Dinner Out

I am back from dinner at my new friend Naomi’s house. I walked in to Naomi’s tiny mud house, the front room was completely filled by a small table. Behind one faded curtain are sleeping quarters. Behind the other I heard clucking of the other residents... three turkeys. We sat as the charcoal smoke from the cook fire wafted in, faces glowing with lamp light. We got more and more excited with each pot Naomi brought in as each one moved us closer to the feast. And I do mean feast. Africans eat like none other. The spread consisted of rice with peanut sauce, beans, and sombee. Sombee is a leaf that has to be beaten for about and hour to release the cyanide, then cooked to be something like the greens we enjoy in the south, all these piled high in a bowl. Then one eats and eats. I thought it might be smart to eat quickly so that I could finish it all before I felt too bloated, then Naomi started scooping me more sombee. By the time we left I was far beyond full.

Naomi lives with her grandmother, Mamba. I like Mamba very much. Mamba greeted us warmly and smiled revealing pink gums and a tooth something resembling a fang. Supposedly she has 2 teeth, I have yet to see the other. She goes on and on in Lubwisi I smile and say “mmm..” (equivalent to the smile and nod) She occasionally will revert back to the traditional greetings, as this is the only thing I understand and can make a reply. Mamba just likes to talk. My roommates Sarah and Ashley and Heidi (a nurse in Bundi) are better at communicating, but still there are a lot of mmm...s. Mamba laughs. She then starts to count to 10... in English. Amazing! Hardly anyone here speaks English, but this old woman is learning. She wants to talk that much. The other school kids in the room laugh as she attempts other words. I understand this feeling well... many giggle at my awkwardness in a place and culture so unlike my own. A feeling that is soon to be a constant companion as I will really be trying to learn Labwisi these next couple months. Pray that I would be like Mamba, having a strong desire to communicate with these people as well as the ability to laugh at myself. Pray that I will be disciplined and that God would provide a good Babwisi language helper and friend for me.