some good-home cookin'

food in senegal. many of you have asked what kind of food i eat here and if it's any good. that's what i'm going to talk about today; food habits in senegal and those as a pcv.

the senegalese diet is based on three major starches; rice (by far the most common), millet and corn. these are used in every meal of every day some way or another. a typical breakfast is bread and cafe touba (nescafe and eight+ cubes of sugar). it's pretty sugary but sugar and sweet tasting things are very very popular here. for lunch it's marro e liddi (rice and fish). this is cooked in a number of different sauces usually tomato based with onion or some form of bouillion. veggies such as eggplant, potato, cabbage, or okra as well as bissap leaves are cooked and put in the bowl as well. occasionally there will also be beans. for supper we typically have lacirii (couscous made from millet or rice) with sauce, beans, or fish. my favorite dish in senegal is lacirii and haako which is couscous and a leaf/fish/spinach sauce. the closest i can describe it would be couscous with fish, spinach and pinenuts made into a sauce. it's really really really good and i love it when we eat it which isn't very often because it is a pricier dish to make. some nights we have goci which is rice with sugar and water and occasionally milk. my family usually makes it with milk which makes it taste better. they also make this with corn. goci is not my favorite and we eat it a lot.

those are typically my meals everyday. compared to most meals in the states it's really repetitive and yea, it gets really old eating the same thing everyday. however, my family has some amazing cooks and because we share three different bowls at lunch and dinner we get plenty of variety. my only complaint is that my family tries to stuff me full of food each meal. (it's considered a sign of good hospitality if a guest is well fed and gains weight during their stay). since there is a food crisis going on and many of my siblings are malnourished you can see why i have a slight problem with it.

traditionally when you eat men eat with men and women and children eat together. i eat with the women. we all gather around the bowl and sit down. it's common practice to eat with your hands (only your right hand-left hand is used for the bathroom). for the life of me i cannot get this down without making a big mess and getting a lot of food on the floor so i eat with a spoon as well as other guests or highly regarded people. you eat what is in front of you and are able to to take pieces of what you want from the middle communal section. never reach across and take from someone else's food and never take a whole item (like a carrot or fish). when we eat we eat one bowl first and then proceed through the rest. usually it's about 8 people eating around one bowl.

for ceremonies or special events we may have chicken or meat (usually sheep, rarely cow, never prime rib). sometimes this is eaten with fries, onion sauce and bread, other times rice and veggies. meat is very very expensive here so it is a big deal to be able to eat meat. my family had a sheep die suddenly and we cut up the meat and distributed it to every single house in my village. no one got a lot of meat but being able to share the little that we had is a sign of respect and love.

many pcvs cook for themselves for a number of reasons: they miss american food, they don't get enough vitamins and minerals, they like controlling when and what they eat. i eat breakfast in my hut alone but eat lunch and dinner with my family. i really enjoy it because i eat very well compared to many other volunteers and it's also a great time to spend with the family. (this is something i love to do in america as well-ginny's making scalloped potatoes and ham at gramps? be right over). i love the sense of family i get when eating with everyone. it's comforting and having lunch always helps relieve some stress that i gathered during the day.

i do enjoy cooking here in country though and i get to do plenty of it. i tried making a few "american" things for the family which they didn't really like which means i do all of my cooking at the regional house. i'm close enough that i'm able to go for a weekend and get a fix of american food whenever i need to, luckily. and believe me i do. pizza, spaghetti, stew, breadsticks, pasta, egg salad, i could go on and on. and i never thought i'd say this but mac n cheese is a god-send. (after i vowed never to eat it again thanks to a little brother and a childhood filled with mac n cheese. love ya joeber). it's been fun figuring out what i can make with the few ingredients we have here (most veggies are out of season and there isn't much variety) and there has been a few mistakes, but i think i'm a much much much better cook in senegal than the states. at least i haven't melted any plated here. yet.

well, all this talk of food has got me hungry and it's about five hours till break of fast. enough for now. love to you all!

cheers!
jaime

rama-on!

like i said in the previous blog, ramadan is going on right now where muslims the world over abstain from food, drink, tobacco, alcohol and sex for 30 days. i've spent the past week fasting with the family and i've come to a number of surprising conclusions. the first being that not eating between the hours of five(morning) and seven (night) is relatively easy after two days. granted those first two days were a little brutal. the culver's butter burger dream i had one night probably didn't help at all either. i get up around 5 and make myself some breakfast/startfast to be technical which is usually oatmeal, pb, dried fruit or bread and nutella (thanks ruff!) then i do my darndest to chug two liters of water. i can usually polish them off in about 20 minutes...but it's hard. you try it. you'll be peeing like crazy. after that i go to bed for another two hours and get up for good. the day consists of me visiting other compounds, laying around with everyone and trying to fill my time before break of fast.

