My Family

Hello Again,

I know I am getting aggressive having two posts in one day, but this one has been waiting a while.... hopefully I don't get burned for it in the homework department on this ;)

Anyways, for all of you who are interested, here are the names and ages of the people in my host family:

Dad: Bernard Etukoit: 55
Mom(Toto=Ateso name for mom): Betty Etukoit-52

Children from oldest to youngest:
Ariko Josephine Etukoit-32
Iribot Justine Etukoit-30
Kedi Stephen Etukoit-25
Atino Catherine Etukoit-25 (I'm assuming these last two must be twins, but I'm not sure, I haven't actually met them...
Aborilem Samuel Etukoit-19
Arwang Sarah Etukoit-17
Abarimo Joshua Etukoit-15
Iribot Kevin Etukoit-13

I asked Sarah to right this up for me before she left for school and when she gave it to me I was surprised and honored to find that she had added on more to the list:
Justin Struik Etukoit-21

So, now I am officially part of the family I guess...

A little explanation about the names. The first name given is their African name and the second is what they call their "Christian" name. From what I can tell so far, and what they have told me is that most go by their Christian name as it is easier to say, so I don't have to try to say their given name which would be very difficult :)

Also, one thing that is confusing to me is their last name, or, more properly, their family name. In this case it is Etukoit, but it does not work like our last names do. Basically when a man gets married he chooses a new last name for himself and his family, what that is based on I'm not exactly sure, but if I find out I will let you know... So, family names don't really carry on, it's new every generation. Plus the way they figure out their family trees is very different as the number of people involved is much more broad than what it is in our tradition. I asked them how it was that lineage was tracked, but I don't remember what they told me...

Anyways, that is my family and a little more, enjoy...

Justin