Cucumber Lentil Stew

I've never done a post like this before, but thought I'd try it. My friend Nyibol recently gave me a few cucumbers from her garden. They are more oblong and have a thicker skin than typical North American cucumbers. We have found that they're quite good cooked. I made one into a meal one evening last week by combining it with some lentils. So here is my recipe for Cucumber Lentil Stew.

Ingredients: cucumber, oil, onion, garlic, tomato paste, orange lentils (to provide some protein).

1.  Dice the cucumber. You can see in the photos how thick the skin on these local ones is. 

2.  Sauté the cucumber in oil until it gets slightly soft and golden.

3.  Add the onions and sauté with the cucumber for a few minutes, then add the other ingredients.

4.  Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, covered, then turn off the heat let sit for about five minutes more.  That's it.

I served the cucumber/lentil dish with some Ryvita (whole rye) crackers. And enjoyed it with candlelight and a good book.

Cloudy Day Photos

One cloudy day towards the end of July, I walked home from school around 6:00 enjoying the lovely sky and vivid colors. I picked up my camera and went out to shoot some photos. Here are a few of them.

The large tree on the right in the photo below loses its leaves during the rainy season and looks out of place amidst the abundant vegetation.

I love how the walls of the Dinka huts tend to disappear as the vegetation grows up, leaving only the thatched roofs visible--makes me think of mushrooms or of "Hobbit" huts.

I like the clouds in this picture, and also the way the top of the hut on the right is leaning over. They tend to do that as time goes on, giving each one its own unique shape (kind of like people as they age!).

Some of the local young guys, hanging out at a favourite place near the village well.

One of my older neighbours preparing pumpkin greens as her grandson watches.

Snack on a Stick

A few years ago I did a blog post describing and showing how people here, in particular kids, love chewing on the stocks (cane) of sorghum plants. The inner part of the stocks has a slightly sweet taste. The kids rip off the outer husk of the cane and then chew and chew on the inside to extract all the sweetness they can. Then they spit out the remaining pulp.

Most people have harvested their sorghum now and left the stocks standing in the fields.

I've often seen kids like this student of mine carrying stocks to school to eat before school starts or at break time.

This year, one of the pastors we partner with planted some sorghum in a field on our school compound. The other day he gave permission for the school kids to eat the sorghum cane remaining in the field. So as of Monday, two days ago, they have been enjoying this handy treat to the full.

It's quite amusing because it's now relatively quiet at break times. Very little of the usual chatting, running or playing, hardly any shouts or laughter. The kids stand or sit around and chew on their sorghum cane. Serious business!

Then, when the break is over, they bring the unfinished cane into the classroom and "park" it in the corner by the door, in and beside the garbage can, ready to be picked up again at the start of the next break. No chewing during class!

Unwelcome Visitors

The following three unwelcome creatures paid me a visit during the past month.

1.  Scorpion. I've had many visits from these during the past few years. They typically appear in the evening. I usually find them when I've been out, then come in and turn on the light.

I spotted this one on the wall after I turned on my desk lamp.

There are over 1,500 species of scorpions in the world and they all have a venomous stinger, but fortunately only about 25 are known to have venom capable of killing a human being.

The stings of the ones we have here are not dangerous, but they hurt like crazy!! I was stung for the first time a few months ago, on the foot, and it was like getting stabbed by a red-hot knife.

 
I've found that most of the time, scorpions don't move too quickly. They wait to see what will happen.

I debated on how to kill this one. I often use the "spray and smash" method for a scorpion on the wall. I spray it with insecticide, then when it drops onto the floor I smash it with the sole of my shoe.

This one, however, would have dropped onto the floor in the corner behind my desk--not the greatest place for me to squish it.

I know this will sound gruesome, but I ended up pinning it in the middle with a big knife and sawing it in two.







