Do they know it's Christmas?

My Christmas started off bright and early, as I opened amazing Christmas packages that my family had sent and ate leftover sweet potato pudding that I’d made on Christmas Eve (recipe below). I dressed in my Sunday best, then entertained myself with solitaire Bananagrams for a while as I waited for Bwiza and her mother to swing by and pick me up for church.

Bwiza finally came around 8:30, half an hour late, and we walked down to her house, where I explained the American custom of Christmas gifts. I presented her with a small gift and gave Adolph a wind-up frog toy my parents’ had sent. I have never in my life seen a child take such joy in a gift. He laughed hysterically every time the frog did its backflip. His 8-year-old uncle also got a kick out of the toy, and was a little more adept at winding it.

Bwiza explained that the Catholic church in our village had changed its program and was not holding services. Christmas mass would instead be at a church “ku mazi:” by the water. It would be a long walk, perhaps an hour and a half, so they were not sure I would be able to do it. “No problem!” I explained, “I just want to return home to change my shoes.” I changed from heels to chacos, threw a granola bar, water bottle, sunscreen and raincoat (you never know which you will need) into a bag, and we set off on our Christmas hike.

The road/path to the church was one I’d been meaning to explore for several months, and it was great to finally see the winding road towards the water. It was mostly downhill on the way there, and we traversed several bridges that consisted of only one or two logs: balance beams. As we drew near the church, crowds surrounded us in both directions. Some were headed towards our 10am mass while others were departing the earlier mass. As a white girl in a dress tailored form local fabric, I drew more than a few stares as I joined hands with Bwiza and her brother to weave through the well-dressed throngs.

The church is perhaps the biggest building I’ve seen in my district; there must have been three thousand or more worshippers from several sectors crowded onto the benches, which had long supports on the ground so that they could also be knelt upon for prayer. There was a group of boys drumming outside and a generator to power the Christmas light display and sound system.

Inside, the church was decked out with festive metallic streamers, a few pseudo-Christmas trees, and flowers. There was even a nativity scene!

Although Catholics have a reputation for short services (short meaning perhaps two hours), mass dragged for almost three hours. It was a sunny day and we were the third group of several thousand people to cram together under the tin roof, so it was hot. I regretted not bringing a fan. At one point Bwiza mercifully proposed that we go outside, “to take oxygen,” would be the literal French translation. She then got a taste of what it’s like to be a muzungu: as we rested in the fresh air and shade of the church, scores of children crowded within a few feet of us, impervious to commands of “musubire” (to move back).

We returned for the end of services, which included sitings of a Red Sox championship shirt and a Youkilis jersey, pictured (as the three hour mark ticked by, this was very entertaining to me). Finally we poured out of the church and greeted others from the village, including the health center titulaire and his wife, and Mama Benjamin.

We walked back, uphill, with Mama Benjamin and her son and a couple others from near Kinihira. It began to rain, so we sought shelter for a while in a stranger’s house. By the time we returned, maybe two and a half hours after we left the church, I was exhausted.

After a brief rest, Bwiza knocked on my door and invited me to dinner. At her house, she served me beef in a red sauce. Given that she probably buys meat only two or three times a year, it was an incredible honor to share this meal with her.

My evening was capped off with Christmas TV specials on my iPod, hot chocolate, wonderful phone calls from friends and family, and the making of a Christmas bananagram - it's imperative to play with the new toys on Christmas day!

Do they know it’s Christmas? Rwandans definitely knew it was Christmas, and some went to church or prepared a special meal, but for the most part they didn’t make nearly the fuss about Christmas that we do.


Sweet Potato Pudding

* 1 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 2 1/2 cups sliced sweet potatoes (I grated them by hand, and because they are white threw in some carrot for the orange)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1 tsp nutmeg
* 1/2 tsp ground cloves
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 tsp lemon or lime zest
* 1 tsp vanilla

Preparation:
In a blender, combine the milk and eggs; process until well mixed. Add sweet potato slices and process until potato is shredded fine. Add remaining ingredients; blend well.
Note: You may also shred the sweet potatoes finely with a shredder or food processor and beat ingredients with a hand mixer.

Pour mixture into a well-greased 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream or ice cream.
Serves 4.

A recipe: Crepes with Mango Topping

This morning I made crepes with mango chutney topping – a gourmet breakfast in Rwanda!

For the mango topping, I took inspiration from a recipe in the Peace Corps Madagascar cookbook and several online chutney recipes. I like things spicy, so I added some hot-pepper vinegar that I’d used to pickle urusenda (the local pepper).

The crepe recipe comes from the PC Rwanda cookbook; I made a half recipe and it was a huge breakfast for 1. So I’d guess the recipes below will feed 3-4.  Serve with yogurt or a cream sauce, if you have it.

Quick Chutney-style Mango Topping
1 lb mangoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup honey
additional sugar to taste
juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbs minced onion
1 Tbs peeled mince ginger
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch cloves
pinch ground corriander (optional)
dash of hot-pepper vinegar or red chili flakes (optional)
raisins or dried cherries (optional)

In a saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except the mangoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the mangoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add raisins, heat through. Serve over crepes, waffles, chapati, etc.

After you’ve added the mangoes, start on the crepe batter.

Crepes
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups milk (or that much water and 4 spoons Nido Milk Powder)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (or margarine)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, flour, sugar, and salt until it's smooth. Heat a medium-sized nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spoon about 1/4 cup of crepe batter into the hot pan, tilting the pan so that bottom surface is evenly coated. Cook over medium heat, 2 minutes on a side.

Cooking fish! (with recipe)

Fresh fish in the market meant a last minute menu change for “Cooking with Muzungus” today. I learned how to gut and scale fish and to make a peanut broth for the fish and ubugari, and I present it here as my first Rwandan recipe.

Ingredients (amounts are my estimates, feel free to adjust):

Fish (ours were whole with bones, 2 per person, so I leave the specifics up to you)

1.5 medium red onions, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 stick celery, diced (use leaves, too)

Tomatoes, peeled and cut up (1 can diced tomatoes would work)

Peanut powder (Peanut butter would work) – a lot, to taste

Water for broth

Oil (a bit more than you’d normally use is probably the right amount)

“fish masala” (cumin, coriander, tumeric, msg)

Red beans (Kidney beans?) – one can would do

Note that flavor will be enhanced by cooking over charcoal.

Cook the fish (we lightly powdered them with cassava flour and deep fried them in oil but you may choose a healthier and more headless method) and set aside (covered, to keep flies off).

Saute 1 onion with the pepper and celery. If you fried the fish, use the same oil for this. Add the tomatoes and cook a few minutes more. Add seasoning, water and peanut powder, cook until flavors are blended. Add fish and heat through.

While heating, saute ½ an onion in oil and add beans. Cook for 5-10 minutes to develop flavor.

Serve with Ubugari or over rice. Add beans as desired to individual bowls.