Emmanuel Opati
Is there anything clashing between your personalities culturally? You being from Uganda and her [your wife] being from America?
“No.”
So it all works out?
“There are different ways of doing things. But not really clashing. Like, do you want your butter in the refrigerator or do you want it out?”
In the refrigerator of course.
“Why? If you're going to use it on bread, it's much better soft outside, than it is in the refrigerator.”
So that it doesn't go bad as fast right?
“It doesn't.”
It doesn't?
“Yeah, so there are different ways of doing things. It's about the intent of the use. If you're going to use it for bread, it's a much easier way of just putting butter on bread when it's soft than when it's hard and you have to wait for it to thaw. It's just more efficient. But yes, marrying someone from a different culture - it does make you question your fundamental beliefs you were raised with, that you took for granted. You have to compromise - life is full of compromises. But you have to be open to questioning your core beliefs. One of my core beliefs was that if I got rained on, I would get sick. My mom kept telling me that, and I was a child. It doesn't have to scientifically make sense. Now I'm old, and if someone tells me that, I question it.”
Do you still feel a disconnect sometimes? Between you and everyone else here?
“Not necessarily as much. I mean, I still do, I still do. I still hold onto the people who want you to change everything, change the way you speak, the way you look. I mean, you can't lose yourself and be someone else. You probably don't like me because of who I am, but I still like myself because of who I am. Now, if I lose this, and I become that, then I would get lost.”
