around 3, since they had a women's meeting at 2 and wanted me to come, but the meeting was on African time, and didn't start till around 4...  I went (holding a baby who ended up peeing on me... they told me since he was a boy it means my first born will be a boy)  They decided not to translate until they were pretty much finished, and then I should give my input, but after sitting for a bit Avaran told me we should get going so I could get back not too late.  Good thing we left when we did, because when we came back Becca was about to leave and come get me.

Anyway sorry if that was too detailed, but it was a great weekend and Avaran wants to have his bar mitzvah, so I think I'll go back for that (other fellows might join me next time).

Once I got back we walked around town to do some product shots.  It was Rebecca's last night so she wanted to show us how she wanted a product photo essay before she left.  It was fun and we got a full photo essay done which was cool!  It's weird that she's gone now.

Alright not much new today.  While the food is good, I'll admit it's getting really repetitive.  We tried this weird millet malt drink tonight that smelled awkwardly sweet and tasted a way I can't describe but I don't think I'd drink again... Anyway, as Stephanie's grandma says, "Variety is the spice of life"... and we don't really have that here.

Oh, they decided to extend our curfew to 8 so we could go out for dinner if we feel like it! (Though I don't think I'll do that often cuz I'd rather not spend the money...)