So I have been having this conversation with people lately and the more and more I think about it, the more I realize how silly life is... One of the things that I have really been enjoying out here is all the fresh fruits and vegetables! I buy local foods, I buy seasonally, and there are no preservatives or any stuff like that in the food. Even with meats, all the animals roam freely and eat grasses instead of corn. It's great! I eat Lychee that are still on the branch, there are mangoes of like at least 5 different kinds here, grapes are coming into season and I know there are avocadoes here and I will be So excited when I see those in the market!
But something I've been realizing is that I don't know how any of this stuff grows...
What does a mango tree look like? Do green beans grow on bushes like tomatoes or on vines like grapes? How do beans grow - above the ground like squash or in it like potatoes? What about peanuts - is it a tree? a bush? how does it work with the shell and everything?? Apparently bananas start out as this huge purple pod... and pineapples - they start out red and I don't even know how to explain how they grow because I have yet to see it but it seems So strange how they grow...
Isn't it silly?!? Isn't it silly?! and almost rediculous that I am 23 years old and I don't know how the majority of what I have been eating all my life looks like before I buy it at the store, before I open the can or package, before it is on my plate and I'm eating it..?
The answer is Yes!
I have been disconnected from my food - something that is part of my everyday routine, one of the basic necessities of life and a favorite past-time - for practically 22 years up until I move to an island and have no choice but to see it in a different light!
Sad, silly, interesting and I hope that through cooking and gardening I will find a greater appreciation for my food and the process behind it
Saturday, January 15, 2011
First project - The Hot Box
So the first small project that I set up at site was training some of the health educators about the Hot Box. My friend Wallie, fellow health volunteer, came through my site and helped me out with this!
The Hot Box:
Materials - 2 blankets, a basket, a pot and your food
Steps - start cooking your food, fold one blanket and put it in the bottom of the basket, after the 'Stove Time' put the covered pot in the basket, take the second folded blanket, cover the pot and tuck between the first blanket and the basket, make sure no heat is leaking out and wait for your food to finish cooking.
Example - 1 kapoaka (cup and a half) of rice to 3/4 zinga (a big cup basically, equivalent to about a 2 cup measuring cup). About 10 minutes on the stove, or just bring it to a boil. Let it sit in the Hot Box for about 30 minutes, maybe 40 if its red rice and then enjoy.
A make-shift crock pot, if you will...
So prior to IST I set up an information session with the health educators about the Hot Box and then the following 3 days to go out to the villages to do a demo. Here is how scheduling goes here in M/car...
Sent out reminders to the educators about 4 or 5 days before the info session - and by 'sent out' I mean asking people who are walking around if they know the people who the note is for and/or to somehow get it to them by passing it on to another person on the road. The info session was scheduled for 8 am and we didn't get started until about 9:30... People show up and if not everyone is there they go walk around and do other errands and when other people show up and not everyone is there and they do the same thing so yeah haha
They all seemed really suprised that the Hot Box would actually work. I think it made sense with trapping the heat and all though and they got really excited about it. So the next day my counterpart tool us out to one of the villages and we gave the same session and followed that up with a demonstration. We made rice and they were excited to see it cooked when it came out! We asked if they would use it and they said they would actually use it for stuff that took a long time to cook like cassava or sweet potatoes.
We didn't end up going out to the other villages the next two days because one day the health educator didn't show up to show us the way to the village - granted it was one of the market days and I was kind of anticipating for this to happen. The next day not only did the person who was supposed to show us out there unable to make it but the educator in that village had to go into Fianar the day before because her mother was sick and therefore none of the people in the village would be gathered...
Overall though, it went pretty well. I think people will use it like they said, for things that take a while to cook - one, saves on time having to watch over the food and two, uses less charcoal/wood. I will be going out to do baby food demonstrations probably in Feb and will talk about the hot Box probably too and see how other people recieve it too.
What I learned..?
Nothing is going to come out exactly as I plan. Which is Totally fine but remember to stay flexible and patient.
Cross-cultural lesson: We had a poster with suggested times and measurements like the rice example but people got really hung up on all this stuff. We had to explain that the amount of time depends on the kind of food and that they had to practice and play with it to figure out what works best. So I'm talking with my language teacher and going back over the posters and we find where a bg part of the disconnect is. People tell time differently here. We use watches but most of the people here don't have them, they use the sun. So when we say 30 minutes then don't really know what that means because that is kind of like clock time - saying half an hour translates better.
The Hot Box:
Materials - 2 blankets, a basket, a pot and your food
Steps - start cooking your food, fold one blanket and put it in the bottom of the basket, after the 'Stove Time' put the covered pot in the basket, take the second folded blanket, cover the pot and tuck between the first blanket and the basket, make sure no heat is leaking out and wait for your food to finish cooking.
Example - 1 kapoaka (cup and a half) of rice to 3/4 zinga (a big cup basically, equivalent to about a 2 cup measuring cup). About 10 minutes on the stove, or just bring it to a boil. Let it sit in the Hot Box for about 30 minutes, maybe 40 if its red rice and then enjoy.
A make-shift crock pot, if you will...
So prior to IST I set up an information session with the health educators about the Hot Box and then the following 3 days to go out to the villages to do a demo. Here is how scheduling goes here in M/car...
Sent out reminders to the educators about 4 or 5 days before the info session - and by 'sent out' I mean asking people who are walking around if they know the people who the note is for and/or to somehow get it to them by passing it on to another person on the road. The info session was scheduled for 8 am and we didn't get started until about 9:30... People show up and if not everyone is there they go walk around and do other errands and when other people show up and not everyone is there and they do the same thing so yeah haha
They all seemed really suprised that the Hot Box would actually work. I think it made sense with trapping the heat and all though and they got really excited about it. So the next day my counterpart tool us out to one of the villages and we gave the same session and followed that up with a demonstration. We made rice and they were excited to see it cooked when it came out! We asked if they would use it and they said they would actually use it for stuff that took a long time to cook like cassava or sweet potatoes.
We didn't end up going out to the other villages the next two days because one day the health educator didn't show up to show us the way to the village - granted it was one of the market days and I was kind of anticipating for this to happen. The next day not only did the person who was supposed to show us out there unable to make it but the educator in that village had to go into Fianar the day before because her mother was sick and therefore none of the people in the village would be gathered...
Overall though, it went pretty well. I think people will use it like they said, for things that take a while to cook - one, saves on time having to watch over the food and two, uses less charcoal/wood. I will be going out to do baby food demonstrations probably in Feb and will talk about the hot Box probably too and see how other people recieve it too.
What I learned..?
Nothing is going to come out exactly as I plan. Which is Totally fine but remember to stay flexible and patient.
Cross-cultural lesson: We had a poster with suggested times and measurements like the rice example but people got really hung up on all this stuff. We had to explain that the amount of time depends on the kind of food and that they had to practice and play with it to figure out what works best. So I'm talking with my language teacher and going back over the posters and we find where a bg part of the disconnect is. People tell time differently here. We use watches but most of the people here don't have them, they use the sun. So when we say 30 minutes then don't really know what that means because that is kind of like clock time - saying half an hour translates better.
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