July 3, 2014 - African Food Day
This day was
African food day! The women that cooked
for us in OS asked if we could have a day with traditional African food. Our breakfast was similar to what we had been
eating. Although instead of coffee, we
had a chai bora (chai tea). You could
have the chai bora with or without hot milk.
When mixed with hot milk, it had a bit of a smoky taste. I preferred it
without milk. We had bread, peanut
butter, honey, jelly, and eggs. We would
spend a large part of our day at the primary school.
 |
| The Primary School |
 |
| Map work |
We were divided into our same groups. We prepared some map work to share with the students, along with some English flashcards. Our goal was to help prepare the students for their upcoming test. When we arrived at the school, many of our students were missing. It was harvest time, and students stayed home to help their families. The students were hoping to share some carrots with us the next day, but this would be our last day at the school.
 |
| We taught the kids 'Quack Diddle Oh So" - It was fun to hear them laugh and giggle! |
We spent an hour with the students working on English. Then we spent an hour with them on map work. Michelle and I combined our students with another group. We played a game where we had the students stand in different corners of the room. We would call out a direction like north, west, southeast – and the kids had to throw a ball to the person standing in that corner. We all had a fun time playing and testing their knowledge. At the end, we went outside and played with them in the field. The girls play ‘netball’, a game with a hoop/ball but no actual net. The boys played soccer. We gave the kids candy (Smarties) as we left. They are used to a hard candy, and many of them didn’t like the Smarties. We told them to bite/chew them, and they were not quite sure about that.
 |
| Playing soccer with the boys..... |
 |
| Playing net ball with the girls..... |
 |
| Ugali, beans/gravy, greens are bitter with a vinegar dressing |
mixed with water cooked to a porridge or dough like consistency. The common way to eat ugali is to roll it up in a ball with your right hand and scoop up the sauce or gravy, using it as a spoon, similar to the way we used bread to soak up a sauce or food. It reminded me of a grainy mash potato. The ugali was served with a meat gravy. It was an interesting meal. After lunch, I snacked on some of the spray cheese and crackers we packed from the states.
 |
| VERY dirty socks! |
 |
| Laundry! |
 |
| Relaxing in the African sun! |
We had the
afternoon to relax and do what we wanted.
I had some laundry to do – mostly dirty socks. They would never be as white as the first day
we wore them. They were clean, just not
white. I also took some time to lay in
the sun on the porch. It was a beautiful
afternoon. The boys wrote in their
journals and climbed some of the trees.
 |
| Tree climbing |
 |
| Journal writing |
 |
| Some people relaxed on the girls porch while Mama Jean played the guitar, Dawn made a foot soak with rosemary! |
At 4pm, we
gathered in the eating area to try uji.
Uji is more of a liquid porridge that we poured into cups and
drank. It had a thicker consistency, but
not as thick at ugali. It is made of
fine ground cornmeal, sugar, milk and various spices. It can be sweet, or have a sweet/sour
taste. I tried it, but it was not my
favorite. Others liked it.
 |
| Playing cards |
 |
| The kids loved entertaining Paulo and his little sister Jaqueline |
 |
| Brett washes his hands before dinner..... |
 |
| African Dinner |
Dinner that evening was a stew meat and plantains. The gravy had onions, tomatoes and shredded carrots. We had a very productive day – chilly in the morning and very warm in the afternoon. We were not looking forward to our last day in OS……
 |
| UGALI ---- ENOY! |
No comments:
Post a Comment