It’s the end of our second week in Zambia and it seems like everyone
has settled into work and their homestays. My homestay experience has so far
been the most enjoyable part of the program. With Brian’s endless jokes and
advice, Enala’s amazing traditional Zambian meals, Tau’s adorable babbling, and
Divine’s energetic/chaotic spirit, the house is always an entertaining and
lively environment. Although every minute with my host family has been
extremely rewarding, one experience from earlier this week proved to be the
highlight of my time with them.
The other night, I was sitting in the living room with my
host parents, Brian and Enala. It was around 9:30 pm in Zambia which meant, due
to the 7-hour time difference between Zambia and Texas, it was the perfect time
to call my parents back home. I picked up the ancient cell phone which everyone
in our program had to communicate with each other while in country, dialed my
dad’s number, and waited for him to pick up. After he answered, we began our
conversation. We never really have too much to say. It’s always just a simple “hi,
how are you?” or “how are things at home?”. We talked for a while and then I decided
that my dad should be formally introduced to my homestay parents. At this point
in the conversation, Brian was in the bathroom or something and it was just me,
Enala, and an extremely hyper Taunga, my 9-month-old homestay sister. I handed
Enala the phone and what happened next felt like worlds colliding. They talked
and talked for I don’t even know how long about me, how I was settling in, how
happy Enala was that I was staying with her, and how happy my dad was that she
was letting me stay with her. It was honestly super weird for me having my
actual dad and host mom interact. Because of the strong family and community values
in Zambia, it didn’t take long for me to feel at home with my host family. It
felt like Brian and Enala had become my parents for this experience so
listening to both of them speak to each other for the first time was extremely
interesting.
After Enala had finished talking to my dad, it seemed only
fitting that Brian be the one who talked to my mom. This next part was very
enjoyable for me just because both Brian and my mom have very loud and humorous
personalities. And because Brian had been to parts of Nigeria and (his words
not mine) “new the Nigerian language”, he was eager to grab the phone and start
up a conversation with my mom. As soon as they started talking, Enala and I were
practically in stitches because we were laughing so much. Both Brian and my mom
were basically talking as if there was no one in the room so Enala and I were
able to hear the entire conversation. First Brian would go on about my Nshima
eating habits and then my mom would talk about my favorite Nigerian dishes from
home. They also talked about the places Brian had went to in Nigeria and how
they compared to Zambia. After about thirty minutes, I finally got the phone
back, said my good byes, and hung up.
Having Brian and Enala meet my parents was an especially
meaningful experience for a number of reasons. For one, it reminded me how
important and valuable family is in my life. Just as Brian and Enala welcomed
me into their family, my parents essentially welcomed them into ours. Although I
have always had strong family values while growing up, being taken in by another
family really made me appreciate the family I have back in Texas. Secondly,
because both my homestay parents and actual parents were born and raised in
African countries, having them interact felt like cultures colliding. Not only
did their interaction allow them to share their experiences from their
respective countries, the experience made me feel more in touch with my own
culture. Being in Africa this past two weeks has in a way made me feel more
connected to my Nigerian heritage. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed finding similarities
between Nigerian and Zambian culture in my time here. Although I’ve been
considered “a local” on many accounts, constantly being able to look back on
experiences that I have in my everyday life makes me feel more at home in Zambia
as well as more appreciative of the way I was raised. Lastly, having Brian and
Enala interact with my parents made me feel a lot closer to them as my home
stay parents. I know they enjoyed their conversations and my dad even mentioned
on Father’s Day that he was going to call Brian on What’s app to introduce
himself. Having my host parents and actual parents interact with one another definitely
made me feel very grateful to have them all in my life.
…(also because our in country phone’s use Airtel, which is
like pay-per-use call time, I was down roughly 20 kwacha for the night long
conversation between my host and actual parents. Was it worth every kwacha? Of course.
But I may be walking instead of taking the mini bus for a couple days.)
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