A Month To Go! (and Tomato Soup)

A lesson I have apparently not learned yet: Do not write time dependent blogs when you don't have reliable internet. I wrote this blog last Friday morning only to find that afternoon that the internet wasn't working. SO, please excuse the tardiness, here's last Friday's blog:

Today’s the 23rd of September, which means I have exactly one month until I move out of my host family and out of Korhogo.
Next week is my last week of working at the dispensary, I'll head in for a day or two before I leave but those days will mostly be to say goodbye.
The week following I’ll be heading down to Abidjan to welcome my parents and then bring them up to Korhogo. They’ll have 9 nights in Cote d’Ivoire.
After they leave I’ll have one week of ‘normalcy’ (all of the Korhogo team and no visitors in town) to say goodbye. The 23rd we’ll go to one last church service and then head to Bouake for a few days of debriefing and packing with the whole team.
The 26th we’ll leave for Paris for a few more days of debriefing (and sight-seeing) and the 31st we’ll leave Paris for the states.
It isn’t even October yet, but I feel like if I just blink, I’ll suddenly be on the plane flying over the Atlantic.

I remembered tomato soup last night. Don’t know the last time I thought about snuggling up in a sweater and jeans, sitting down to a nice creamy bowl of tomato soup with crackers, or maybe even grilled cheese, feeling toasty warm despite the frigid temperatures outside. It made my mouth water, but it was more than just a craving for food…it was the memory of an old comfort. After a second I refocused on the present: my host-mom talking a little too loudly in Tyembara on the phone, my sisters huddling around the cooking fire, laughing and jabbering away as Madeline drops plaintain dough in oil to make little fried ‘gateaux.’ I have absolutely no idea what anyone is talking about, maybe I can pick out a word or two if I tried to really listen. My dinner is something I absolutely detest, I can eat about two spoonfuls of it, usually my family would want to spoil me and give me something else, but somehow I’ve been able to keep my feelings about this dish somewhat a secret.
It’s an evening in the courtyard. Nothing exceptional.
I’m memorizing things so that one day while I’m sitting down to nice bowl of tomato soup, I can get lost for a moment in memories: the heat, the noises, the dancing, my family, the food, the rain.






Some pictures of the things I've been memorizing lately:

My sisters are amazing. Here they're pounding corn, taking turns in nearly perfect rhythm

Naomi and I at a wedding. LOVE this girl.

Suzanne and Micale.

Groupe Musicale! (The praise team for the French Service). This is where I've found some of my closest Ivorian friends. First two pictures: saturday practice. 2nd pic: Martine and I having a moment. Bottom picture: the whole group on Sunday.

Annie mashing plaintains to make little fried plaintain cakes.

Pool day! Martine and I and below it's me, Martine, Heidi, and Jason


I live here. It's gorgeous.

Welcome to the Ivorian Kitchen

Recipe: Rice with Sauce Aubergine

Some things you should know before we start:
-This meal was cooked by my host sisters Marie and Sephora. But if you ask an Ivorian, it was Marie that cooked it, because she was the one in charge of the operation.
-Aubergine=eggplant; however there are many different types of aubergines here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my family use the purple ones we have in the states (although I have seen them in the market). Instead they use aubergines like this:

-All cooking is done in the courtyard on the ground, so the girls either sit on small benches or stand completely bent over as you will see.
-Warning: The Ivorian kitchen does not include a timer or exact measurements, so this recipe won’t either.

Ok here we go:
Fire's already started from breakfast that morning
Marie puts water in a marmite (big pot) to boil, cuts the aubergines into wedges and puts them in pot of water to cook until soft.
Meanwhile, Sephora is peeling, rinsing off, and then grating some onions (notice the lack of cutting board):
Marie uses a bucket of water and bowl to wash the rice. After washed, Sephora and I ‘ranger’ the rice, sifting through it with our hands and picking out any stones or other non-edibles. (This is pretty much the only part I was allowed to help with):
After Marie puts on another marmite filled with water, she gets the tomatoes. Again not the variety we use, they’re bumpier and a lot more soft; they‘re kept outside, so the heat and fresh air makes them easy to mush up. Marie rinses/washes them with water, then squishes them with her hand, until basically liquid. She adds some water, continuing to squish, then takes out the tough skins and sets them aside;
Now the aubergines are soft, so Marie ladles them and the water out, then strains off the water. (I have deserted Sephora to take pictures, she’s still picking through the rice)
Marie puts two ladlefuls of oil and the onions in the now empty pot They sizzle for just a second before she puts in the watered down tomatoes and enough water to nearly fill the pot.
The entire time, Marie is adjusting the wood for the fires, adding more where needed.
She then mashes the aubergines, placing the strainer over a pot. She mashes them very well, until only skins and seeds are left in strainer. When she's nearly finished, Sephora brings some water over to rinse all of the good stuff out of the strainer. Marie adds the mashed aubergines to pot.
At this point, the other girls start picking up the dirty pots/bowls and put in the dirty dish area.

Now time for the seasonings, she adds a good amount of fish powder (dried fish that Micale pounded earlier that morning), some piment (ground dried hot pepper), pounded sunbaara, and a little pepper (she'll add salt to taste just before serving)
Sauce prep's done! They cover the pots and let them boil for a couple hours
After bowls picked up, Marie sweeps cooking area of courtyard, while the younger girls wash dishes in the background.
A little later, Marie adds the rice to the other pot, and strains out any extra water
Quite a while later, the girls get out serving dishes for everyone at home, and prepare two big pots (one for rice, the other for sauce) for all of the guys at the store. This meal will feed somewhere around 30 people.
Below Marie is tying the two pots together with a cloth, the bundle will be strapped to the back of the moto and driven in town to the store.


There you have it! Rice with Sauce Aubergine.

last week in pictures

My host sister Suzanne and I. Funny that when I first arrived Suzanne would barely come near me, let alone look me in the eye. So very glad that phase is long gone!

Next 3 pictures are of a wedding I went to last weekend. The first two were taken in the groom's family's courtyard. Since weddings are such big events here, lots of women from the church come to help cook. The first picture is the first time I've ever seen anything remotely resembling a cutting board. They're chopping up frozen fish. The second picture displays one of the many skills Ivorian women have. The third picture is of the groom and his party walking down the aisle at Koko church.

Getting ready for church on Sunday morning! The boys obviously don't have much to do since they're playing soccer in the background. Madeline, the family hair dresser, is doing Suzanne's hair.

Naomi, Heidi, Alyssa, and Jason made my birthday absolutely fantastic. We hiked to the top of Mt. Korhogo and checked out the view of our 'ville.' Some of the things I love the most: being outside, great views at the top, and friends so close they might as well be family.