Thursday, May 1, 2014

Mangoes



Don’t tell me you know what a mango is. Because unless you’ve been to a place over-barren with mango trees like Sierra Leone, you most certainly do not. March and April have been a wonderful time full of ripe mangoes. Who’d a thought these delicious fruits would come during the driest part of the year? With no rains and scarcity of water, it’s hard not to see these fruits as a gift from above. Few children go hungry during this time of year. I constantly find small bobos up in the trees with bamboo poles, doing there best to pick the most beautiful mangoes strewn with yellows, oranges, or blushes of red. I quickly realized there are in fact, many different types of mangoes. Cherry mangoes, Guinea mangoes, grape mangoes, and smaller mangoes I have yet to learn the name of. I love each and every one. And I’ve joined the children in eating numerous mangoes a day!

I thought I would dedicate an entire blog entry to food! Perhaps this will answer some questions you've had about my life here as a Peace Corps Volunteer?


What I eat on an average day:

Many a day I wake up lying in bed waiting for that familiar call. There’s an echo in the distance, a glimpse of hope, and then I hear it again, “Hrraaaaaaaaaaap PoPppparaa”. No, it’s not an elusive bird species. It’s one of my neighbors selling “hot pop” (rice porridge). I throw clothes on, scramble outside, and throw greetings every which way until I reach. Its hot rice porridge mixed with sweet canned-milk syrup. It warms the body, and gets me ready to face some 60 students I will meet each period. Game face on, I garment myself in formal attire. I make my way towards school, doing my best to dodge sticky hands from neighboring pikindem (children). When I reach school I have the opportunity to get fresh bananas from a woman I simply refer to as “auntie”. They’re nothing like the imported bananas we have become so accustomed to in the states. Sierra Leone has opened my eyes to another world of bananas. My favorite bananas are short, fat, and sweeter than you could possibly imagine. They may as well be yellow torpedoes of deliciousness.

  During school we get a 30 minute lunch break. I race students to the 3 small stands we refer to as the “market”. Lunch ranges from beans on bread (home grown beans are cooked with onions, oil, and meat) to fufu (cassava root beaten and formed into small soft dumplings in a peppery soup). Many of my fellow teachers joke about my “need” to have lunch daily. Here in the village it is common for community members to only have two large meals of rice and plazas a day. We simply refer to my midday routine as my daily beans.

After school, I greet one of my favorite community members, Mr. Kainde. In addition to being a great person, I find Mr. Kainde to be one of the best cooks in the village. Many a time I find myself greeting Mr. Kainde and his delicious food! This counts for my early dinner. Dinner usually consists of rice with plazas (sauces) from a neighbor or nearby cookery (Mr. Kainde). Cookeries are small sit down stands that sell rice with plazas. Plazas include cassava leaf (my favorite), potato leaf, beans, tola root, green green, ect. Basically any kind of edible leaf, root, or seed beaten and mixed with salt, oil, onions, and fish. When I cook, I make Spanish rice, potatoes, eggs, or spaghetti. As much as I love rice... I find myself eating it everyday.

So what have a learned about Sierra Leonean culture and food?

1) No spoons needed!
2) You should never eat with your left hand (that’s the hand you wipe with)
3) Sierra Leoneans sit when they eat. I was called a “babu” (chimpanzee) when I was eating while walking. I suppose I resembled one slightly…
4) Meat is passed through the hierarchy of eaters.
5) There can be sharps things in food (bone splinters and fish spines), as most parts are consumed.
6) Valued guests/strangers are often left to eat alone or given a separate plate as a sign of respect.


Meat?

My village does not regularly get fresh beef. Its available at times, but there are no cows in our immediate area. This leaves chicken, goats, and bushmeat. Bushmeat is one of my struggles. At times I wonder what I'm eating. And I do my best to educate my community about the conservation of wildlife and natural resources. I find when an animal has already been killed, whether I eat it or not will not change the behavior. So it is challenging. But like everyone else in my community I want a healthy diet. Thus far I know I've eaten some species of monkey, Maxwell's duiker, and a brush-tailed porcupine.

Snacks?

Fruits in season: mangoes, pineapple, oranges, grapefruit, papaya
Nuts: ground nut (similar to peanuts), cashew

My favorite?


ground nut paste (similar to peanut butter) with banana on bread. Its my power snack

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