Episode 1

*from henceforth, all my stories shall be catologued as episodes.

You haven't eaten yet

nsima is the bread of life here in Malawi. They say that if you haven't had nsima for a meal, then you haven't eaten yet. It has a playdough like texture, and is made from maize flour and water. When you eat it, you rip off a piece from the big nsima mound with your right hand, roll it around in your palm, dip it in some sauce, and pop it in your mouth. A few days ago, I went to dinner at Abusa Yakobe's house (chair of the board of trustees at the Evangelical Baptist Church of Malawi), and of course they had nsima. So I ripped off a pieced, dipped it in some sauce, and ate it. And it was good. The only problem was that my right pinky kept sticking out, like I was the queen of England drinking tea. It was quite prissy, and I couldn't bring my pinky in...

Anyhoo, the dinner was good and I was floored by their generosity. And the cuteness of their children. Their youngest child, Rhoda, was 5, and she was so cute, I just about ate her after dinner. But I refrained from doing so, so as to not perpetuate the myth that all Asians come to Africa to capture little children and boil them and eat them for dinner. haha