Cultural Experiences

These are the local brooms. The one that looks like a bunch of sticks is used to sweep outside. Just like we in the states liked groomed lawns, people here like leaf and weed free compounds. The more bushy looking broom is used inside. I used this broom at least once a week to sweep out the loose dirt from inside from tukul.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a coffee drinker. I decided not to bring any coffee into Mundri with me and to drink tea if I really felt the need for caffeine. However, you can find local coffee here and I thought it would be fun to try some out. The only problem is that you can only find the raw dry coffee bean in the market. I decided it would still be worth trying and so I bought some, roasted it myself, and even pounded it using the motar and pestle. I had my first cup the other morning and it actually tasted pretty good.

With each rain also comes these pesty flying insects. We had a heavy rain yesterday and so this morning when I was walking to the school I noticed all of the wings from these insects covering the ground. For some reason they fall off and the insects become walking insects. I also noticed all of my neighbors collecting these insects or cleaning the wings out so that they could prepare them for eating. Not only does the rain provide water for the seeds, but also some extra protein for the next day’s meal :o).