21-Sep-08

21-Sep-08
My favorite new ritual is making tea for Akello Kevin, our night guard. I brew it for her every night, dark and hot, boiling the water first so it’s okay to drink. She likes about four tablespoons of sugar it in. Then I decide on what snack she may want. Some evenings I make her bread with heavily spread peanut butter. One night I gave her potato chips. Tonight I gave her two oranges; one orange was whole in the center of the plate, and the other orange I cut into eighths and lay around the edges. The entire result looked like an orange sunshine! It’s so much fun to have somebody to make tea for.

In return, Akello tirelessly tells me the names of things in Acholi Luo. I love her. She paces our compound all night with a big rifle. She would never, never let anything happen to us. I feel completely safe in her hands.

I’m worrying about what I should wear tomorrow. In Senegal, I was told that one doesn’t wear clothes to express oneself; one wears clothes to express one’s respect (or lack thereof) for the company one is in. So I think I should attempt to dress myself well tomorrow, since it will be my first day ever at an IDP camp and I want to show respect. I think I’ll wear my old, but lovely, aqua-green long skirt with black patterned flowers and small gold sequins around the bottom. And maybe a polo shirt. Maybe I’ll wear my old Tostan-The Gambia polo shirt, to give me courage! Or a nice, light blouse.