In Jula, the word “tulu” has a larger range of meaning than its English counterpart. In Jula, it means any kind of lotion, but it also means oil, including cooking oil, as well as the fat on meat. It appears that the same thing may be true in the language of My People. The other evening when I was in My Village, one of the little girls who lives in the same house as I said that she was cold, so my host mom sent her to the house to get some lotion that she’d rub on her. She came back without having found any, so instead my host mom sent her to get the cooking oil. She poured out a little bit and rubbed it all over the little girl. But my host mom turned to me and said that she was rubbing it on because the little girl didn’t find any lotion, but that the cooking oil wouldn’t actually help keep her warmer like the lotion would have.
There you have it. Now you know, if you don’t have any lotion, just use cooking oil. But don’t expect it to keep you warm. 🙂