23 Nov 2010

I feel like so many interesting and strange things have happened since the last I’ve written. For starters, I’m starting to branch out in my cooking skills: I’ve tried veggie rice soup, veggie bean burgers, veggie fried rice, and banana cake. I’m afraid I will soon exhaust the rice/bean/veggie/egg combo (hint, hint: send me recipes of things I can make with those ingredients!!). But it is kind of fun to see how things turn out. And I think most of the time my roommates are NOT disgusted by what I offer them. That’s a good start, eh?

Speaking of food, Fr. John and Fr. Leo were visiting Dodoma from Dar and Moshi, so Martin took a group of us to special marketplace nearby. This place had all your typical market-stuff: vegetables and potatoes, lines of blue jeans (these are usually used-looking, and really only for men), lines of other clothes and shoes and sandals, but the main attraction was the meat. Lots and lots of dead this and dead that. Fully skinned whole cows, minus the head that was sitting in a wheelbarrow nearby, and grills cooking everything you’ve never seen nor would be able to put a name to. There was a large eating/sitting area with a tarp roof where we sat, drank a few “Safaris” (one of the beers here), and waited for whatever Martin ordered in this language I’m craving to understand. After some really nice chatting, a kid with a pitcher of hot water came over to let us wash our hands, followed by our entrée of choice: a plate of goat – and not just the nice little pieces of meat, but also the delicious (kidding) intestines and liver. Fr. Leo had a ball watching me taste the tiniest piece of it all. Yes – I tried it – wouldn’t you? Well, it is definitely not my cup of tea. The small intestine was extremely bitter, the large intestine tasted like the fattiest part of a piece of bacon (trust me, ew), and the liver was dry and a little bit tasteless. But I enjoyed the goat-meat – quite a lot actually. I’d probably have it again!

One of the sad facts of life here in Dodoma, however, is the multitude of people who go without. And when I say without, I mean without everything. Including parents, in this case. There were a few kids that stood close to the tent waiting for scraps of food to be thrown on the ground. One boy climbed under our table and picked up a rejected piece (something someone had spit out) and placed it in his little plastic bag. Martin confirmed these were street kids – poor little ones forced to scavenge and live literally on the streets. It is cases like these that makes me realize how hard it will be for me to ever understand what true poverty is like. Friends have told me things about how poor I will be these next two years – but here, I’m still a queen. I’m still a “rich” American living off of a stipend of $50 a month – a stipend that could feed 6 families for the next year, I’m sure. This is a realization that I’m really struggling with lately…

Abrupt subject change: We had our first rain!! Oh, and it was wonderful. I could feel it coming the past few days. There were extra clouds in the sky, and my hair wasn’t behaving like it should (i.e., there was some humidity). And it was a big rain, like giant! We were at a restaurant (Chinese in Africa? What?) with the Jesuits and heard little drops on the tin roof. Quickly a loud orchestra of droplets drowned out our chatter and we just sat there and listened. It was incredible. And the night felt just like a summer rain in the States. I never thought something like a thunderstorm would be a sound that reminded me of home. I slept really well that night.

(This next part is especially for Aunt Jan. I know you’ll be thrilled): So we have kind of a big yard here around our house – not all in one spot, but many little spots around our house that would be perfect for planting a garden. So I asked the Jesuits if it would be okay to plant in this yard and they are all about it (they actually think we’re really funny for wanting to do it – probably because we’re also considering getting egg-laying chickens). I’m thinking tomatoes, peppers, peas, cucumbers, maybe some of the spinach-like veggie they have here. Who knows! I just need to start moving on it. Martin said they have extra seeds, so hopefully we’ll start soon. Wouldn’t that be neat? I’m so excited.

Also! The Jesuits have two guitars that other volunteers have left here over the years. Good thing I didn’t bring one like I was thinking! I took one home the other night. Now all I have to do is convince big brother John (hint hint!!!) to send me some instructions. (You can give me cyber lessons, can’t you John?) I think the garden and learning the guitar would be great hobbies for my time here.

Speaking of family – Thanksgiving is coming up. You know, it’s going to be weird not sharing a big ol’ meal (and lots of wine, right Who-B’s?) together. But even right this minute, I can think of hundreds of memories from Thanksgivings-past that make me smile from ear to ear. I feel blessed to even have those memories, so I think I can make it a measly two years (right Mom? So please don’t cancel Christmas this year!). And I don’t know if you ever realized it, but other countries don’t have Thanksgiving (I know, doi!). So Sean and I are going to try to whip some things up and have the Jesuit community over for a make-shift Thanksgiving dinner. These guys are really becoming our family, so I’m excited to share this holiday with them. We’re thinking stuffing (I think I can pull off a version of Grandma Koch’s?), sweet potatoes, corn, and possibly an apple crisp in lieu of apple pie. We might also try cooking chicken (turkey would be really expensive), but you have to buy them alive (ew) and do like the whole killing, plucking, gutting, icky-thing. Sean’s all about it, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that. We’ll see. But if anyone has easy Thanksgiving recipes or ideas, send them along!! (Note: I have to make everything on the stove).

Alright – if I don’t write again before Thursday, have a wonderfully blessed, family-filled, relaxing, belly-filling, wine-drinking Thanksgiving. Believe me when I say I am very thankful for every one of you.