(3 November) "...What You Eat"

People here do not treat food as one in the West. It is seen more as a burden than a chance for exploration, delving into different mixes and concoctions of tastes and spices. Food lacks flavor and those that can fill your stomach with least effort are those held as staples. A meal is simply a pause in their strenuous daily work detail. A necessary pause, but a space of unproductive minutes none the less. In large groups chatter and friendly laughs are shared as men and women tell stories and concerns on both sides of the bland feast, but during the act concentration is spent on their hands mangling the food between their fingers on the journey to the mouth. It is not easy. It is not clean. In fact, it's much like work. Digging the soil is the profession or essential hobby of all but a shy amount in the country. Played over and over again, dipping and molding your sweat with the dirt in a laborious harvest rekindles a connection with the earth that Africans well-understand and perhaps reminisce as they work through a serving.