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11.30.2014
How to do Thanksgiving substitutions
Cooking is one of my favorite things in Musoma. There is rarely a straight-forward recipe. Sometimes you have to plan months ahead to ensure that you have the ingredients for a particular dish. Sometimes the ingredient is simply unavailable so you have to come up with a substitution that works. Either way, I enjoy the challenge of making special dishes for various events. Thanksgiving was therefore a chance for some fun cooking and 'make-it-work' moments.
Pumpkin pie: One key step is ensuring that you have pumpkin. Pumpkins do in fact go out of season here. I used one pumpkin that a friend had saved from the previous month in case there were no pumpkins at the market. There happened to be pumpkins available though so we got a second pumpkin to ensure that we made enough pie.
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| Mr. Pumpkin on the left wasn't so sure about Ms. Pumpkin when they first met, but ultimately they worked together to make a delicious pumpkin pie. |
Pecans that I randomly received in October were saved specially for the topping of the pie.
You can't necessarily tell from the picture above, but we don't have a pie pan, so a pyrex casserole dish was substituted and we ended up with a deep-deep-dish pumpkin pie.
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| Yep, that is how deep - at least the filling is the best part. |
In lieu of a smoker, my friends cooked the turkey in an outdoor pizza oven and it turned out beautifully, not to mention deliciously.
Sweet potatoes here are chalky and white, so carrots were substituted. Its amazing, but it really doesn't harm the end result. We kept referring to the dish as having been sweet potatoes, that is how effective the carrots' deception was.
Green bean casserole takes more work because even the onion topping is made completely from scratch.
The "cranberry sauce" was made from boiled craisins with cabbage to fill it out and wine for color.
The final substitution was that instead of sharing the meal with my birth family, I shared it with my missionary family.
No substitutions were accepted when it came to being thankful, eating delicious food and enjoying each others' company. It was such a wonderful day and I am truly grateful for all the blessings that God has given me.
(I even got to skype with my birth family while they ate their thanksgiving meal!)
11.23.2014
Not My Normal: Dagaa
Dagaa (dah-gaah) is a small fish (I think silverfish) that is ubiquitous in the Musoma area. It is one of the more common proteins for many of the people in this region. I, however, have avoided eating these fish for nearly 4 years. Something about eating the fish heads themselves is not exactly appealing to me. So, my primary interaction with these fish is to buy them in bulk and feed them to my dogs (they get mixed with a corn flour paste called ugali).
My nearly 4-year streak of not eating dagaa was broken a couple weeks ago. My neighbors, the Makwasas, gave us a little bowl of dagaa that they had fried in peanut oil. Mr. Makwasa is very generous and as a thank you to Sarah and me for listening to his request he gave us sugar cane and dagaa.
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| Dagaa fried in peanut oil glistening in the afternoon sun. |
Needless to say, we couldn't simply feed this generous gift to our dogs...so we had dagaa for dinner a couple nights later.
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| Dagaa stewed with lots of veggies and seasonings to mask the bitter undertones of the fish. |
So, I can now confidently assert that I don't prefer dagaa. Not just because I don't want to eat fish heads but because I don't like their flavor. But I've now eaten them, so at least it is an informed opinion.
11.17.2014
My Normal: Maombi
Maombi (mah-ohm-bee) = Requests
One of the biggest adjustments to life here in Musoma has been figuring out how to handle requests for money.
Depending on one another financially is a cultural norm and being indebted to one another actually can build relationships. It is completely opposite from how we, in the West, tend to view money and relationships. It is exceptionally challenging for me to navigate this particular area of my life, especially when the Bible enters into the picture.
This has been challenging me recently: "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:42)
There are many worldly wisdoms that say I shouldn't follow through on what Jesus says in Matthew 5:42, especially considering that I live somewhere where people actually do ask me for things all the time! But, Jesus didn't qualify this statement/command...so should I?
I recently started being particularly convicted not to qualify Jesus' commands, this one in particular. Because of this desire to do as people have asked of me, please finish reading this blog...or simply stop here if you have appreciated this cultural point and that has been enough.
A few weeks ago I introduced my neighbors, the Makwasas, to you.
Last week Mr. Makwasa came to Sarah and me with a request. He had been very sick several months ago and had to go to India for treatment (he even showed us his endoscopy photos, yay!!!). This has put him in a financial bind and he doesn't have the money to pay school fees, about $1,300, so that his kids can finish the school year.
He asked Sarah and me to ask our friends if any of them wanted to help him...so we are both doing exactly that. We are sharing his need with our friends and if anyone feels led to help him out I can give you information on how to go about that. Please email me at ronitodom@gmail.com by the end of Thanksgiving weekend (when the school fees are due) if you are feeling led to give something toward's the kids' school fees.
