I ate rat!!

30 May 2007

Yesterday I had a wonderful cultural experience. We have been at the village all week and yesterday in the evening I had to stop by one of my student’s house to tell her something. I stopped by and they happened to be eating. I told Ophelia what I needed to and then her sweet mother offered that I stay and eat with them. Immediately my mind raced as to what the culturally appropriate thing would be. I couldn’t quickly come up with the right thing to do. All I was thinking is that there are all these children and this woman sitting around, on the floor, and they probably are thankful they have food to eat tonight. There is no way I want to eat their food, knowing they would give me the last bowl if they had to. But I also didn’t want to be offensive if I said no. So I tried to gently tell them that Auntie (Christine) had prepared dinner and I needed to get back and eat with her but that I would be delighted to join them another evening. Well, this made them very happy and Ophelia’s mom, who doesn’t speak but a few words of English was smiling so big and saying, “Fine, Fine, Fine!!!” She was so excited for the day I will join them for a meal. So I went back to “our” house and told Christine my experience. She kindly said, “You should have joined them. They would have LOVED it!” So we discussed if it would be appropriate for me to go back. When I did the children were screaming, Ophelia’s mom was pulling up a stool for me to sit on, Ophelia was gathering water for me to wash my hands. I was praying, “Lord, help me to know how to eat and to be able to stomach it.” So, they slide over “the bowl,” not my own, and I join in eating with my fingers from their dish. I had had fufu (a substance similar to a dumpling, but slimier, it is made of cassava root and plantain) and stew a few times previously so at least it was familiar. Honestly I don’t particularly like fufu. Especially because of the texture- you aren’t suppose to chew it, you are just suppose to swallow it and let it slide down your throat, this is taking me a while to catch on to. So, as I start eating with them the kids are still delighted that I have joined them. Ophelia then says something to be about the meat in the stew. I then made my mistake! “What kind of meat is it?” I ask. She simply tells me it is rat and goat! Oh, gosh, I am about to eat a rat! So I strategically decide that I will just talk to them, distract them and they won’t notice that I am not eating the meat! Wrong!!! A few minutes later Ophelia translates to me what her mother has said about me not eating any meat. So, I went for it. I grabbed a piece and, like the fufu, I didn’t chew. I just prayed and swallowed! I did it, no gagging and I pray I had no inappropriate facial expressions! This too, they thought was wonderful. So I sat with them a bit more before finding away to go eat my other dinner with Christine. When I returned to Christine we had a good time laughing about my experience. But, I will say, this was probably one of the best things I have done since I left. I became a real part of these people. Their culture teaches them that any white person is far superior to themselves. If eating at their table lets them know that I love them and they know that I don’t consider myself better than they, then I will eat rat any day!!