Dinner for four
Today’s the day. This evening at Akilah hosts dinner for the other teachers in her english department. She’s been so stressed about it that I’m surprised no hair has fallen out. She started the morning out procrastinating, but around ten or eleven began slowly preparing the meal. Actually, we went to the market area to pick up some additional items for the feast.
On the menu for the night, pasta salad and vegetarian chili. The latter was really causing her stress for two reasons. First, these Cameroonians were definitely meat eaters, and she wasn’t sure how they would take to having none at the meal. Second, the stove is fueled by a gas bottle that hasn’t been refilled since she’s been in the apartment, and she’s afraid of the gas running out in the middle of cooking.
When we finished at the market area, we stopped across the street at “Bon Prix” to pick up a few other things, one of which was chocolate for the homemade chocolate chip cookies she was going to bake. While she headed home I headed down the street to my favorite boutique to pick up some Football cookies (they’re very good) and bread (in case we want a snack).
Once back at the apartment, I figured it would be best to stay out of the way for a little while. So I went downstairs to the lobby area (if you call it that) to read (Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Some) for a bit.
After about an hour or so, I decided it should now be safe to head back upstairs, and not a minute too soon. By the time I was walking in the door, she was heading to the front room to ask my culinary opinion on the pasta salad. (If I don’t know how to make anything else from scratch, I definitely know how to do a nice pasta salad.) I assured her everything was fine, just add a little more vinegar and set it in the refrigerator.
Sensing a little (understatement) tension in the air, I slowly integrated myself into the preparation process. Initially, I was relegated to washing dishes. Amazingly the water was running during the day again, so we took advantage of it. Good thing it was, I’m not sure what would’ve occurred had the water not been running. Dishes were everywhere and needed to be reused to make several of the items for the meal.
As the hour reached closer to four, I did my best to take over all the preparation. She was beginning to worry about every little detail. Well, considering the first batch of rice we made was a little more sticky than it should’ve been, she made of had good cause. But nonetheless, she needed to clean the living/dining room area and wash.
The second batch of rice was fairly decent; the chocolate cookies came out well. Naturally, the first batch of cookies were the test batch, and that was a good thing considering we kind of scorched the bottom; but they were good to me. The chili was even very tasty.
Once she was dressed and ready, it was just time to nervously wait the arrival of her guests. Only thing we forgot to pick up was bread for the meal. We couldn’t use the bread I’d bought earlier, because Cameroonians don’t consider that real bread. Don’t know why, but they prefer the “Italian-style” bread.
Not to worry, she would pick up the bread when she went to purchase their drinks for the evening. Its customary for the host to send a child to the store and purchase the soda or beer of the guests. Since there was no child and I’m not comfortable buying liquor from a bar (especially one in french), Akilah had to take care of the task.
Her three guests arrived and sat discussing school issues while she darted to the store. Once I was introduced to the party, I had to make myself scarce, only the department members participate in the meal. No problem, I just sat in the kitchen and waited to assist with setting the meal.
The meeting took all of about thirty to forty minutes, then it was time for the meal to be served. By the time Akilah came into the kitchen to begin taking the food to the front room, I’d heated up the chili and had cut the four loaves of bread. The pasta salad was first; they enjoyed it. Not realizing they were being served another dish, the guests relaxed a little more and began having a hearty conversation.
The chili was served with the explanation of its origin; it was a Mexican chili recipe in the cookbook she purchased from the PC. The vegetarian chili was a hit. Now to top off the evening, she rushed into the kitchen to bring out the homemade cookies. I guess they’re not used to chocolate chip cookies because I could over hear her explaining what they were and how they were made. Another success, what was she worried about?
Earlier in the day, I’d mentioned to her, just do it because once its over its over. She eventually began to adhere to those words and calmed down a bit. Once the meal was over, I could hear, from the kitchen, that the guests were being shown pictures of New York and family. Apparently, Cameroonians love to look at and show pictures. Its not uncustomary to have just as many photo places as there are bars (and these are just to take the pictures).
When I noticed there was no sound coming from the front room, I figured it was safe to go out and begin clearing the table. A short while later Akilah entered the apartment and let out a big sigh of relief. Phew! She’d done it; pulled off her first dinner for guests at her home. For her, a big accomplishment. Especially when you consider she’s never cooked for guests before; not even in the states (of course I don’t count).
We spent the rest of the evening relaxing after we went to the cabine to receive her mother’s phone call. She was much more calm and now looking forward to our trip to Bamenda tomorrow. During the conversation with her mother, she finally accepted the fact that she would purchase a cell phone. It’s just much more convenent than having to be outside at nightfall. Additionally, it would be harder for someone to figure out her daily or weekly habits. As the sole American in the area, it becomes obvious that she goes to the cabine the same time every week. Don’t want to encourage anyone to get any ideas, right?