pap makes friends

In the aftermath of a couple extremely trying weeks and following few breakdowns I have received beautiful reminders of the sheer goodness of life. It’s been a great weekend!

Pap. That’s what they call it here. It’s a corn meal dish most similar to what we would call grits, and very filling. I gave Siriaque and Emma a lift home yesterday (yes, our car is finally working. And better yet, the man who sold it to us paid the repair bill! Wahoo). So after hanging out in an area called Davenport with most of our classmates from the Development studies program, I volunteered to give lifts. I had been wanting to see the campus residences, aka ‘the res’, so what better time to check it out. While I anticipated a short tour and some small talk, I ended up staying for two and half hours. The turn of events was that the entire time Siriaque was devising a whole scheme to host us which included him sneaking off to the kitchen to prepare pop for both Emma and I. It was a fantastic time and a delicious meal. I told him I would return once a week, minimum, to prepare a good African meal together.
On a full stomach, I rejoined the group that I left in Davenport in an area just to the north called Morningside. We went to the infamous ‘Florida Avenue’. This is supposedly the street where everything worthy of happening happens. It has all the cool restaurants and clubs and is probably one of three places in town that stays open later than 10pm. We went to Taste of India to celebrate Ariel’s birthday. There were six of us there who have been absolutely amazing to me in this time of transition and in living out all the questions that our classes present to us. I was really glad to be there in that moment. The Bar 1 chocolate cake is amazing, with rich fudge icing. A perfect ending to any day.
Saturday and Sunday were fairly productive days in writing a paper for my economics course and studying for an exam in sustainable community development. It was wonderful to be at church Sunday morning where I continuously meet new friends. This week came with the promise of a cooking exchange. I will get to teach them how to make tortillas while they teach me how to make delicious curry...yum.