This afternoon has been a glorious time of cooking chapati. I went to Popo's house with Elisha, Julius, Andrew, and 2 muzungus, Gabby from Utah, and Jany from New Zealand. Popo gave us a tour around Kibera and then we spent the next few hours cooking. I think maybe i would be able to cook chapati at home now. I really enjoyed talking with Jany. She is volunteering outside of nairobi at an orphanage and seems really sweet. she's not a christian, and i think it's been quite an experience for her living with a family who prays a lot and is always going to church. she will be here until february too, so i'm hoping to see more of her. i was impressed that upon jany and gabby's first visit to kibera they were willing to eat food made there. many muzungus would not do that. in the morning i went to another high school where the juvenile boys were having a competition. it was a gathering for AIDS awareness and they took the posters we made. i felt bad for them b/c first they show up, and the teacher met them there so they had to come in a matatu by themselves. all the other schools have nice uniforms and most of theirs are missing buttons, torn, etc. i was excited though to see most of them wearing the socks that i gave them. i wondered where the socks had gone, and i'm learning that sometimes when you give people stuff they save it for nice occasions. and remarkably many of them had nicer tennis shoes i had never seen before either. but all these other schools had loads of posters. we had 3. oh well. the event was supposed to start at 8:30. i got there at 8:20; no one was there. the boys came around 9. at 10:30 i had to leave and they hadn't even started. TIA (THis is africa).
yesterday was graduation for the ICY class students (the one i taught twice at). there were 5 graduates and they all wore gowns. the celebration/ceremony was held at this restaurant near the office. i think this is a big deal for the 5 of them b/c most of them don't have jobs, so this gives them a since of purpose/accomplishment. the class is aimed at helping these people to serve as christian youthworkers. jane and sally were in this class.
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Translation for muzungus:
Chapati sizes vary depending on region and change slightly from kitchen to kitchen.
It is made from a doughy consistancy of atta flour (whole grain durum wheat), water and salt. The dough is rolled out into discs of approximately twelve centimeters in diameter on a platform with a rolling pin. Then it is browned on both sides on a very hot, dry tava or frying pan (preferably not one coated with Teflon or other nonstick material).
If the chapati is held for about half a second directly into an open flame, causing it to puff up with steam, it becomes the Gujrathi and Punjabi phulka. The steaming can also be achieved by placing the chapati in a microwave oven for five to ten seconds. However, because microwave can cause the chapati to become soggy, a heated grill or open gas flame is often used.
Often, the finished chapatis are smeared with ghee (clarified butter). Variations include replacing part of the wheat flour with pearl millet (bajra) or maize (makka) or (jowar) flour. The chapatis are then referred to in Hindi as bajra roti or makke ki roti and in Marathi and Gujarati bhakri. When a mixture of pearl millet, maize and gram flour is used, the chapati is called a missi roti. In the southern and eastern parts, one cannot have that option for all the terms roti, chapati, paratha or kulcha would imply majorly, if not exclusively maida contents. In some parts of Maharashtra, chapati is called poli. In Gujarat and Punjab it is called rotli or phulka.
Denny Fritz
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