After our first week in Kibungo, it was nice to have a change of pace for the weekend. It's not that the weekly pace is fast... we just enjoyed relaxing and getting some time to take in all that we had been through. There was a ton of rain this weekend, so there wasn't a whole lot to do anyway, and rain always tends to make me a little more sleepy than usual.
Saturday we just were lazy around the house for most of the day. We did take a break to go to the market again. It was a little easier this time since we knew what to expect and how to say, "How much does it cost?" Unfortunately, if you ask a question in kinyarwanda, the answer typically returns in kinyarwanda, and we haven't gotten to numbers yet.
Overall, the food we've been making has been pretty good. I've learned how to make tomato sauce from scratch, and our meals have consisted mainly of different versions of spaghetti and hash browns. The veggies are excellent and fresh. Our hosts are much more adventuresome (I'll get to that in a second), and they frequently have some gourmet dishes that are occasionally shared with us. Friday night Malea made a chocolate chip/walnut cake without an oven, topped off with some excellent home-made ice cream. It was delicious!
Sunday found us being pretty lazy again. I've read two novels since getting here and am about to jump into the books already present at the volunteer house. The biggest problem with the weekend is that there was no running water in the house for almost three days. Taking cold showers is bad enough, but cold showers with water from a bucket is even worse.
We had a friend of Tom and Malea stay with us Sunday night, so they were both preparing a big meal. They were making chili, and Tom decided to be adventurous and buy some meat. This is only the 5th or 6th time he's bought meat since getting here, so it was a big deal. When I walked into the kitchen for lunch, I noticed him cutting it up. At first glance, it looked a little funny, and at that point I said, "Tom, is that a valve?" After further examination of the meat, we determined that, yes, Tom had bought a cow heart. Emily and Malea definitely were not very happy about this, but Tom, Emmett, and I decided we'd be adventurous. I figured, meat is just muscle, and heart tissue is nothing but a big muscle... so everything should be fine. The girls were happy to have their chili vegetarian style, and it had plenty of spice and flavor to it for that. I will say the meat was pretty good, and it added alot to the chili. It was a little gamey, but since this was Tom's first heart to cook, we decided to let him off the hook. We washed it all down with some more ice cream, which Malea had added nutmeg and a few others spices to, making it even better.
Overall, things continue to go well here. We got to talk to Emily's mom and sisters (and Matt) as well as my parents via Skype. We'll continue to keep people updated as things change. We miss everyone back home and really enjoy getting your e-mails and blog comments. We'll have to fix the pictures when we get back home.
1 comment:
Ah, beef heart...I still remember the first (and ONLY) time I ate beef heart...it was the summer I did archaelogy in Kampsville, IL (1971). All field hands had to spend one day every two weeks working in one of the labs "in town." When you did this you ate at the school cafeteria with all of the folks who worked in town every day...one day I worked, I came to lunch and they were serving a delicious looking roast sliced beef with gravy - very dark...I sat down, helped myself and started eating...I went for seconds and then I noticed that (a) there was an awful lot of the "roast beef" going uneaten and (b) EVERYONE at the two long tables was sitting there watching me...all of a sudden I realized that this beef had a very distinct flavor - not totally beef-y - and an even weirder texture. That's when I turned to my friend and queried, "OK, what am I missing here?" You guessed it: I was eating beef heart...once I knew what it was I didn't like it one little bit...I didn't get sick, but I certainly was done with lunch "in town" for that week (and I was very happy to get back to the bologna on white bread sandwiches that we ate in the field...and you don't need to remind me that bologna is full of beef hearts - and worse...) :P
I applaud you all for your culinary courage, though you should just go ahead and buy/butcher a chicken... it's not that hard (we used to do 200 per summer for the freezer at Cross Ranch)...
Post a Comment