Zambian Cuisine

Isn't the presentation lovely?

I ate fried caterpillars today, and no, they did not taste like chicken.  More like chewy potato skins.

Living in Japan prepared me for this meal.  My Japanese friends introduced me to all sorts of delicacies:  sea urchin sushi, a bee and larvae casserole, and BBQ cow intestines.

But today's meal was something special, because Elizabeth was the first Zambian to welcome me into her home.

Elizabeth is Oliver's nanny during my French class.  She and her three children live in a sparse room, in a cinderblock building, in a crummy neighborhood.  For many Americans, her "home" would be our garden shed.

Elizabeth also invited her two neighbors and their infants for lunch.  We laughed about how God forgot to put color in my skin.  I cried as she shared about losing her beloved husband unexpectedly.

After I ate my fill of caterpillars and nshima (a maize porriage like Cream of Wheat), Elizabeth's daughter Joy finished off my plate.

I will never forget this meal, and I'm grateful that Elizabeth had the grit to invite me into her world.