Sunday, December 19, 2010

Issa


Issa lives next door to us and I see him when I leave my house.

"Issa, how di bodi?" I ask in the morning on my way to work, or in the evening as he watches over his family's shop or plays with his younger brother Alpha. "Fine! I am fine!" he always says, arms stretched out wide as if to say, Of course, what else would I be?

Friday, December 17, 2010

Making cassava leaf

Before we left, I had Lahai teach me how to make the most classic Sierra Leonean meal: cassava leaf and rice.

The ingredients- palm oil, onion, peppers, ground leaves from the cassava plant, Maggi shrimp seasoning cube, dried fish, and a few secret flavors that I can't remember.
Grind the peppers, salt and onion.

Throw into a pot of water and add cassava leaf.
Add scary dried fish to the boiling water.

Cook until the cassava leaf turns brownish and serve with massive amounts of rice.
(Emmanuel asked me to take a picture so I wouldn't forget how much he loves cassava leaf.)

Saturday, December 11, 2010

We did it!

Remember how the twins usually look at me like this?
Well, we went on a mission to change that. First, we took them to the beach.
And we showed them the waves.
We got them hopped up on sugar.
We intrigued them.
We (DAVID) dunked them in the water.
And we taught them to roll in the sand.
The final result...

We did it!!!