19 Post Office Shops and African Cooking (11072009)

Today, my friends from the house and I went out to a--gasp--tourist area in town. I guess I am supposed to visit it at least once, so I did. The area is on Churchill Road (named after Winston who helped the country long ago) filled with suuqs (shops) called the post office shops since it is near the biggest post office in town. Pretty much every shop has a lot of the same things as all of the other shops. The interesting part of it all is the bartering to try to beat the neighboring suuqs. We bought a few souvenirs, I got a pastry in a cafe and then, we headed out... by minibus, of course.

I went with my friend who is close to many people here in the minority people group I have spent some time learning about and we went to the home of one of her friends in the neighborhood she frequents. (A side note that I have learned about this people group: they are a very nomadic people.) I met her friend and her friend's family that lived with her: her mother, brother and sisters. It may be interesting to know how I am learning to be culturally appropriate, especially in the homes of people who live here. Here are three things that have applied multiple times while I am here (the latter two are specific for my time with this people group):

• Don't eat with your left hand.

• Don't face the bottom of your bare feet at anyone.

• Cover your head (wear a scarf tying your hair up) and your knees (wear a long skirt).

Back to our house visit: We sat around in the floor talking and meeting each other first. Then, our host brought out a large plastic mat, designed like a rug, to lay on the floor... like a big placemat to cook on. She brought out flour and water and a bowl of oil. Then, we made kibis: their tortillas. We piled flour high in a large, circular, metal tray. Then, we poured water (with raw salt dissolved in it) in the mound of flour and began to knead. We kneaded and kneaded and kneaded... for probably an hour. Really... it was a long process. The dough became very soft and after my two American friends and I had tired hands, our host kept kneading. We told her she had strong hands and worked hard. She told us that we, as Americans, work hard, too... but that really, we are just busy with work, and machines do the jobs for us. Very interesting... and true. She was quite matter-of-fact about how we both work hard. We just live in different cultures with different needs and expectations. After the kneading was finished, we split the dough into 13 balls and then rolled out each ball individually, put a light layer of oil all over it with a spoon and folded it in thirds two times. We set the dough aside and went outside into a small courtyard that we crossed to get to another room off of the courtyard: the kitchen. They live in an ickabate, a housing unit with a courtyard and rooms off of it.

The kitchen was a narrow room, about 3 feet wide by 10 feet long. We lit a tiny kerosene stove and then got to work making their chai tea which is similar to Starbucks Tazo chai tea, but much better :). I had some the other day with camel milk in it, but the host today taught me how to make it... and I didn't put camel milk in it. :) We used all sorts of spices that were the real deal... no ground stuff in a canister, that is for sure. To make the tea, we crushed with a wooden mortar and pestle 10 whole black peppers, 5 cloves, 5 cardamons and a bark stick of cinnamon. Then, we boiled it on the stove with water and added over a cup of sugar after it started to boil. (They really like their sugar here.) Next, we added regular black tea. SOOO GOOD. This may become a regular drink at home for me. I really like it a lot. After our tea was finished, we rolled out (yes, again) our kibis squares and ate them warm. Today, we had them plain, but honey and/or peanut butter supposedly make them even better. Maybe I should have an African food night when I get home.

Leaving the home, I met my friend who planned my trip and went to the house one of her friends to meet a group of people, have dinner together and watch "Endurance," a Disney movie about Haile GebreSelassie, an African runner. It was a great story about him and his journey to the Olympics in Atlanta and definitely showed so much that I have seen in the last week. It seemed very accurate in regards to culture and sights here. And then... I came home.

It has been a week tomorrow since I came to Africa and I am so thankful for every bit of this trip.

A funny thing happened this morning when we were all getting ready to leave: It was about 10 after 10 and we had planned to leave at 10. I looked at my roommate and said: "I know we were supposed to leave 10 minutes ago and I think we could all be ready... I don't know why we haven't left yet or why I haven't started to get up and go." She replied, with such candor: "We are in Africa." Of course, that's why! I can't forget... I am in Africa, after all. :)

Thank you for keeping up with this blog, the crazy post times and sometimes the quite possibly, tedious and boring details!

Laura