You are what you eat?

I thought I'd write a bit today about the food here in Tanzania. There are no big supermarkets in Moshi, where I live -- just small local "mom & pop" grocery stores. A couple of them are known for carrying "mzungu" (white person) products, such as yogurt, cheddar cheese, Cadbury milk chocolate, bran flakes, cornflakes, granola (and other cereals), Marmite, Pringles and the like. Things like olive oil are extremely expensive, so, after finishing the two miniature bottles I brought with me from Spain (from the takeaway cafe near work), I've now resorted to regular vegetable oil (not the same, but without a salary for 4 1/2 months, I need to be a bit more careful!). So far, after one month here (yes, already!), my staples at Aleem's grocery seem to be red wine (usually from South Africa), taro chips (like potato chips but made out of the taro root and with less oil), crackers, bran flakes, butter (most Tanzanians use something between margarine and vegetable fat), and cheddar cheese. We get our milk from the local shack (see the photo of Lusajo wearing sunglasses -- he standing in front of the shack) right outside our house. Every couple of mornings I go there with my plastic pitcher and the woman who owns the shack fills it for me. Since it's straight from the cow, we have to boil it for 5 minutes (we also boil our water before drinking it). I haven't seen any pasteurized/homogenized milk in the stores here. You can get UHT milk in the "mzungu" grocery stores, but it's quite expensive -- and why get zapped milk if you can get it fresh??!! At the shack I can also buy white bread, all different kinds of soap (for bodies or clothing), toilet paper, eggs, donuts, and other various items. Behind the shack is another shack but this one is called a container. There one can buy sugar, rice, and other stuff. Everyone buys veggies and fruits either from local stands or from the outdoor market. Of course, if you're a mzungu like me, your bound to get ripped off. I guess you really can't blame the locals -- they're so poor, it's one of the only ways they can make a bit more money. Still, I've asked Monika and Lusajo for "acceptable" prices to pay so that I'm not completely taken advantage of. I have yet to venture into the market on my own--yes, still, after 1 month--hence I just pay the prices that Monika pays, which is still more than a local would pay but less than a tourist). Every day I feel closer to taking that step into the "lion's den" (i.e. the market) by myself. I will get there, I know it. My usual market purchases are tomatoes (you can only buy the "plum" variety), cucumbers (like the kind in the U.S.--i.e., smooth skinned--and not the kind in Spain which have bumpy skin), carrots (huge), and bananas (the miniature variety). However, every once and a while I get a little more adventurous and I buy, for instance, lentils, green pepper, mandarin oranges or regular oranges (which both have tons of pits). At the market one can also by white rice, split peas, a whole range of beans--most of which I don't know the names for--various grains (I think the locals make flour out of them) and stuff I have no idea what it is. I only have to prepare breakfast and lunch for myself -- dinner is "on the house". Which brings me to our evening meals...Until this past week, Monika had been the sole dinner cook, but that changed as of last Monday. It is now a former Give A Heart To Africa School student--I'll call her "M" to keep her anonymous--who prepares our meals since Monika will be going home to Canada for two months in a week's time. "M" has cooked for the house before, but there were some issues -- like not arriving on time, not coming with sufficient ingredients to cook for the number of people living in the house, and making meals that were not very appetizing (sounds promising?). The thing is, "M" has been repeatedly beaten by her husband. Not that long ago, he broke her leg, though I don't know how it happened. She finally moved out of the house (a big deal here, since people are very religious Christians and believe "until death do us part") and moved in with her brother who's a pastor at a local church, sending her only son (12-13 years old) to live with his grandmother in the south of the country, since she was afraid for him. Now, however, some big-wig white priest/pastor (her brother's superior, I believe) told her she couldn't stay with her brother in the church and had to move back home to be with her husband (until death do them part...). So, now she's back with him. She said that things were bad and she's afraid. Monika decided to give her another chance to cook for us to help her make some money and get out of her situation. She will will give her the bus money in September to go visit her son, whom she hasn't seen for more than a year and who is refusing to go to school. I'm glad to report that, so far, "M" is coming on time and the cooking is pretty good. Last night's meal was delicious -- ugali (like a thick polenta, made from corn flour and water), cabbage, and spinach. Tanzanians eat ugali with their hands and use it to scoop up whatever is accompanying it. Since "when in Rome do as the Romans" I followed Lusajo's example (Monika continues to eat with her fork). You have to make a ball with the ugali in your hand, then flatten it a bit (all the time using only the one hand) and use it to scoop up the other stuff -- a bit messy, but fun (in my opinion). The night before last, we had rice with orange-colored split peas (not very interesting). Usually, we have either rice, potatoes, or ugali along with any variety of veggies and or beans or other "legumes" (lentils, split peas, etc.). The standard veggies seem to be any mix including one or more of the following: zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, carrots, peas (fresh), cabbage, and string beans. I'm trying to introduce the idea of something similar to pumpkin, which they have in the market. Last week we had cabbage pasta! If you haven't yet guessed, much to Lusajo's regret, Monika is a vegetarian and does not cook with meat (looking at the meat hanging up in the market, I don't blame her!). Lusajo and I tried to convince Monika to put french fries on the menu (very popular here and known as "chips" like in England) with choice of either eggs or chicken (a traditional dish here), but we were voted down. Once a week we eat dinner at one of the little shacks on the university campus (our house is on campus) -- Monika, Lusajo, Petro (our Maasai nightwatchman), and me. The guys always get the same (with their fill of meat) and the gals always get the same (rice, spinach, and beans -- like baked beans, but not sweet). I think the 4 of us eat for under 3 or 4 euros in total!

Thanks to all of you who post comments! I love hearing from you and will eventually get around to writing you individual emails.

Kumbatia (hugs),
Victoria

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