"I relate, therefore I am"

I have learned that family is central to life in Africa.
The family here extends to relations that most Western cultures, I think, would no longer have knowledge of. Yesterday, my colleague asked me how she would call/refer to, the wife of her brother-in-law’s cousin. She wanted to learn the English word. After I repeated her question in my head a couple of times to make sure I understood it, my reply was: “Nothing. It’s too far removed!” She smiled and said that I was wrong. It’s not “too far removed.” She explained that her brother-in-law was like a brother to her and his cousin was like a brother to him. Therefore, the cousin was also her brother so the woman he married, should be considered her sister. My response was just “Wow!” :)