One of the Most Important Aspects of My Life: Food

A few questions that I have been recently getting involve what I actually eat here. I then remembered that I unfortunately never went over Namibian food on here. Only those lucky enough to be on Facebook have had the pleasure of seeing and reading about various food related adventures since beginning my time in Namibia. So now I will narrate it for everyone. Namibia is very diverse in almost every aspect you could think of for a country and its people. There are at least 5 dominant languages here, everything from sand dunes to lush green rivers, sea lions to real lions so obviously food is also very different depending on where in the country you are. In general though Namibians eat a lot of noodles, rice and pap (porridge) with meat. Vegetables are generally found if in a can and only in large towns fresh. When I was living in Okahandja dinner consisted of one of the carbs, a mystery meat, sometimes potatoes, a small bit of veggies. When I first met my host mom I told her I loved vegetables. She said the family did too and so I thought all would be good. When she said they liked vegetables, in reality she meant she’ll put in half an onion or half a tomato into the pot with the meat and sauce and cook it way down. I did one time get canned corn and I was in heaven. It didn’t go far in a family of five though. Other PC people only got their vegetables served with large amounts of mayo and/or sugar. Like imitation potato salad without the potato. So I was pretty lucky.

            Namibians LOVE their meat though. Many have told me that if there is no meat, then it is not a meal even then though I tried to put ham in a grilled cheese with tomato soup and my trainer still wasn’t really having it. I told him there was meat so it was a meal. He told me it doesn’t work like that. When we first arrived to the country all of us were staying at a hostel conference center for the first few weeks. Two girls were vegetarian, but understood that it may be complicated to have meals specifically for them. Still they politely informed the cook of their situation and he told them he would take care of them. The girls (and all of us actually) were very confused when the dish for the vegetarians the next day contained chicken with macaroni and tuna salad as a side. We all asked the guy what was up with that and he repsonds with a questionable look saying “Chicken and fish are not meat. You said you don’t eat meat, there is no meat here.” We just shook our heads and the girls said it was okay. Eventually he understood what we considered meat and made sure they always had something to eat. Unfortunately though the rest of us being so obsessed with getting our vegetables wanted to eat the veggie option too but were not allowed to, the cook guarded it because he felt bad. It was over all a very humorous situation.

            So now onto this meat situation that all the Namibians love so much. The most common meats in the country are chicken, goat, and sheep. No matter where you are in the country I am positive you will find someone to eat every part of these animals minus the fur and feathers. In the north fish from the various rivers are also commonly eaten but I do not know much about that yet because I have not been up there. Here in my village almost every meal is boiled goat, sheep or chicken, then mixed with some mixture of sauces, potatoes, and onions. Add a side of rice, noodles, or pap and a “salad” (meaning beetroot, shredded carrot, potato, or noodle) and you have yourself a typical baster meal. The more delicious way to cook (in my opinion) is called braii. Its essentially barbecue but just like so insanely delicious, but that may only be because by the time a fire is lit, burns down to coals and then you watch your meat cook, you (or at least I) am starving. This meat is complimented with barbecued bread rolls which I feel should be the only way to eat bread. (More details on braii-ing to come later)

            With my said living situation though I am quite lucky. Barbecued meat is something I can definitely do every day. Unfortunately for some people that is not the case. Those in the north living in much more rougher living conditions than I are living in a culture that literally eats everything all animal parts. While I have found animal parts with teeth in them in my freezer that does not compare to a whole goat head in the sink (Yes this really happens to many). People here eat every part of the animal imaginable. From goat stomach and lungs, to chicken feet and necks. I kid you not, in the major supermarkets you find chicken pieces, chicken hearts, chicken livers, chicken necks, chicken feet, and a lovely soup mix that combines all of them. Might I point out though that the list does not include chicken wings L Yes I have tried most of this, while during training out trainers put on a cultural food day for us. My plate included goat stomach, Mopani worms (crunchy little caterpillars), pap, boiled goat blood, donkey meat, and Smiley (boiled goat head getting its name from how the lips curl up exposing the teeth). For as scary as it sounds, prepared well, its really not too bad… Having it every day though is another story. Last week I received a text from my friend detailing his unfortunate situation where a cow died so his family would be dining on tongue and stomach instead of his preferred choice of chicken intestines. Sorry Mr. Derek.

            Living on my own though, subject to nice people giving me rides and a Peace Corps budget, I mostly find myself eating a lot less exciting food. It is hard to transfer meat from town and considering I do not want to purchase myself a whole carcass I do not eat a lot of meat. If I do it is because someone is feeding me or because I took the hit and bought the overpriced chicken from the shop in town. Most of the time I eat a small breakfast of granola or bread & butter/jam/cheese. That is at 630am so by the time I am home for lunch at 1 I am starving and have to refrain from eating everything in site. This time I generally eat rice and lentils with whatever vegetables I can find. Sometimes that is just an onion and an egg. I sill make it taste pretty good though. I don’t like eating dinner late because then I am up late so I will either skip it all together or have something small. Recently it has been noodles or my all time favorite: Kelley Riley Popcorn.

            I have been on a bread making kick. Not only does it feed me for a whole day but it gives me something to do for a few hours. On weekends I find myself making a loaf of bread and being content with eating that all day. Sometimes I will make a soup to go along with it but this is Africa so who wants to eat hot liquid on a 90 degree day? Not me.

            In conclusion, I am not starving, the food in my particular area is actually quite delicious. Though I do constantly battle with laziness as I do not want to prepare a whole meal for myself 3 times a day and would much rather eat bread and butter out of sheer ease. In the event that I am hungry, plenty of people would give me plates full of meat but after a note of warning from the previous volunteer here, I should probably watch my cholesterol levels. They tend to spike after living in Schlip and dining on salty delicious meat all the time.  I must choose my battles carefully.