Rice and ocra or plain rice, that is the question?

Or the beauty of misunderstanding …

It was Lisa’s birthday on Tuesday and I wanted to do something fun in the village for her. As I told you before, Lisa has been living with me in the village for the last month. She was doing her field research in Salima District. Celebrating a birthday is not a Malawian tradition…at all. In fact, most people here don’t even know when their birthday is. Anyways, I was trying to plan a big dinner with duck and african cake (banana bread!), me and some neighbours were rehearsing a birthday song and were talking about making something fun for Lisa. So I thought everyone was clear and that things would work well. I got Lisa (and myself) super excited about that duck feast! We went back home earlier that day to be able to help with running errands at the market, killing the duck and cooking. We got home, Maggie was apparently gone to the market (said the neighbour), so we decided to go meet her. We couldn’t find her as the market is a labyrinth. Since we didn’t know what she bought and what was needed, we walked back home without buying anything. It was now almost dark. I couldn’t see a duck anywhere, or any sign of delicious meal anywhere, but Maggie always hides things really well. Eventually, she started cooking rice…which we never have as it is more expensive than nsima, so I was getting exited. An hour later, the rice was ready, but we didn’t prepare anything else yet. Lisa asked Dew and Maggie if she can prepare the relish and they said that there is nothing to prepare. So she left and got the pot of relish that was already prepare in the storage room (Dew’s room!!), but Dew said no, we don’t eat this with rice. She asked what was in the dish, he answered “ocra”. Now both me and Lisa are a bit confused. A few minutes later, came our plate… plain white rice…and a huge portion of it. No duck, no relish, nothing else…ah, and water to drink. Where was the fanta, the feast that we talked about?? Most boring meal I’ve ever had so far in the village. So Lisa asked to see the ocra relish wondering why this couldn’t be served with the rice. He said it is because they cooked it a different way with soda…baking soda??…yes. We tasted, it was ok, but cold. Verdict, both me and Lisa would have totally eaten this relish with rice. But why not them?? After a long discussion and laughter, we realized there was no clear reason except that they don’t eat this type of ocra with rice and we would. This was a nice proof of cultural difference and a big misunderstanding!

I invited Lisa for a big meal at my house in Senga Bay to make up for the failed birthday dinner. We went to the market and got a bunch of food. We prepared burritos and carrot cake! And got some cheap wine. Good times. It was awesome to have Lisa around in the house.

So I moved to Senga Bay, in a rustic cabin that I rent from a couple living in Lilongwe. They rent it from a Malawian but with the fuel crisis, they never go, plus it is cold right now, so I use it in their absence. It has a gas stove and a fridge, a hot shower and a flush toilet. It is on the beach. There are many cracks in the floor, walls and ceiling, so a bunch of bugs. So far I saw spiders, ants (big and small), a few giant whip scorpions, a bunch of geckos, a black snake, and a big monitoring lizard (probably a few meters long. I thought it was a big snake on the beams of my ceiling (inside the house), but then we saw a leg…ouff! I can live with a giant lizard, but not with a snake. Andrew has been in Senga Bay for the last few days trying to help me settle in and try to make the house a bit less bug friendly!! haha. We went hiking over the weekend and had some fun adventure discovering my new neighbourhood. Apparently there are hippos around, but I didn’t see any yet and we didn’t feel like walking to the hippo pool an hour walk through the wood, villages and beaches. Next time maybe! I found a bike that I can borrow from one of the gardeners/staff where I live. So I might take it sometimes to go explore. It is exiting! I’m a bit worried to live in such a remote place, but I’ll get use to my new environment and will be less and less scared of it. I quite like it. I can cook whatever I feel like, I can watch movies, read, do my own things whenever I feel like it. It’s great to have some space and time for myself as the last many many months of my life had been quite busy and I’ve definitely lack some alone time.

I’ll see how it goes, but I have decided to stay part time in the village (Salima) and part time in Senga Bay. I really appreciate my host family and I don’t want to make them sad. The village is 3km from the office where I work. Plus I want to be there with them once in a while. Life in the village is interesting and fun, I feel at home and I don’t want to lose this. My house in Senga Bay is 20km from my work and getting there is a bit of an adventure. I either hitchhike or take a matola (back of a pick up). Then I have to walk 1.5 km or take a bike taxi to get home.

 

Bye for now, I have to go back to work

I’ve added some pictures on my flicker page, have a look!

Ge

 

Note: I got all my gifts from Canada, the same day…haha, it felt like a real birthday (2 months later! yay). Thanks you so so much you guys, this is priceless. I had a delicious coffee on the beach on Sunday and I thought about how amazing my friends and family are. Big big hug to all of you. Everything will be much appreciated. The book was also a great idea, especially now that I’ll have more time to read. And my favorite…the small bottle of Espresso Vodka…haha, you are awesome. I’ll keep it for a though day. Fred, the DVD of our family videos from the 90’s was also ridiculously funny, what a great idea to make me laugh. We have a fantastic family dude. I love you guys and thanks for supporting me out here in my crazy adventure on the other side of the world. I feel loved and it is an incredible feeling. xx