Wow, I cannot believe that today is my absolute favorite holiday and that I will not be spending it with my family and friends in the states. I will not have the traditional feast nor will I be spending the day watching my favorite sport football. However, I have so many things to be thankful for so in the true spirit of Thanksgiving I will just remember what I have instead of what I do not. I am first thankful for the opportunity to be here at all. Secondly for the loving and supportive parents who have made it possible. Thirdly, I am thankful for all of my friends back home who are keeping in touch. I am also thankful for my host family and the new friends I've made here who have made this transition smooth. Lastly, I am thankful for the technology to easily reconnect with everyone.
So since Thanksgiving is centered around food I thought I'd let you guys know what my new diet here in Dar es Salaam is. For breakfast, I usually take chai (black tea) chapatti (fried flat bread) or mandazi (similar ot dounuts). I absolutely love chapatti and mandazi, I will continue to make is when I return. For lunch, I usually have a plate of fruit or chips mayai. Chips mayai might be one of the best things ever thought of. It is chips or for us Americans, french fries cooked in a skillet with 2 eggs. I will also be making this all the time when I'm home. One of the perks about living with a host family is that I get to try all the different traditional meals such as ugali and makande. Ugali is like a stiff pourrige made from maize while makande is a mixture of beans and corn. Ugali is eaten with you hand and by itself it doesn't have a strong taste but you eat it with a variety foods and come with a sauce like baked beans of example. Also I have a patterned diet of rice, beans and meat (usually chicken, fish or beef) in a stew. I'd say this is the staple diet of most Tanzanians. These meal is also sometimes added with chips (french fries) or cooked banana. Little bit of useful information bananas when cooked no longer taste like bananas but instead more like potatoes. Aside from the traditional food there is a strong Arab and Indian influence in diet, which makes me very happy because I can find samosas, shawarma and curries which adds a little spice to my life.
Sometimes I find myself missing food (especially condiments) from home, however I haven't found a cure for this and the only fast food chain from home I've seen is Subway. That's right no KFC, which as translates to most Tanzanians haven't heard of Kentucky at all. To deal with this I remind myself that I will have American food again so for a while I can deal with missing the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
What I've found different here is definitely eating habits and table manners. Before eating, there is a bowl with a pitcher of hot water on the table to wash your hands with. Therefore, eating with your hands, is perfectly normal and not considered rude. Interestingly enough however they don't seem to lick their fingers after eating but instead wash them again. My thought process tells me to lick my fingers afterwards, I mean after all I was already eating with them. Elbows on the table seem to give you better leverage to eat with you hands. You are expected to finish your whole plate as well, although in some parts I've been told that if you finish your whole plate it means you weren't satisfied and then you get more. Sorry baby sister, slurping is done often.
In reality it wasn't that hard to get used to the diet or a less composed way of eating. When it comes down to it I'm still eating meat, a carbohydrate and vegetables for my meals so is it really all that different?
Hakuna Matata,
Kimberly
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