Bogobe

We awoke at 5:30 to HOT showers. What a treat!. It was a heavy day for language training and we got the first of three rabies shots. Victor, the medical officer, gave another talk on health and discussed what would be in the medical kit.

The morning was cold. The temperature in our room was 52 and the rooms do not warm up during the day.

The language is coming slowly. I don’t feel confident about it at all. Today Lydia and Morgan came to talk about the area where we would be located and what we can expect. It sounds pretty rural. It was even suggested that we might want to purchase a donkey and a cart to get around.

Meals have been good but a little on the starchy side. South Africans' staple food is bogobe (pronounced “boh-hoh-bay” and also called pap, pronounced “pop”), which is made from cornmeal and looks and tastes like grits, but cooked very firm, so you can pick it up with your fingers. I don’t particularly care for it, but it is not awful. We have had a sliced beet salad that is very good, and for lunch there is usually a piece of fruit. Breakfast has been oatmeal or sorghum bogobe – sort of whole-grain bogobe, but made like Instant Ralston. It's pretty good on these cold mornings.