September 29, 2011
Mark this date ladies and gents, I have officially turned cous-cous. Yes, since arriving, I have watched women turn cous-cous countless times, and I have often started the turning but never finished, or took turns with little Nini and then Fadi took over to finish the turning process...but tonight, from beginning to end, I turned cous-cous. And it wasn't half-bad either. When turning cous-cous, if the corn flour is not evenly cooked and stirred/turned, then chunks of the powder will remain. My cous-cous, however, was chunkless. It was smooth and yummy and Fadi and I ate it up with some sauce that Nini had prepared earlier. I hadn't tried to turn in a couple of months since a failed attempt with Nini where Fadi had to take over and finish. Have I become stronger, is that why I was able to prepare din for the whole fam tonight? Or has my technique just become better? I have a theory about which muscles in the back are most used here during farming/household chores/cous-cous preparation. Here's the theory: the back muscles worked out here in Cameroon are not the same back muscles that get exercise in the US of A. Maybe the makers of the Nautilus machines at the gym haven't yet designed equipment that can trigger all back muscles. I'm pretty sure the emphasis when farming and turning cous-cous is the upper back muscles. There must be a workout machine for that though. Or maybe working out in a gym just can't come close to good ol' outdoor physical labor. Anywho, yes, cous-cous has been turned, mark this date down in the calendars :). Next, says Fadi, she will write down the date when I cannot only turn cous-cous, but make the sauce along with it and bring it to the house.
Mark this date ladies and gents, I have officially turned cous-cous. Yes, since arriving, I have watched women turn cous-cous countless times, and I have often started the turning but never finished, or took turns with little Nini and then Fadi took over to finish the turning process...but tonight, from beginning to end, I turned cous-cous. And it wasn't half-bad either. When turning cous-cous, if the corn flour is not evenly cooked and stirred/turned, then chunks of the powder will remain. My cous-cous, however, was chunkless. It was smooth and yummy and Fadi and I ate it up with some sauce that Nini had prepared earlier. I hadn't tried to turn in a couple of months since a failed attempt with Nini where Fadi had to take over and finish. Have I become stronger, is that why I was able to prepare din for the whole fam tonight? Or has my technique just become better? I have a theory about which muscles in the back are most used here during farming/household chores/cous-cous preparation. Here's the theory: the back muscles worked out here in Cameroon are not the same back muscles that get exercise in the US of A. Maybe the makers of the Nautilus machines at the gym haven't yet designed equipment that can trigger all back muscles. I'm pretty sure the emphasis when farming and turning cous-cous is the upper back muscles. There must be a workout machine for that though. Or maybe working out in a gym just can't come close to good ol' outdoor physical labor. Anywho, yes, cous-cous has been turned, mark this date down in the calendars :). Next, says Fadi, she will write down the date when I cannot only turn cous-cous, but make the sauce along with it and bring it to the house.
No comments:
Post a Comment