Lunch

Several days a week we share lunch with a Tanzanian family in their home. We start by washing our hands in warm water poured from a pitcher into a bowl by one of the children. After prayers we are invited to eat a simple, but well-prepared meal. The staple of the lunch is ugali, (a thick corn meal) or rice. Also there is a cooked green and a bit of meat -- kuku (chicken), n'gombe (beef) or samaki (fish) -- cooked in a sauce. The ugali is dipped into the sauce and eaten by hand. Our inexperienced fingers have some difficulty getting the ugali to our mouths without it crumbling to bits and without the sauce dripping down our chins. We enjoy the tasty food and, especially, the experience of sharing the meal with the children of our host family. Our attempts at Swahili conversation with the children and our host are sometimes very amusing. Like the day Peggy tried to tell the mama the food was good by saying "chakula ndege," which translates as "bird food" instead of "good food." Another day Gordon was taking a picture of the family and got them all to smile by loudly saying "chapati" (it means "chapati"), which made them all laugh. Now when the kids see Gordon across the grounds they wave and shout out "Chapati!" And that makes him smile.