five cups, three plates, two bowls, and a couple spoons and forks

This picture is one I took a few years ago in Uganda, but I thought it was an appropriate introduction to this post. For today's purposes I'll call it "Practicing"...

Yesterday, as I was driving to work I saw a man hauling a fairly good-sized bundle of wood by resting it on the seat of his bicycle and walking beside it steering the bike. I’m not talking short lengths of firewood either. I’m talking full-size lengths of something along the lines of 2x4s. He was obviously working hard, and I was impressed.

This type of transportation is very typical. In fact, in Uganda, where bicycles are the most ubiquitous of any African country I have visited, I have either seen personally or been told about by friends who witnessed it, a myriad of (impossibly) large, heavy objects being hauled by bicycle. Among the things that have made it into what I will call my “bicycle haul of fame” are a washing machine and a sofa -- put on end, so it reached far into the air.














Another photo from Uganda a few years ago. Of all the bundles I've seen hauled on bikes over the years, this was by far the cutest. Don't be too alarmed -- he wasn't actually sitting there while his dad pedaled the bike. Instead, he somehow shared the seat with his father (which is perhaps equally incredible). This was just where he waited while his father conducted his business.

In Ethiopia, I’ve witnessed similar hauling projects by taxis. Although usually pretty rickety-looking, these vehicles should obviously be able to carry more than a bicycle, and so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see furniture, stoves, refrigerators, etc, strapped to the tops of these cars. I think what I find interesting is that the taxi drivers agree to it! Can you imagine, in New York City or London, or Colorado Springs, for that matter, hailing a cab only to tell the driver you’d like to load your new washing machine on top to take it home?

The fact is that in the West, we’ve been conditioned to believe that every project or task must have it’s own special process, tool, gadget or gizmo. No taxi driver would ever agree to haul a refrigerator because we all know that businesses offer delivery on these things, right? Never mind that we will usually pay an additional $50-$100 for this service.

I lived in dormitories, townhomes and apartment buildings for nearly 15 years before moving here. It had been a long time since I had a lawn or trees or plants to take care of. Now I have this beautiful little lawn and garden and I found myself worrying for a couple of days because in addition to being very difficult to come by, things like lawn mowers are prohibitively expensive.

So I was greatly relieved to find out that Baptiste, who helps me at my house, is actually not only willing to use a simple hand-held tool (called a “slasher” in Uganda, but I’m not sure of its name here) for cutting the grass but actually prefers it. Nor do we need a rake. A short, handmade stick broom is more than adequate for tidying up both the grass and the brick areas of the property. I think all in all we spent less than $50 getting the various tools for cutting, trimming and cleaning my little lawn and garden.

Let’s move to the kitchen. Contrast me, who sliced my hand open just trying to use a knife rather than scissors to get into a package, with Baptiste who easily opened two cans of tomato paste for me with that same knife without a second thought. I come from the world of Williams-Sonoma and Crate & Barrel, where I’ve learned that one should have a special tool for slicing tomatoes, eggs, mangoes, avocados, grapefruit, etc. Now I live in a place where mangoes and avocados are often coming out our ears, and if I showed one of those gadgets to Baptiste, I have a feeling he would laugh.

Lest you think I’m demonizing those types of stores I mentioned above, let me pause to assure you that I’m absolutely not. I love wandering around kitchen gadget shops and seeing all the new fun things that can make cooking and baking easier. Before I moved I made more than one Crate & Barrel run and spent lots of time in Target’s kitchen utensil aisle.

Many of the cool gizmos available are actually pretty practical. There’s a lot to be said for having just the right tool for the job. All I’m saying is that it’s easy to start thinking of those things as necessities, when in fact they’re luxuries. One can do a lot with fairly basic items. A bicycle. A taxi. A slasher. A stick broom. A knife.

I love having people over for dinner. I enjoy cooking but am much less likely to do more than grilled cheese or the occasional pot of soup when I have only myself to feed. However, at the moment I’ve been reticent to invite people over. Literally the only piece of furniture in my house other than the bed has been a chair that I borrowed from Chantal.

It was one thing to tell someone like Mandi who was here volunteering that she could join me for a floor picnic on Easter Sunday. She was young and game and far from home and it was Easter and having dinner with someone on the floor was better than spending the day alone. But saying “Hey, I’d like to have you over, but, um, do you mind sitting on the floor?” to someone who lives here and could enjoy dinner in the comfort of their own home where they actually have … well … furniture -- that’s a different matter.

Still, tired of spending most evenings alone, I decided to go ahead and make this funny invitation to Chantal and Mbanda, who have been so kind and hospitable to me since I arrived. Rather than laughing at me when I extended the invitation, they even postponed plans they had for Wednesday evening to say yes. And they offered to bring over a couple folding chairs so we could be really radical and not sit on the floor.

We had fajitas, and let me just say that I was very proud of how my first attempt to make tortillas by myself turned out! The food was tasty -- having all three lived in Colorado for a long time, we regularly crave Mexican food -- but what I want to talk about was the funny and fun process of maneuvering the pans and dishes in order to prepare and serve everything.

First, make the tortillas. That’s an easy decision. They can be kept warm in the oven while other things are cooking. Then wash that pan because it’s the same one needed to cook the meat and vegetables in. Cut up tomatoes and cheese and put them into two coffee mugs. Mash up the avocado in a bowl, then transfer it to a little saucer because that bowl will be needed for dessert. Melt a little chocolate bar I splurged on and add some milk so we could have the sauce over ice cream (another splurge but it was a special occasion -- my first “dinner party”).

Having no serving dishes, we served ourselves off the stove and carried our food on trays -- I have one and Chantal brought two more -- to the dining room. I only have 2 sets of flatware, but thankfully because it was fajitas, I could offer those to the guests and if they noticed that I was only using my hands they were polite and didn’t point it out.

Chantal and Mbanda were gracious and complimentary and lingered over their meal as though we had all the normal comforts of things like tables. Dessert time came and I used my two bowls to serve up their ice cream. I even offered to make coffee in the coffee press Joe brought me when he came to Uganda (coffee, I must admit, is one of the staples of my breakfast diet and my noble intentions of doing without it till my belongings arrived faded away quickly) and Mbanda accepted the offer. But all the mugs and glasses were tied up at the moment so I took quick stock. The cheese was almost all eaten. I transferred what was left onto the cutting board, washed the mug, and voila!

“Aren’t you having dessert?” Chantal asked as I delivered the coffee. I told her yes I was, returned to the kitchen to wash the mug I’d been drinking from, and served myself. She smiled big when I returned eating my ice cream from the same mug that had held my juice moments earlier.

We had a nice visit and eventually they said goodnight and headed home, generously telling me to hold onto the folding chairs until my furniture arrives. It was a very fulfilling evening and I was very happy I’d gone ahead and extended the invitation rather than waiting until I could entertain “properly”.

Don’t get me wrong. I will be absolutely thrilled when my things arrive -- hopefully in another three weeks or so. But I also appreciated the reminder this week that I don’t actually need them. I have a bed. I have a stove and refrigerator and washing machine. I now have three chairs. I have a few pots and pans, plus five cups, two plates (I borrowed the third one), two bowls and a handful of flatware. And all of that is more than enough to actually live on -- and even entertain company!