the 'food court' and sharing/caring
At the back of the open market is what I can best describe as a food court. It is a cluster of women sitting behind tables selling precooked food. For meat there is breaded and fried fish (head intact) and fried chicken. For side dishes, what I can actually name is porridge made with maize meal, steamed rice, salad with ranch dressing, potato salad and something that looked like a cooked spinach/vegetable medley, though there were a few things that I was unable to identify I will leave that project for another day. The meat is priced according to size and the side items according to how many spoonfuls you receive.

Today I decided that I didn’t want to come home and cook my lunch, but would rather eat ‘out’. So I came up with a plan to ask my new friends, Elizabeth and Ndeshy, who run a clothing stand also in the back of the market to help me. Ndeshy decided she would be the one, though she wasn’t sure she knew exactly why I wanted to eat there. We walked over to the stand and she told me to pick out what I wanted. I pointed to the different things and they made my plate. I chose a piece of fried chicken, potato salad and the regular salad. The potato salad was decent, the salad drenched in dressing was just the way I like it, and the chicken was some of the best chicken I have eaten in a long time! I was amazed at how good it was! I probably could have eaten the entire thing if I had tried!

For N$12, I was amazed at the amount of food that I received! I told Ndeshy that she needed to ask for another fork because I couldn’t eat all the food, that it was too much for one person. She laughed at me like I was joking, but though I could have attempted to eat the whole plateful it would have made me sick, there really was that much food there. She did not get a fork but told me that she would finish whatever I did not eat. I paid the nice lady who, now that I think of it, never really talked to me directly, and off we went back to the clothing stand. Though this may sound like a weird desire, I actually long for the day when my friends feel comfortable eating off the same plate as I do! After I finished eating, and I was very careful to eat only about a third of the food because I had a good idea about what would happen when I was finished, both girls sat next to each other and ate what was left. The culture here is to share everything, and I think it is so beautiful to see!

There is a group of women that are from Zambia that I stop and talk to each day. They speak many languages including English and Rukwangali. I have found that they are some of my greatest cheerleaders each day as I practice my new language with them! Today I was walking home with a 2-liter bottle of Vanilla Coke when I stopped and talked to them to tell them to have a good rest of the day. One of the ladies asked me if I was walking home now to which I replied yes. She jumped up, grabbed my heavy bag and started walking with me! She walked me as far as the Post Office (where I stopped to talk to my wonderful Angolan friends). I was amazed at her willingness to honor me by carrying my burden. It was a beautiful fulfillment of Galatians 6:2, which says “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” It reminds me that as a Christian I should also be eager to carry the burdens of others. I pray God will make me sensitive to the needs of others and help me to be available to care for those needs!