A Lay Missioner's Day

A Lay Missioner's Day

By coincidence only, your humble blogger is happy to note that this is his 1,000th post since this site was born in April 2009 (with a post noting a bloody "missionary" excursion into the wilds of the Catskills).

From the Democratic Republic of Congo, Salesian Lay Missioner Andrew Wood, commissioned last August, in an email sent on April 28 answers questions on the minds of all his friends:  "What do you eat there in the missions?" and "What do you do all day?"

The second most common question I receive in life is: “Andrew what is the food like in Africa?” (the most common question is “how do you manage to be so handsome, intelligent, and entirely lovable at the same time?”).

Because of this, I’ve been wanting to write a FOOD episode for a long time. Also because food is important, and I eat it every day.

Before we jump in, I should give a small update in my life. This last month has been relatively calm, excepting a very busy and happy Easter weekend, my first time swimming since I arrived (I went to a swimming pool!), and having a tussle with malaria (excepting exhaustion, a fever, and a headache, there was nothing much wrong with me). AND I hit my 6 month mark in the Congo a few weeks ago! I think that is quite exciting.

Also, I recently created a video showing a day in the life of both myself and the other American volunteer here in the city, Barbara [Brzeski]. It’s the best look at what my life is really like here! Check it out here, and other Africa videos I’ve made (I don’t email you all of my videos… so you should really subscribe to me to keep up to date!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXFMLEiQE-A&t=24s

SO WHAT DO YOU EAT, ANDREW???

I eat Congolese food, every. single. day. "What is Congolese food?" you may ask. To answer this question, I suggest you flip to Appendix A, the photo I have attached to this email showcasing a plate of Congolese food, taken directly before I ate. Here’s what’s on that plate (starting at the top and working clockwise):

1. Bukari. Dominating the skyline of Congolese cuisine is the heart and soul of every meal: bukari. That is an imperfectly formed baseball made out of cornflour and water, boiled together. It’s flavorless by itself, but it goes well with most other Congolese foods. It’s common to eat it with fish, meat juice, or vegetables. You can use silverware, but the common Congolese fashion is to eat it with your hands. IT’S POLITE TO EAT WITH YOUR HANDS OKAY!!! Don’t judge me.
2. Fish. Fish is a super big part of the diet here. Situated to the right of the hunk of bukari in this photo, this is a pile of tiny little fish dudes, which taste awesome. However, more common is a big ol’ fish. I used to never eat these because trying to remove the bones was slow and tedious and not worth it. That was before I learned that you can: a) eat with your hands; and, b) eat a staggering amount of fish bones without unbalancing your digestive tract. Now I love eating fish.
3. Vegetables. In this photo, it’s tomatoes (yes I know they’re technically a fruit). However the usual Congolese vegetable dish is a bunch of leafy greens, ground down and boiled together to make an almost mushy mixture. Some of it is decent. Normally you eat this together with bukari.
4. Kikanda. This is a fake meat made out of peanuts. It’s pretty good usually, but occasionally saltier than the Dead Sea.
5. Rice. While it’s not as ubiquitous as in many other countries, I definitely eat my fair share of rice. The community keeps one bottle of ketchup, and it’s kind of become my thing to eat rice with ketchup. It’s how I keep in touch with my American roots.
6. Meat with juice. One of the pillars of the Congolese cuisine is meat. Notice I don’t specify the type? I usually don’t know, but sometimes it’s chicken and sometimes beef and sometimes I don’t ask. The juice is then used to flavor things and clog your arteries. It’s quite decent most of the time.

Things not shown that are common:

1. Soup. We eat soup here before every lunch and dinner, a remnant of Belgian culture. Often salty but quite comforting. I try not to slurp but no one is perfect.
2. Bread. Our breakfast every day, and many of my snacks, consists of: bread. After six months of daily excessive bread consumption, I’m pleased to report that I’m nowhere near sick of it. How is bread so good?
3. Salad. A rare but exciting member of the menu, salad is always a welcome treat, despite the only dressing being mayonnaise.
4. Caterpillars. I have eaten quite a grand number of caterpillars in my day, and I’m pleased to say that they’re not half bad!
5. Fries. Basically fried potatoes, these rarely resemble American fries and yet still get me excited! Still I miss the high-quality heart-attack-factories that are McDonald’s fries.
6. Fruit. Almost always my favorite part of the meal. Domestically, my life-long love, bananas, are common. And mangoes, when they were in season, became my addiction. However, we also occasionally eat apples and peaches and other fruits that are less common here.

This is not everything I eat here, but it is the majority. It’s mostly pretty good, and I’m so lucky to have food on a consistent basis, which is by no means guaranteed here. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m not terribly excited when I have a chance to eat something foreign! I’m planning a list of food and restaurants I need to go to when I get home.

Okay people, signing off. I hope all of your lives are dazzlingly magnificent!

Peace,

~Andrew

For more information about the Salesian Lay Missioners: http://salesianlaymissioners.org/