One of the biggest adjustments to life here in Musoma has been figuring out how to handle requests for money.
Depending on one another financially is a cultural norm and being indebted to one another actually can build relationships. It is completely opposite from how we, in the West, tend to view money and relationships. It is exceptionally challenging for me to navigate this particular area of my life, especially when the Bible enters into the picture.
This has been challenging me recently: "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:42)
There are many worldly wisdoms that say I shouldn't follow through on what Jesus says in Matthew 5:42, especially considering that I live somewhere where people actually do ask me for things all the time! But, Jesus didn't qualify this statement/command...so should I?
I recently started being particularly convicted not to qualify Jesus' commands, this one in particular. Because of this desire to do as people have asked of me, please finish reading this blog...or simply stop here if you have appreciated this cultural point and that has been enough.
A few weeks ago I introduced my neighbors, the Makwasas, to you.
 |
| Sarah, the three Makwasa boys and me. |
Last week Mr. Makwasa came to Sarah and me with a request. He had been very sick several months ago and had to go to India for treatment (he even showed us his endoscopy photos, yay!!!). This has put him in a financial bind and he doesn't have the money to pay school fees, about $1,300, so that his kids can finish the school year.
He asked Sarah and me to ask our friends if any of them wanted to help him...so we are both doing exactly that. We are sharing his need with our friends and if anyone feels led to help him out I can give you information on how to go about that. Please email me at ronitodom@gmail.com by the end of Thanksgiving weekend (when the school fees are due) if you are feeling led to give something toward's the kids' school fees.
11.09.2014
My Normal: Top-Up Cards
In the first two hours, on my very first day in Tanzania, nearly four years ago, I was told about top-up cards. I had no idea what this guy was talking about except that it related to phones and being able to call people. It honestly took me longer than I generally like to admit to understand how top-up cards work and that they are AWESOME!
So, basically you buy a certain amount of credit, say 10,000TZS (Tanzanian shillings), a little over $6. You enter the code that is on the card into your phone and then you have that much credit for texting, calling and internet (if your phone can do that). 10,000TZS usually lasts me about a month.
But the top-up cards don't stop there! That is how I purchase internet too. I get top-up cards for 25,000TZS and buy 6GB of internet and add it onto my dongle. 6GB usually lasts me a month.
This is the best one though: electricity. Yes, I pre-pay for my electricity, get a top-up receipt and when the power goes out (or before if I happen to think of it), I simply punch in the code and voila! I have power again. Granted, some times the power goes out because of a power cut...top-up cards can't help me in that circumstance. But otherwise, voila!
It definitely takes some getting used to and you have to be able to plan ahead a bit to ensure that you have phone, internet, or electricity credit, but hey! no hassles from these companies!
(Unlike the water company that has come and shut off my water twice in the last two months...)
So, basically you buy a certain amount of credit, say 10,000TZS (Tanzanian shillings), a little over $6. You enter the code that is on the card into your phone and then you have that much credit for texting, calling and internet (if your phone can do that). 10,000TZS usually lasts me about a month.
But the top-up cards don't stop there! That is how I purchase internet too. I get top-up cards for 25,000TZS and buy 6GB of internet and add it onto my dongle. 6GB usually lasts me a month.
This is the best one though: electricity. Yes, I pre-pay for my electricity, get a top-up receipt and when the power goes out (or before if I happen to think of it), I simply punch in the code and voila! I have power again. Granted, some times the power goes out because of a power cut...top-up cards can't help me in that circumstance. But otherwise, voila!
It definitely takes some getting used to and you have to be able to plan ahead a bit to ensure that you have phone, internet, or electricity credit, but hey! no hassles from these companies!
(Unlike the water company that has come and shut off my water twice in the last two months...)
11.03.2014
Musoma = Earthsea (kind of)
I read the Earthsea Trilogy in high-school and really enjoyed the books. They are about a world where magic is conducted by knowing the true name of things. Anyone can work this magic if they just learn the true names. When a true name is used the one who uses it has power and authority over the object or person. So, everyone guards their name and goes by nicknames only telling their true name to people they really trust.
How is Musoma like Earthsea? Well, pretty much every time I leave my house people call out to me...but they don't often know my true name and so I know when I do and do not need to respond. If a man passes me and calls out 'Mzungu' (white-person), or 'Mrembo' (beautiful), or 'Nyangeta' (night), or 'Nyafulu' (a type of little fish), or 'Mwanamke' (woman) I know that I can just walk on and ignore him because I don't know him.
There are a number of names that I will respond to though and when I hear one of them I look around trying to figure out who knows me so that I can greet them properly.
That is why sometimes I feel like I live in Earthsea, when someone knows my name, I respond to them and they have a degree of authority and power over me. If they, however, don't know my name, they have no power or authority over me (generally) and I can just walk on by.
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