MATOKE!

Today “going with the flow” lead me to an afternoon better than I could have imagined!

Cat had planned earlier in the week to go to church with Josephine, our Ugandan friend. I was of course along for the ride but as of Saturday afternoon we were still pretty unsure of what exactly our plans were. It can be pretty difficult to make plans over the phone…language barriers (or maybe I should say accent barriers...) become an even bigger problem when you can’t see the person you’re talking to!  Josephine had told Cat we would be going to Watoto East.

     In Kampala there are four Watoto churches; East, West, South, and Central. There’s also a Watoto North up in Gulu. They have a really great ministry and a lot of the AIM people go to one of them; typically the one they live closest to. You can check out what they do a little more at www.watotochurch.org.

            Anyways, Cat and I are really close to Watoto West, which means Watoto East is completely across town therefore really far away, especially when you take a taxi there! We were confused about why she wanted to go to the East church but decided it would be fine and we’d go anyways. We met down the road at eight and began the commute. Josephine had told Cat we’d be taking taxis so we both wore long skirts thinking we wouldn’t be riding any bodas….wrong. Well, I suppose I was bound to ride side saddle at some point! It wasn’t as difficult as I thought though, a pleasant surprise! We got to church at about 9:20 and waited for the ten o’clock service to start.
The worship was great…if anyone reading this was in church in Hastings the Sunday before I left, Steve was right, they know how to worship in Africa!! =]

Josephine wanted us to meet her mom so after church we walked to her village. Cat fell in a ditch on the way..no big deal, now her knees just match her shins. It was a long (and super dusty!) walk but it was so worth it! After we met her mom Josephine gave us each a soda and some bread and we just chilled at her house for a while. I was really grateful for the opportunity to see life in the village as opposed to the city. One of my favorite things about it was that all the neighbors were out behind the house just kind of hanging out together. The kids were climbing the trees and a few of the women were working on some chores but they were talking too and seemed to be enjoying each other! It was a great atmosphere. =]

We were headed back into town after that when all of a sudden Josephine had the taxi stop and we all piled out again. She told us she really wanted us to meet her cousin’s sister, Pamela. Cat and I were a little confused because we really hadn’t expected any home visits, let alone two, but we weren’t about to turn down another opportunity to get to know Josephine and her family better! Another walk ensued, this one much less dusty! Soon enough we were sitting on a bed in a cute little room of a hostel that Pamela and her roommate Lydia share. They’re both near my age and they go to University in Kampala. They were friendly and the conversation was nice..but also pretty typical. You know, the usual questions and pleasantries and what not. That didn’t last long though…they said something about us visiting Josephine’s house and I was like, “Yeah! She gave us soda and everything, it was super nice!” and both Pamela and Lydia seemed completely surprised and started talking to Josephine really fast in Lugandan. Before Cat or I knew what was going on they had decided they were making us lunch! Apparently they couldn’t believe Josephine hadn’t served us matoke (I’ll explain what that is a bit later) and took it upon themselves to do just that. The truth is, Josephine had tried to serve us lunch but Cat was supposed to be home by three so we had told her it wasn’t necessary and she gave us the soda instead.

Lydia was out the door and back just a few minutes later with some grocery bags from the little stand down the road. I had a blast watching her pull stuff from the bag. It was like Mary Poppins, there was no end to the fresh fruits and vegetables she had bought!

They told us they were making us matoke with g-nut sauce. The dish is called Katogo. She had this strange looking lump that she put in a bowl with hot water and handed to Josephine. That was the g-nut; its ground up peanuts that they turn into a sauce. Then she pulled out this huge bunch of matoke. It looks exactly like bananas except its green and its everywhere here! She started peeling them faster than I’ll ever be able to peel anything! Cat joined her and while they were working on that Pamela peeled some mangoes for all of us to share. Once the matoke was all peeled and was in a pot Lydia added water and put it on their little heater thing to boil. She started chopping tomatoes and onions next and Pamela started making juice. She had a strainer over a pitcher and put two passion fruits and four oranges in it. Then she added some water and sugar. The juice was amazing! Next she sliced up an avocado and “set the table”. I put it in quotes because we all sat on the floor while we ate! We still all had placemats and everything else though, it was so fun! By the time that was done the matoke was ready so they drained it and added the tomatoes, onions, and sauce.

Lydia dished up two plates and set them in front of Cat and I…and we just stared. The portion was HUGE! I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish it but I didn’t know what to say. Apparently I didn’t need to say anything; the look on our faces said it all. The three of them just burst into laughter and started talking about how Ugandans eat huge portions and how mizungos would never be able to eat all that they had given us! They cut the portion down then said flat out, “you don’t know what to do now, do you?” They were right! They said that you peel a section of the avocado into the bowl then eat it with the matoke. We did, and we loved it!! It was easily the best Ugandan food I’ve had so far!

We had great conversation the whole time we ate; they told us all the different things we should try while we’re here and all the different places we should try to visit. They continually laughed at all my questions though I didn’t mind because once they stopped laughing they always answered me anyways.

We made plans to meet again next Sunday for lunch then hang out afterwards since we didn’t have time today (as it turned out we didn’t get home until after four!).

The entire time we were there I felt SO blessed by the three of them. They provided an entire meal for us and didn’t seem bothered by it in the least!  I feel so lucky to have met them and I really hope I’ll get to spend a lot more time with them while I’m here!!

I told Josephine that since they’re making us lunch twice I have to make them all lunch at least once (so if you have any good ideas of some “American” food I can make them, let me know!!).

Besides the awesome company, there are some perks to having a Ugandan friend; on the way home Josephine showed me the best place to get nail polish along with a whole handful of other little “tricks” I would have never learned otherwise!

I really just can’t get over how amazing my day turned out to be. As we headed out in the morning I was thinking; trip across town, church, trip back home, nap. I never did get to take a nap, but I would gladly trade a nap for what I got to experience any day!!