Let’s Throw Some Okra in That…

What does a lazy evening at my apartment mean? Well, aside from taking a nap when I come home and cuddling with my fluff, it means experimenting while cooking! Of course, there are two things holding me back: my lack of cooking equipment and my often lack of electricity.  If only my building had a generator…ah well, no harm in dreaming. When my electricity came on about an hour ago (I am now sitting in darkness writing this) I decided to experiment with the 5 pieces of okra I bought yesterday. Coming from the North East, okra is not something I grew up with, and I have a funny feeling my dad does not like it, but I could be thinking of someone else. Either way, I bought a small amount of the veggie since I know I like it in the gumbo here (called “soupekandia” in Wolof).  Now this evening was not the moment to attempt my own soupekandia, it was time to just practice cooking okra first!  I asked the woman who sold it to me in the street how to cook it…her lacking French skills and my lacking Wolof made this conversation an interesting one. In the end I deduced that I needed to boil the okra, then throw it in oil to cook it.  If this is not the “proper” way to cook okra, je m’en fou! It tasted good, and I love the goopy-ness okra gives a stew, yum! Goop!

Of course, this would not be an average experience in Senegal if something minute, but odd still happened, like losing power while cooking.  Fortunately, this was not the first time this has happened to me, a few times I have had my fingers crossed that my rice cooks thoroughly.  However, this was my first time cooking my main dish when the power cuts.  As I learned as a child growing up in a kitchen with an electric stove, electric cooking surfaces stay hot for some time, and everything from my okra, to my garlic and potatoes was cooked to perfection! I think one of those intense cooking shows should drop their chefs into kitchens in Senegal…I would love to see them flounder with no oven, minimal cooking surface, and less than adequate power/cooking supplies! The test of a truly great chef!

My rechargeable lamp for blackouts!

For anyone concerned about the discovery of my ringworm yesterday let me say two things, 1) ringworm is not a worm, just a fungus, kind of like athlete’s foot, except it is on my leg. And to my relief cannot spread to “mucus-y” areas, you know what that means…your mouth of course! 2) I have cream to get rid of it…so to my mom and dad, no worries, it should be cleared up in two weeks! Meanwhile it sounds totally gross and will not spare a chance to tell a good friend that I am infected with ringworm!

And for those of you half-informed about what I could possibly be doing in Dakar, I am a 4^th grade teaching assistant at an international school.  I realized that I never acknowledged why I was here in my first post! But, of course, if you know me well, why would you ever be surprised that I have wandered away from the US? I mean, I’ll be back, but traveling is without doubt part of what makes me Julia!

My project for the year is to create a book club for the 4^th graders.  Really, it is an excuse for me to re-read all of the books that I loved as a kid and have not read for at least ten years.  To my delight, the kids love it! Recently, I was enraptured by The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg.  I have been reminded over the past several weeks how wonderful my childhood books were and that the length, difficulty and density of a text is far from making it good.  Chester Cricket described perfectly my current emotions about missing autumn in Upstate New York, “I guess I'm just feeling Septemberish. It's getting towards Autumn now. And it's so pretty up in (New York). All the trees change color. The days get very clear--with a little smoke on the horizon from burning leaves." Even though I may be nostalgic for autumn, I remind myself that it is just one of those things that you need to miss once in awhile to realize how enchanting it is. I found an old leaf pressed in my French dictionary when I arrived here, so I guess I do have a little piece of autumn, it is hanging on my wall. And if you are interested, here is a link for a short clip from the 1970s cartoon movie, The Cricket in Times Square: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28cri_cricketmusic_shortfilms

Oh yea, fun fact: I am published along with the other amazing women in my Women’s Studies senior seminar, time to update the CV! If you are interested in reading the article along with an intro by our professor, colonel (yes, it is an inside joke…) and friend click here: http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2011fall/2011fall_students.php

Just got a skirt made with this fabric :)

If you did not follow my directions from my last blog post about drinking some red wine, I’ll forgive you, just do it tonight, okay? And I guess white is alright too, just as long as it is not Chardonnay.