What Have We Always Said Is the Most Important Thing?

Breakfast at Mazzoldi House offers generally predictable fare.  Bread, porridge, tea, maybe some hard-boiled eggs, occasionally some mandazi (best described as East African donut holes).  I tend to keep it simple (toast with butter and a mug of steaming hot water).  But this morning I noticed a new addition to the spread.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kabalagala!

My first guess was that they were some kind of potato pancake, but Fr. Freddy and Fr. Mawa quickly corrected me.  Kabalagala is made from bananas and cassava flour.  They are simply delicious!  These were not served hot, but the outside was still reasonably crispy, and the flavor was surprisingly (though I probably should have called it) sweet and banana-y.  I have learned to be cautious when an African is telling me that something is very sweet (a word used to describe both fish eyes and the dreaded Dorian).  Call me jaded.  But these really were delightful!

I popped back into the kitchen to give my compliments to the chef, a young man named Thomas.  He told me that Fr. Mawa was the one who showed him how to make Kabalagala, since it comes from his home place in Uganda.  This is kind of the neat thing about dining at Mazzoldi House.  Even though it is in Kenya, the priests who live here are from all over East Africa, and they each bring their recipes from home to be incorporated into the menu.  You really get a sense of the variety of the tastes and flavors of this part of the world. 

Unfortunately, Thomas couldn't give me a more specific recipe than "You mash up sweet bananas and add some cassava flour and you cook them."  Looks like I'll have to keep coming back for more!

Also, "Kabalagala" is one of the most fun words to say ever!

To Waste or Waste Not

As I prepare to welcome the C&S7 (even shorter now), I am feeling very conscious of the fact that I will be the "expert" on the scene.  I am pretty comfortable with the role.  I mean, I've spent months here over the years, and I've been very inquisitive during those visits, in anticipation of being able to gently guide newcomers through this chaotic world.  I can fill out customs forms in my sleep.  I don't even flinch when a matatu is driving directly at me on the wrong side of the road.  I know the names of all the foods.  I don't get excited when I see Maasai herders driving their goats through town.*

I can handle myself.

Which means it's time for an ego check.  I got one at dinner this evening.  I was raised in a house where you don't get down from the dinner table until your plate is empty.  "Make it zero!" is a common expression at the family table.  And I have carried that with me to this day (occasionally at my waistline's expense).  It grates on me to leave food on my plate.  It seems wasteful, and I don't want to be a wasteful person.  I make an effort not to take more than I want (or more than I should have), and I almost always lick my plate clean.

I did this tonight (because the food here is flipping delicious!), crossed my fork and knife on my plate, and leaned back in my chair.  "You know, Jo, in Africa, when you eat everything on your plate, it means that you didn't get enough to eat," said my friend Fr. Felix.  I apologized and explained that it is difficult for me to stop eating delicious things, so I just keep eating until they're gone.  "But Jo," he countered, "you are in Africa, and it is our custom to always leave something on your plate if you are satisfied."  Well, I certainly am not one to flout the culture of a place I am visiting, and I am an eager student.  But still... it's so wasteful!  "Jo, nothing here is wasted.  Don't you care if the pigs get anything to eat?  If you eat all of your food, what are the pigs going to eat?"  Fair point, Fr. Felix.

I went up and got just a little bit more food in order to not finish it.  I am so African.

*Just kidding- that is totally always exciting, 100% of the time.

You are not so close to the roosters, but you are near to the goats.

I have arrived! Just 24 hours after leaving my home in Pennsylvania, I arrived at Mazzoldi House in Karen last night. I was greeted at the airport by Fr. Ponciano (a member of last time's welcome wagon), my new friend Fr. John, and of course Fr. Kamanzi. I was thrilled and relieved that all of my luggage and all of its contents arrived safely, especially since I was carrying A LOT of donations thanks to the inspiring generosity of individuals back home.

I was looking forward to moving back into my old room (number 21), which Brother Steven had assured me would be mine as often as I returned, but when we arrived at the house, the Fathers steered me towards the administration house. Friends, I have moved up in the world! Apparently, since I am now a part of the administration of the order (a lay part, but a part all the same), I now have accommodations in the main house! The room is not terribly different in size or layout (which I found comforting), but it is on the other side of the compound from the Guest House, so, as Fr. Kamanzi told me cheerfully, "You are not so close to the roosters, but you are near to the goats." I am happy to say that I was woken up by neither this morning.

Now I am getting reacquainted with the place, which isn't really necessary, since as soon as I arrived it felt as though I had never left. My new friend Fr. John will be my companion and guide throughout my travels in East Africa. He and I spent a few happy hours this morning discussing all of our potential destinations over the next month.

A whole month. My, but that's wonderful!

I am hoping to figure out how to connect my laptop to the internet (I am updating from one of the office computers) so that I can share pictures and update more often. Until then, I will do my best to keep this interesting!

Oh the barnyard is busy, in a regular tizzy...

Here in Nairobi, Kenya, we are staying at Mazzoldi House in Karen.

The House is actually a sprawling compound with offices, where the Apostles of Jesus coordinate their mission work, a guesthouse, a dining room, a chapel, and a fully functioning farm.

I had no idea before arriving, but it turns out that Mazzoldi House is almost 100% self-sustaining! The only things that they don't grow here on the property are corn (which is used to make Ugali, a stiff cornmeal porridge that is the staple of East African cuisine) and rice (which it seems is the staple of every kind of cuisine, not just East African). They have cows, chickens, ducks, geese, at least one turkey, rabbits, and more pigs than I've ever seen before in my life. Plus, to make things more exciting (for me, anyway), almost all of the animals have recently had babies! Yay for small cute farm animals! Anyway, they very efficiently use the manure from the livestock to fertilize acres of vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Fr. John, one of the AJs who is visiting from Uganda, took us on a tour of the whole complex, from the barnyard to the banana grove.

This place has not stopped astonishing me!