Friday, January 29, 2010

I Did It Again

This morning I went to Keur Yaay as usual. I really haven't been feeling well the past couple of days, but I needed to venture out on the town and Keur Yaay is always a nice place to go. It's an especially nice place to go when the English formation is cancelled and everyone is there sipping on beverages and chatting. While the chatting was lovely, one of the children that receives tutoring and art lessons at Keur Yaay came by and he played the drums and sang for us! It was amazing! I have video of it, but for some reason I'm currently unable to upload it. He was really talented. Papi has a great voice and played the tam-tams (drums) very well.

At home, it's Mami's birthday so everyone was busy making a nice meal. I made a cake AGAIN! Yes, it's true my previous method that I've described in detail seems fairly foolproof and Ahmed was foaming at the mouth for the two hours it took me to make two little cakes. Luckily, the cakes did come out OK and I received a package with chocolate frosting so everyone's very excited for the treat after dinner.

We also killed a chicken which involves my mom yelling at whoever is currently walking through the courtyard to grab a chicken and kill it by the sheep pen. The killing part is accomplished while a vat of hot water is boiled. The chicken is then put into a big, plastic, laundry bin, and drained of its blood. When the blood is all gone the boiling water is poured over the chicken. After the water/ chicken have cooled a little bit it is surprisingly easy to take all of the chicken's feathers off. They pretty much just pull off. The chicken then has to be gutted and butchered, but my mom is extremely adapt at all of this and it takes no time at all.

I'm looking forward to a great dinner. We haven't eaten yet, but I know that chicken, fries, bread, pasta, and salad are all involved. It's going to be great.

Ps. Shout out to Shirley for a great letter and Leigh for a beautiful postcard of Michigan's scenery... my family did really like all the pictures.

3 comments:

  1. Alyssa,

    I cant wait until you get home and use all this new found cooking prowess. Remember I like my chicken deboned and lots of fries.

    Dad

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  2. Alyssa,

    From what I've heard from other PCVs, the killing of a chicken, goat, or cow is your real initiation into the program. Congrats!

    Leigh

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  3. Were you lucky enough to be the one who caught the chicken? This could be helpful if you want to come cruise with us.

    ReplyDelete