Pies, Cookies, and Lion Killers

A few weeks ago, one of the farmers from the Mang'u group, Monene, gave me a pumpkin from his shamba (farm). I was so grateful, and I decided almost immediately that I would make pumpkin pie with it. After consulting my "How to Make American Food in Africa" cookbook (thanks to this book all American missionaries can enjoy many otherwise by-gone comforts), I learned how to prepare a pumpkin for pie and what I could use as substitutes for various ingredients. I baked two pies, full of trepidation that they would not turn out at all, but to my great delight they looked surprisingly normal when I took them out of the oven (ask my family, my forte is certainly not baking desserts), and they even tasted pretty good. I was still really nervous about what Monene would think of this sweet squooshy mess we call pie, but when Michael took it to him, he reported that Monene and the other farmers said it was "tamu sana" ("very sweet," a very high compliment as this is the phrase used to describe anything and everything that is very tasty). Monene even took an extra piece to his mama and called me later to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Success!

Get ready, another dessert story. Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookie dough because I want to take some for my soccer team before our season ends. I figure it'll be a good cultural experience for all the girls to partake in this fantastic American goodness. So I was talking to my assistant coach, Caroline, about these cookies that I'm planning to bring; I asked her if she thought it was a good idea and she said yes, but she seemed a little confused. Caroline is Kenyan, but she teaches at Rosslyn Academy, an American school, so I just assumed that she was familiar with wonderful things like chocolate chip cookies. When she looked confused, I asked, "Wait, Caroline, have you ever eaten a chocolate chip cookie?" After a few seconds, she simply replied, "What are they?" I half expected that she had never eaten them before, but to never have heard of them?! I stumbled back in shock (okay, not really), and then promised that I would educate her on chocolate chip cookie eating very very soon.

Last week we attended a Kenyan Baptist church right down the road from our apartment. After the service we were invited to the visitors' tent outside where we took tea and talked with several church members. They were very warm and welcoming, and we really enjoyed it. The only visitor besides us was a young Kenyan man who was very quiet for much of the conversation, until one of the men started speaking with him in Kiswahili. We learned that his name is James and that he is Massai, which is a nomadic tribe in Kenya that is generally made up of cattle herders. As this conversation continued, we learned that this 25-year old guy sitting across from us, looking so western in his blue jeans and polo, is a Massai warrior because he killed a lion (a required feat to be a warrior) three years ago. With a spear. I think the whole conversation was a little surreal for both Michael and me, but we finished sipping our chai as he described his neck and chest wounds from the lion, and then Michael invited him to come to lunch with us. Over beef stew and chapati (think thick tortillas) our Kiswahili skills were put to practice as we continued to get to know James. And despite all the "Pole sana, sielewi" ("So sorry, we don't understand"), we really had a great time with him and look forward to hanging out with our Massai warrior lion killing friend more.

We have really been amazed at the people we're getting to know here. Whether it's working with them or just hanging out, I am so grateful for the budding friendships we have with people here.