That is how I would characterize my weekend - Princess Weddings and Pavlova.I was invited to the wedding of a friend of a friend of mine. All I was told by all of my muzungu friends is that Rwandan weddings are boring! Well, it was a bit... but interesting in some things as well. First we went to the Catholic church service. There were 4 couples getting married in the same service. The best part about the service was the music. There was a live choir, but all of the hymns were sung in Kinyarwanda accompanied by African drums. Very cool.
Afterwards we went to the top hotel in Kigali, The Serena, for the reception. Now this part was really different. The guests were seated in rows like a theater all looking at a stage where the bride and groom sat. The close family were sitting at tables closest to the stage. Basically there were a lot of speeches which I didn't understand, separated by traditional Rwandan dance. The dances were cool - also accompanied by drums and singers. I came to find out that a lot of the speeches were blessing the couple, as expected, and at the end of each speech, the couple were given a cow as a gift. Sometimes one person gave 2 cows. Sometimes they gave a more expensive modern cow (meaning imported from Europe). At the end of the night, the couple was 12 cows richer. By the end of the reception, I was happy to go home. But, I was still glad to have attended.
On Sunday, I decided to be domestic and make my first pavlova. Ingredients aren't easy to come by, so I came up with the idea of pavlova, as all you really need are egg whites, sugar, whipping cream and some nice tropical fruits (which we have plenty of!). So, despite the fact that I didn't have a blender, I was actually able to stiffen the egg whites using 2
forks. I put the meringue in the oven and got to work on the whipped cream. It ended up that the pavlova had to go without whipped cream. I chose the closest thing to cream at the grocery store, but I think I might have gotten buttermilk. The French on the box translated as firm milk. Hmmm... Anyway, one thing I have learned in Africa so far is that you use whatever you got! So, we had meringue and fruit, drizzled with buttermilk!
4 comments:
So cool. You really are embracing the culture. I'm personally going after the frugal retiree lifestyle myself. Really what to see what that's all about! LOL! Visiting Mom and Dad in Oregon this weekend while on their short lived stint at retirement. Should be fun.
Love you!
B.B
Am very impressed you're making pavlovas and no doubt Jonas would be proud! Are you eating tons of avocados? I keep thinking of you every time I see one (and given that I'm addicted to them and always have them in the house that's fairly often!)
The baskets look fabulous and the deal with Macy's must be a real boost. And what with the 'pomegranates are good for your heart' reports and the number of new pomegranate drinks that were springing up last time I was back in the UK I'm sure you're right about that being a very promising crop.
We miss you here in HK but what you're doing is fantastic - call centres must seem so irrelevant...
xxx
You made the pavlova! It looks delicious. Stiffening egg whites with a fork sounds like good paddle training. I think I am going to have to try it to see how long it takes. Emotional rollercoster - I can only imagine. But the key thing is you are making a difference. Good luck with those rubber boots. Thinking of you all the time and will keep my eye out for ways to help. Love the blog by the way!
Lots of love,
Jo
Claire - am definitely eating lots of avacados! Almost every day. Jo - I thought of you while making pavlova! It would have been better with a mixer, maybe I'll bring one back from Europe. And still trying to figure out this cream thing. Very strange.
Crossing my fingers that boots will come this week!
Post a Comment