another thing i find quite enjoyable about ramadan-it's completely normal to fall asleep at someone's house. they'll even consider it a sign you're comfortable and take pride in it if you are a toubab like me. i've successfully fallen asleep at four different compounds one day. i'm hoping to get the whole village done by the end.

kids never get tired.

although by the end of the day they are all really really annoying and i want to scream somedays, my family's kids have been extremely entertaining. we draw and color, they play soccer, the boys see what they can catch...it goes on. i can tell they are often bored and looking for something to do so i do my best to keep them entertained...which somehow turns it around so that i am entertained. i think my favorite night was the bubble night. half were scared and ran away from them, others ran around popping them and the rest just stood there amazed that i could make bubbles out of soap and a plastic ring. i wasn't the only one entertained; my family got a kick out of it as well and gave us all a half hour we weren't watching the clock.

did i mention the street/village cred i'm getting? not to be selfish (ok maybe a little) the village thinks it's awesome that i'm fasting with them. they can't believe i was willing to not eat just because they were fasting. some said i was crazy, others laughed at me, but most think it's pretty cool. as i told my cousin moussa the imam, "you guys are all fasting and i'm not going to eat in front of you so i'm fasting too". he shook his head as if saying "stupid, you have no idea what you're doing" but he told me that i'm 'senegalese' for doing it. i'll take the compliment.

my favorite thing about ramadan is breaking fast. by seven my whole family is sitting around together, my sister's have started to prepare dinner, and everyone is holding a cup of coffee and a piece of bread. suddenly the call to break fast is heard from the mosque and everyone dives in. i usually do a little cheer and booty shake to celebrate. after coffee, we drink juice and cooled water as well as have peanuts. then we eat dinner and hang out until i go to bed. i know this doesn't sound exciting-at least nothing to give up eating all day for-but as soon as we break fast an invisible wave of happiness falls over the village and it's a totally new place. everyone is calmer, joyful, and much much much less irritable. i was a little skeptical about ramadan but it's a great time to be in the village and bond with everyone. i say, rama-on people rama-on!

i want to finish this post with a HUGE thank you to all the family members who were part of the dvd home video that jason and leslie sent. it was so amazing to get (a really big surprise- thanks leslie) and such a great thing to watch. i watched it my first day of ramadan in the village and it was the perfect timing. i then played it for my family and needless to say it was beyond a hit. they are convinced that i live among famous people. (who could argue with that?) i was glad i got to share it with them-you guys have been the talk of the village for the past week. i'll definitely watch it over again and again. the muscians rocked -er- accoustically pleased, the singers sang lovely, the groupies were great to look at. thanks again fam-love you all and miss you all A LOT!!

lotsa love,
jaime

back in the village again

it's a great feeling knowing that you've been missed and when you get back to your village you get swarmed by people who just want to tell you how glad they are that you're back. it felt so good to get such a warm reception when i finally got back to site. as soon as i got my bags off me my family made me sit and rest and had i not insisted on cleaning out my room myself (termites make a lot of mess) they would have kept me there all day long. i myself was glad to be bake in the village, i missed the laid-back pace of life as well as the routine of things. i spent my first day back greeting everyone and catching up on the village gossip. i found out that one of my good village friends had a baby while i was gone. (I didn't even know she was pregnant- it's taboo to talk about it here and they hide it under baggy clothes)so i was surprised needless to say when i went to visit hre and walked in on the baby's baptism. he looks healthy and was a good weight, 3 kilos so i am excited to see him grow.

yesterday i went to mbantou, a village about 3km from mine on the river with a couple of guys to watch a soccer match. not only was the playing incredible but the fans themselves kept me very entertained.

ramadan started today. i got up early...5am and chugged a liter and a half of water, went back to sleep and got up at 7 to start the day. when i told the village i wanted to try fasting they were really excite although some were a little worried i'd get sick. so far so good-only one day in though and 29 to go...

tonight i'm going to podor to celebrate lauren's birthday with emily and colleen. my guess is that we are going to hide in her bedroom and overeat on chocolate and other goodies. i can't wait!

cheers!