2.  Bat. One Saturday morning, as I sat at my kitchen table, I looked up and saw a bat crawling down the wall.


It's not very common to see bats during the day time. However, I have had a problem at times with bats "hanging out" during daylight hours behind a shelf unit in the corner of my counter.

They come in through small openings between my corrugated tin roof and the top of my wall.

You might think I would be happy to have a bat in my house because they eat things like mosquitos. However, they are a nuisance because they produce an incredible number of tiny droppings that quickly make a mess on the counter.


I got rid of this one by taking a broom, putting the handle end right below its head, and gently pushing up. It was rather comical because the bat clumsily backed right up and out.

3.  Snake.  I've never found a snake inside my house, and had only once seen one on my porch, until a month ago. Early one evening, as I was in my house getting something for a friend who was on my porch, she began shouting, "Snake, snake!" I went out and saw one lying a few feet from the door. 

My friend had seen the snake slither out from the crack between my doorframe and the wall (on the left side of the door). When it saw her, it started to go back in, but she jumped up and bonked it on the head with her flip flop and stunned it.

I grabbed a small shovel that was in a corner of the porch, pinned the snake down with the blade a few inches behind the head, and cut it in two. Yeah!! My first time to kill a snake.

The snake was a night forest adder, which is venomous, about 18" long. It must have tried to get in the house through that crack, but fortunately the crack is blocked on the inside. I'm very grateful that it didn't get inside under my door or that I didn't come upon it on my porch in the dark.

This photo was staged later that evening. I had initially thrown the dead snake into some grasses under a bush, but later realized that I hadn't taken a picture. So I got a flashlight and looked for it, but only found the body, not the head. 

Awut at Ten Months

Little Awut, whom I first introduced on my blog back in November, is now ten months old. Her mother died a few hours after she was born and she is being cared for by her paternal grandma, Nyibol. Nyibol and Awut recently came by for a visit, along with Luka, Nyibol's four-year-old grandson whom she is also raising. His mother,  Nyibol's daughter, died in December. 

Awut loves to smile and giggle. She is growing and developing well. She now weighs almost 7 kilos (15 lbs), a little on the petite side for her age but within the normal range.

Nyibol is visibly proud of both Awut and Luka. And with good reason. She works hard to take care of them and is a loving grandma/mother.

Nyibol's joy in God is easy to see. She is a thankful person, quick to acknowledge how God has helped her and provided for her. She faithfully attends church with the two children.

Many thanks to those of you reading this who have prayed for Awut and Nyibol during the past months. Please continue to pray for good health for Awut and that God would provide Nyibol with all that is necessary to take good care of Awut (and Luka).

Sesame Field in Bloom

The sesame plants have been growing well and blossoming like crazy. The other morning on the walk to school I enjoyed seeing the fields of white, bell-shaped flowers in the morning light.

Reading Practice

Every Saturday morning there's a prayer meeting at the Parot Church that ends around 9:00. Then a few of the women who were at the prayer meeting usually come by my house to say hi and/or have a little visit and tea. Now that I teach and am not at home on weekdays, this is often my only opportunity to catch up with some of these women, and I enjoy this little tradition we've now established.

Yesterday, two of my Saturday morning "regulars," Abuk M. and Achol D., brought a Dinka literacy book and were practicing reading. They and about 20 other women from the church are part of a literacy class being held at the church each weekday afternoon, courtesy of the NGO Samaritan's Purse (SP). The class is taught by two young men from the church who were trained by SP.

I'm thrilled that these dear friends and others are having the opportunity to learn to read!

Another one of the "regulars," Abuk A., who is a good reader, gave Abuk M. and Achol a little help.

I should give a shout-out here to SP because they have done a wonderful work in our state during the past few years training literacy teachers and offering classes like this in dozens (perhaps hundreds?) of churches. Those who finish the literacy program are given a Dinka New Testament and then are offered a discipleship program that helps them practice reading and grow in their faith. My team has had the privilege of partnering with SP in this program as SP uses our discipleship materials.