Last week was the first time since I’ve been here in which I’ve felt any semblance of homesickness. All of my friends were discussing their upcoming plans to see each other during their Thanksgiving breaks, my extended family was getting ready to make the trip to Los Angeles, and everyone was preparing their Thanksgiving dinners. It made me miss home. But, Kim and I decided that even though we would not have access to our highly craved pumpkin pie, we would create our own Thanksgiving. We went to Katie, an American that lives in the same complex as us, and to Happy, the Tanzanian woman that owns the complex and asked if they would be willing to participate in Thanksgiving with us. Katie was excited to have a Thanksgiving dinner, and when we received permission from Happy to take over her kitchen for the day (we don’t have an oven), we set out to find the necessary materials to create a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Part One: Arusha
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Kim, Edward, Happy, and I all piled into the car and set off to Arusha, which is a slightly larger town about an hour and a half away from Moshi. During the drive, Happy remarked that she was excited to learn how to cook mzungu (white person) food, to which we responded that we were also excited to learn how to cook mzungu food, considering Kim and I both thought of ourselves as pretty much useless in the kitchen.
When we arrived in Arusha, we first set out to find a turkey. Neither of us were prepared to take on the task of a cooking an entire turkey, so we decided to get turkey breasts. It turns out that turkey breasts in Arusha are quite expensive, so we were only able to get one two-pound breast. But what’s Thanksgiving without turkey? After arranging for our turkey to be ready by the time we were planning on heading back to Moshi, we went to the Masai Market.
The Masai Market is quite an experience in and of itself. When you pull in, you are immediately assaulted by women sitting on the ground behind blankets of African crafts attempting to sell anything that they can. When you venture further into the market, people shout at you saying, “Karibu (Welcome)! Looking is free!” And when you pass by a shop without going in, they will go on to talk about how obnoxious it is that we didn’t stop at their particular stand (thank you, Kim’s Swahili). After purchasing a few token African crafts and gifts, we headed to an area of Arusha called Njiro, which houses a large, western supermarket.
Walking into the Village Supermarket immediately prompted some culture shock. There were piles of imported goods--everything from Rice Krispies to Pantene shampoo to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (which were from Canada and were called Reese Peanut Butter Cups, which was slightly off putting) to Doritos. At first it was incredibly overwhelming to see all of these items in one place, but it quickly became fun to see so many things that I had not seen in so long. In addition to giving into a few of our cravings (ie: Reese Peanut Butter Cups), we left the supermarket with cranberry sauce and a few other things for our Thanksgiving meal.
Following a delicious lunch, we headed to the Arusha food market, which was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. Before even entering the market, you are immediately hounded by people trying to sell you various fruits and vegetables. One you get into the market, the hounding only worsens. When we finally escaped, we went to our car as quickly as possible with bags of fruits and vegetables weighing us down.
Part Two: Cooking
Let me preface this section by saying that Kim and I do not cook. And prior to Thanksgiving, the one time that we cooked a legitimate meal (for three people) took at least three hours. So to say that we were anxious would be a bit of an understatement. We set out to make pumpkin soup, stuffing, and turkey. With no guidance other than Happy’s knowledge of Tanzanian cooking and the recipes that we found online (our initial search featured the words, “Thanksgiving for Dummies”), we started chopping and boiling and heating and baking and stirring. With the turkey in the oven and the stuffing ready to be baked, the pumpkin soup was our main concern. Spoonfuls of honey, tons of cinnamon, a cup of coconut milk, two boiled pumpkins, and one blender later, Kim and I tasted the best pumpkin soup that we have ever had. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m telling you, this soup was incredible.
Everything came out well, and Kim and I were quite impressed with ourselves. Happy made vegetables and chicken (to make up for the fact that our Turkey would serve 3 of 15 people planning on showing up) and Katie came baring a sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes. When everyone arrived, Thanksgiving began.
Part 3: The Meal
The Masai Market is quite an experience in and of itself. When you pull in, you are immediately assaulted by women sitting on the ground behind blankets of African crafts attempting to sell anything that they can. When you venture further into the market, people shout at you saying, “Karibu (Welcome)! Looking is free!” And when you pass by a shop without going in, they will go on to talk about how obnoxious it is that we didn’t stop at their particular stand (thank you, Kim’s Swahili). After purchasing a few token African crafts and gifts, we headed to an area of Arusha called Njiro, which houses a large, western supermarket.
Walking into the Village Supermarket immediately prompted some culture shock. There were piles of imported goods--everything from Rice Krispies to Pantene shampoo to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (which were from Canada and were called Reese Peanut Butter Cups, which was slightly off putting) to Doritos. At first it was incredibly overwhelming to see all of these items in one place, but it quickly became fun to see so many things that I had not seen in so long. In addition to giving into a few of our cravings (ie: Reese Peanut Butter Cups), we left the supermarket with cranberry sauce and a few other things for our Thanksgiving meal.
Following a delicious lunch, we headed to the Arusha food market, which was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. Before even entering the market, you are immediately hounded by people trying to sell you various fruits and vegetables. One you get into the market, the hounding only worsens. When we finally escaped, we went to our car as quickly as possible with bags of fruits and vegetables weighing us down.
Part Two: Cooking
Let me preface this section by saying that Kim and I do not cook. And prior to Thanksgiving, the one time that we cooked a legitimate meal (for three people) took at least three hours. So to say that we were anxious would be a bit of an understatement. We set out to make pumpkin soup, stuffing, and turkey. With no guidance other than Happy’s knowledge of Tanzanian cooking and the recipes that we found online (our initial search featured the words, “Thanksgiving for Dummies”), we started chopping and boiling and heating and baking and stirring. With the turkey in the oven and the stuffing ready to be baked, the pumpkin soup was our main concern. Spoonfuls of honey, tons of cinnamon, a cup of coconut milk, two boiled pumpkins, and one blender later, Kim and I tasted the best pumpkin soup that we have ever had. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m telling you, this soup was incredible.
Everything came out well, and Kim and I were quite impressed with ourselves. Happy made vegetables and chicken (to make up for the fact that our Turkey would serve 3 of 15 people planning on showing up) and Katie came baring a sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes. When everyone arrived, Thanksgiving began.
Part 3: The Meal
After rushing home to shower, we were ready to eat. Everything was delicious. We made Edward carve the turkey, claiming that it was the man’s role, and had a great time introducing Tanzanians to one of our favorite American traditions. Everyone was impressed with what we made, and if you exclude the fact that we were not able to make a pumpkin pie and that a football game was not in the background, we had a traditional, delicious, eat-until-you-can’t-move Thanksgiving.
Even though I didn’t get to see my family, my own little Tanzanian family made Thanksgiving a great and unforgettable experience.
0 comments:
Post a Comment