In one of those God appointed moments we ran into them at a restaurant while eating with our unexpected out of town friends-Andy and Kris-if not for their unexpected visit we would not have been eating out that night! You see the whole God thing-Right!
The special treat for our family was that Aron is from Kenya! Talk about connection. Hannah and Caleb immediately attached to him and the familiar African accent. Aron was such a good sport, letting Caleb and Hannah hang all over him!
The other special treat was that Aron is a college national champion in distance running. Bet you are starting to see the other connection! David and Drew had a great time talking running, racing, training and anything else having to do with distance running. Too cool!
To keep adding to the surprises of the night. Our Erinn was so excited to talk with him about his life in Kenya and how he ran to school five miles every day and then back after school. Some days just because he did not bring a lunch he would run home and back for his lunch hour!! As many of you know Erinn is studying Anthropology and she wrote a paper last term on the "magic zone" as this area of Kenya is known as, for how it produces so many world-class distance runners. Her teacher marked her down on her paper saying that this may have been true in the past, but not so much anymore. Here Erinn sat with her 'proof' that she was right!
Our final surprise of the night was Aron and Lisa making us Kenyan tea and flat bread! Caleb just glowed, and now I know he likes his tea really sweet or not at all. He said it tasted like African tea! And when Aron was mixing up the flat bread batter, Caleb wanted to know if he was making fufu? (Not sure I got that spelling right) When he first came home he kept asking for fufu and I did not know what he was saying. As I learned what it was I found that it is made from ground Cassava root, which to this time I have been unable to find anywhere locally to try to make for him. Anyways he liked the flat bread and said it tasted close to his memories of Liberia. We thank God for this wonderful visit with these Christian young people and the way they shared of themselves with our family! Be praying for Aron as he seeks to lower his times a little more so that he may run professionally for a time. His ultimate goal is working in the UN!
1 comment:
Hi! I happened upon your lovely blog by way of a mutual friend. We are from Oregon also and work in DRCongo. Anyway, we've eaten our fair share of fufu or cassava (or manioc) root paste. Usually grated, then dried, then pound and boiled to make a thick paste for dipping in greens or meat sauce.
It also grows all over Central and South America, so are there any Mexican food stores near you that might carry it? I'm sure there's a recipe for it online. Just a thought! Blessings on your adventures!
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