J's Garden and Bacon

Gardening here in Senegal has been a learning experience. Jonathan planted sweet corn right away, but it was all carried off by the ants. He also planted Cucumbers, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Basil, Cantaloupe, and Sweet Potatoes. The cucumber plants are doing great, we have already enjoyed 3 of our own cucumbers. And the other day I used fresh basil in a salad dressing I made. 

The sweet potato grows daily. I guess this should be no surprise to us since this is a commonly grown here. Not planted by us but in full season right now is our grapefruit tree! Although Jonathan is the one with the green thumb, I have to admit there is something about having produce from your own garden. 

I am so proud of Jonathan and all his hard work, and if he's honest he is pretty proud of himself too!

^ Zucchini

^ Tomatoes

^ Cucumbers. This picture was taken about a month ago, they are actually much bigger now. 

^ 3rd Cucumber, I forgot to take a picture of the 1st and 2nd.

^ This is what I get when I ask him to hold his cucumber and look proud. Silly man!

^ Grapefruits

Oh the crazy things we do for love! I let Jonathan get a pig. Since moving here he has begged me for a goat, cow, pig, chickens, and a rabbit. I have said no to everything until last week. Ok, I take that back I did say he could get some chickens if he built them a pin. The bottom line is that our yard is just too small for all the animals Jonathan wants. But last week when he saw this pig, it was like he was a 5 year old boy who had just seen his dream toy at Walmart. He turned to me with the biggest brown eyes, clasping his hands together, and sticking out his bottom lip begging me to let him get a pig. "Please Babe! Please can I get a pig! Please I really want one! Look at that one, look how cute it is?! Please, I promise to take care of it!" And with my arms crossed I replied "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!.........................Ok, fine whatever. Get a pig if you want it that bad."


He has told me that she (the pig) is not a pet. He intends to raise her to butcher and also to gain more knowledge how raising pigs. So should we ever help a pastor start a pig project he will have know how. To which I said "Yea, whatever you just wanted a pig!"
Take a look at the blog to see a picture of Jonathan and Bacon (thats right, he named her Bacon to remind him of her purpose).

^ Jonathan and Bacon

^ Her temporary pin. 

When we brought Bacon home, Jonathan didn't have a pin set up for her so he had to improvise. He decided that using this metal ring and digging a pit would be the best he could do for now. He picked a nice shady area of the yard and started to dig. At 3ft he stopped and put her in, and she just jumped right out. So he dug another foot and thought there is no way she is getting out now. Not, so! She jump 4 feet and was free again. While he dug a little more I went to find something to put over the top so she couldn't jump out. This is working for now, but we know she needs more space. 

^Bacon in her pit. She seems to be pretty happy. She loves corn on the cob and rice.

I've joked around and said "I think I'm going to regret letting him get a pig." But the truth is I won't, because it has made Jonathan so happy. For proof, just look at the picture above.

Attaya- A Part of Senegalese culture

Attaya

What is Attaya you may ask, well Wikipedia has described it to a "tea" so I'll just let you read it for yourself.

"Senegalese tea culture is an important part of daily social life. In and around Senegal, tea is prepared and presented in an elaborate process known by the Wolof word, attaya or ataaya. People sometimes drink tea at breakfast but more particularly after meals, and it is the beverage that is offered to friends and visitors. Drinking tea promotes conversation and maintains friendship because it takes a long time to prepare properly.

Senegalese-style mint tea is served in three separate stages, called "the three concoctions":

Chinese green tea leaves are put into the teapot with some water and mint leaves and boiled over a charcoal stove. Sugar is added to the teapot and the tea is poured into small glasses of a certain height and then poured back and forth from the glass to the teapot several times so that foam appears in the glass. The thicker the foam, the better the tea.

The Western African style of serving involves holding the tea pot high above the table and pouring the hot tea at least twelve inches through the air into small glasses. (Glasses made of glass, not porcelain cups.) If the sugar is added to the pot, the tea is sometimes poured from the glasses back into the pot (before anyone has sipped) and the process is repeated. This mixes the sugar into the tea. Western Africans generally drink their tea very sweet.

The first glass of tea is quite bitter, the second is sweeter and the third is very sweet but does not have much taste because the same leaves are used to prepare all three glasses."

Attaya Pot on charcoal stove and glasses. (Not my picture.)

A young boy making Attaya. (I'm sorry to say this is not my picture, I found it on the internet.)

If you happen to be out driving in the afternoon you will see men all over town sitting around a little stove making tea and shootin' the breeze. You will also see women enjoying tea, but it's not as common.

Having afternoon Attaya has been a wonderful way for us to build relationships with our neighbors as well as opening the door for us to learn a new language. Wolof is a trade language used for communicating between different villages and tribes. You are more likely to hear Wolof spoken on the street than you are to hear French. This being said, J and I would really like to learn Wolof. 

So we drink tea, share God's love and learn Wolof. Who knew having afternoon tea could be so important?

~B