Chili and choir practice

Feb 16, 17



I wanted to make dinner for my African family as a thank you. I made chili. I bought all the ingredients, ground the beef myself while swatting away flies and wiping the sweat off my brow because it’s very hot. I chopped the onions and peppers on a make-shift cutting board with the blade of a knife that had lost its handle. (They don’t use cutting boards.) There wasn’t any chili powder at the supermarket and so I took a poor substitute which served as the closest thing. I cooked it all on an open fire and a charcoal stove in the middle of the yard with the chickens and the puppy and the cat sauntering about and later in the evening the goats stampeding by. I spent a couple of hours with Vennie at the library, worked with the few kids that came and then Barbara, Purity, Vennie and I all walked back together to have the chili. I had invited Barbara and her daughter Purity who live at the Centre and worked hard for us while we were there. The chili was a big hit even though people didn’t get their usual mountains piled on their plate. But it seemed nobody went hungry and no food was wasted.

On Sunday morning one of the high school students who uses the Centre came by to get help with his French work from me. That was kind of cool. And then in the early evening I went to a little choir practice that had been set up for me. The music director of the Catholic Church in Gayaza had called a few of his choristers together and I learned and we recorded some African church music with the little tape recorder I had bought for the occasion. It was a very fun evening actually. I learned some cool songs and we enjoyed each other’s company. I was impressed with their knowledge of their music. They do everything from memory. Actually I’ve noted in churches and at other functions people all know the hymns and songs off by heart. And all the verses of them. There are no hymnbooks in the pews yet everyone sings along. That impresses me. The choristers were impressed with my ability to pick up the language and the tunes.