Kuuliza si ujinga

Today is Idi or Eid al-Fitr, the day celebrating the end of Ramadan. For us overworked PCTs, that means a vacation of sorts. Instead of hearing lectures and receiving shots from 8-5 on Saturday, we get the day off.
This morning, I slept in for once. I awoke as usual at 6 AM to the crowing of the roosters and the sound of pots being filled with water, but lay back down and slept again till 7 am. It was almost 7:45 by the time I showered, dressed, and left my room, and I felt lazy. Already, Mama Gill, Mama Bi, and Mama Mkubwa were cooking, Tumaini was mopping the kitchen, and Manu and Landry (a friend of my host brother George, or possibly another kaka) were washing clothes.

Before breakfast I learned how to cook in Tanzania. First, I lit a charcoal stove for the first time. It’s a fairly easy process: you fill the stove with charcoal, pile some twigs on top, pour in some kerosene (mafuta ya taa), and drop in a lit match. Then you put a hollow piece of metal tubing on top of the charcoal, which somehow aids airflow and helps the stove light faster.

Next I learned how to cook uji, the delicious porridge of unga wa ulezi (finger millet flour) that I eat each morning. I’m not being sarcastic, I truly love uji. I’ll be searching out finger millet flour when I get home. Anyway, to make uji, you first mix some flour with water to make a slurry; make sure there are no lumps. You dump the slurry into boiling water. You stir. You keep stirring. You stir for maybe forty minutes. You add some sugar and maybe some margarine, and you eat it.

I also saw the chai making process, though I haven’t yet done it myself. The steps are:

1) Put fresh cut ginger in boiling water.
2) On a separate stove, heat whole milk.
3) Combine warm milk with ginger and boiling water.
4) Add tea leaves. Let cook until tea is strong enough for your taste.

After breakfast I had a brief lesson in ironing. Then I spent an hour planning my lesson. This week I’m teaching four 80-minute periods—one double period for each Form 1 chemistry class at my school. This means I’ll be teaching the same topic four times. My topic: combustion. It’s going to be a challenge to fill eighty minutes, because Form 1 is the equivalent of eighth grade and doesn’t yet know what a chemical reaction is. On the good side, I get to burn things. Lots of things. And assuming I can find the school kitchen, I can take the kids on a field trip there to see combustion in action on the charcoal stoves.
I sat in the outdoor kitchen for about two hours late in the morning, watching the process of cooking pilau, ndizi (unripe bananas that taste like potatoes), and sambusa (samosas). Pilau is a delicious dish of baked, spiced rice served with beef, chicken, or goat meat. After watching the process, I think the reason it’s so delicious may have something to do with the fact that the rice is basically cooked in hot oil.

After lunch I went to town to meet fellow PCT Aron. We were hunting for chemistry supplies, as our schools have none. So I now have tongs and a glass, as well as the candles and matches I bought earlier. This means I’ll be able to do two demonstrations on Monday: hold paper or dry leaves between the tongs and burn them, and cover a lit candle with an upside-down glass to demonstrate that the candle uses up all the oxygen and then goes out.

I’ve got another half hour at this Internet café, then I’ll be boarding a daladala and heading back home. Fellow PCT Laura’s host mom has invited the four of us who live in the neighborhood to her house for dinner. Plus there’s the new batch of Kiswahili flashcards I made last night to study, and more lesson planning to do. It’s been a busy day, but it’s been a good day. Idi njema to all. I’ll be thinking of you and of the crisp, cool fall air I’m missing as we head into summer here.

# posted by Kristen @ 6:52 AM