During our recent ICC course (you know, the course that had us going to the African church up in Charlotte where Olivia & I went to the wedding), we were told we were having a family picnic on Saturday, and attendance was required. All the food would be provided. Based on the nature of this course, I began to suspect that this might not be just any ordinary picnic! I told my kids that we *might* be given something STRANGE to eat. As you may begin to suspect, I was right!
The picnic location was Jungle Jump Off. This is a location at JAARS where they have week-long camps for youth groups which teach them what life is like in a REMOTE location without any amenities. It teaches them this because they LIVE it!
As we all showed up at the location and waited for everyone to arrive, we noticed there was no food. Soon we were told we were taking a walk through the woods. Our kids love to walk through the woods, so this was no problem. Eventually, we reached a gathering place where we were given some instructions. From there we continued on our journey until we reached the place for the picnic. Once there, we were given further directions.
Basically, here is the information we were given:
We would be having lunch in a different culture, and we needed to follow all the rules so we wouldn't insult our hosts.
We needed to:
Remove our shoes
"Wash" our hands
Sit on the ground
Men would sit together in a circle, and women & children would sit together
Women would serve the men first before eating or feeding the kids
Men are served oldest to youngest
We'd eat with our hands
As you can imagine, these instructions kind of rub you the wrong way. Even when you know this isn't "real," it makes you realize how set in your ways you are. Of course, I don't think there were any of the men who were having a hard time with the rules. =0)
We started by removing our shoes. Next we ceremonially "washed" our hands which had NOTHING to do with cleanliness. As a matter of fact, it was kind of gross. We lined up while dirty water was poured over our hands from a bucket using a ladle which means the water was used and reused as people went through the line. Ick.
The men sat in their circle. Then we had the children sit down while the women served the men. Just as they were all served, we thought we'd be able to start serving the kids and ourselves. But nooooooooo, we had to wait til all the men were completely finished… not just served. And shockingly, some men wanted seconds.
Wesley waiting patiently for the children to be served. He's sitting next to a friend's daughter.
What were they served, you ask? Well, I'm still not sure. It didn't look so appetizing, but actually it was pretty tasty. The meal was some African type meal. The sauce was some sort of peanut sauce served over rice with tortilla wedges. A boiled CHICKEN FOOT was placed right on top! (Yes, it was a chicken FOOT… not a chicken LEG.) To drink… water that looked dirty (but I think it was perfectly fine water that had some spices or something added to it just to look dirty).
Dano's partially eaten meal with his water. By the way, Dano did finish this and got more, I believe.
The funny thing is… when the kids & I were talking earlier that day, we said they just might make us eat chicken feet! Fortunately, this was not my first experience with this item. When I taught ESL in Texas, I had a friend from China who made some for us at our request! What do they taste like? Not much. As you can imagine, there isn't much to a chicken foot. Basically, it tastes like chicken skin or fat. Nothing I would ever crave, but nothing revolting. However, the looks leave something to be desired.
Back to the picnic… as you can imagine, most people had no desire to eat the chicken foot. Some didn't even seem too thrilled about the rice and sauce. The children were especially hesitant. Surprisingly, Olivia (our oldest and pickiest at times) tried the meal. She stuck with the tortillas. Emma and Wesley were not too thrilled with the dish. They didn't want to even taste it. Thankfully, they did eat the tortillas. But then there was Derek. Despite his thin physique, he eats like a horse. This day was no different. Not only did he eat his rice and sauce and tortillas, but he ate his chicken foot. Then he began to ask others for their feet! By the end of the picnic, he earned the nickname "Chicken Foot."
Virginia was there, too. (This was really a picture of her which is why my head is almost cut off.)
Olivia after her meal.
Emma inspecting her "water." Notice her untouched meal. I think Derek took her chicken foot.
"Chicken Foot" himself. Not sure if you can see how filthy his face and hands are. Remember… no utensils!
So WHY did we have to do this? Well, it was just another opportunity given to us via ICC to see "where we were." This picnic allowed us to see how we would react in a very NON-American setting. How did it make us feel? Why? It was an opportunity to see how our kids would react.
All in all, I think our family did GREAT! Our kids waited "patiently" while the men ate. At least they enjoyed the time with the other kids while waiting. Overall, it seemed everyone there did great. Of course, we had the added advantage of knowing this was just for a couple of hours for one day. How would we react if this were a daily occurrence? How would the hosts react if we insulted them unknowingly? How would our children really act if they realized this was all they'd have to eat every day? Well, we don't REALLY know the answers to these questions, but one day we will.
We are looking forward to serving overseas one day, hopefully soon. We have no idea if we'll face a situation like the one here, but we do know that we'll face many situations that will be out of our comfort zone… way out of our comfort zone. We also know that the God who called us will also provide what we need. We are so thankful that He provided a way for us to attend this Intercultural Communication Course (ICC). During the month long course, we studied and discussed World View, Suffering, Moral Purity, Bible Study, Interpersonal Skills, Language and Culture Acquisition, Spiritual Vitality, Marriage, Phonetics, Partnering, Contingency, Multicultural Teams, Crisis Management, Counting the Cost, Different by Design, and Stones of Remembrance. As you can see, we had a very full month! And I think whenever we eat chicken, we'll be reminded of our adventure on a hot, summer day in North Carolina.
Other entries about ICC:
2 comments:
Wow, this is wild Melinda. Thank y'all for serving. It made me cry. Way to go Derek. What a trooper. Really, all of you were. He was just extra brave (or maybe hungry) for eating a chicken foot/feet. :-) It just kept coming to my mind how y'all were "suffering" FOR JESUS and how HE suffered so much for us. Love y'all! Marcia
I'm surprised that you didn't have greens. In Malawi during our short term mission, we had cooked greens every day. And some Malawians in Arlington picked a sackful of greens from our garden. I didn't know that pumpkin leaves and black-eyed pea leaves were edible.
Post a Comment