Hello again readers! The last post left off with the conclusion of our first day of cassava bread making. Now it's time to hop into the second half!
CASSAVA ADVENTURES PART 2
I awoke much earlier than usual, already mentally geared to arrive at Sis Hendricks' house bright eyed and bushy-tailed. My normal time to leave Sherine's house each morning was 5 am, but I set out to meet up with the boys at 4:40 ish. What I did NOT foresee happening was another incident (yes yes ANOTHER one)...
Before my tale of early morning woe, I would like to share with you all a scripture. Why, you ask? This scripture (unintentionally discovered by Senior Camacho, thanks dad) perfectly describes the situation I found myself in.
Psalm 22:16 reads "For dogs surround me; They close in on me like a pack of evildoers, Like a lion they are at my hands and feet." Got the clue?
That's right, I was rushed by a gang of unhappy canines. I was not ready whatsoever when the first two pooches showed up on my route. Apparently they did not recognize me in the weak dawn light. At the sound of their growls, I sidestepped gingerly out of their way while they glared at me. I thought I was doing pretty well when doggy #3 charged from my left. Like the first two, this one did not go past its designated yard area. I was completely unarmed, praying aloud in hopes of calming my raging heart. #4 was the boldest, actively running in my direction until it forced me to walk into the ditch right alongside the road.
If you read the first half of the Cassava Adventures, you'll remember that it ended on the wrong foot (PUN INTENDED), with a bloody toe injury. The endeavor to avoid the mangy furballs caused my wound to start bleeding and hurting again. *sigh* After a few minutes of walking away with my arms extended high above my head "menacingly", they left me alone to hobble the rest of the way to Josh's in pain.
Upon my arrival, a sleepy-eyed Charlie informed me of an unfortunate turn of circumstances: Josh could not join us for the day's cassava duties due to getting violently ill in the night. Apparently, the smoke of cooking casareep contains just enough cyanide that if exposed for long enough, can make one sick. He'd taken too much in while hanging out at the Hendricks' bottom house, and was finally sleeping it off. Charlie opted to stay and make sure he was ok, leaving us Camachos to handle the job.
Ribz and I made great time and arrived at 5:00 sharp! Tete was already wide awake prepping the dried cassava blocks. Jonatán was put onto lumber chopping, and I was taken to the mother of all mortar and pestles I've ever seen in my life. I kid you not, this thing is HUGE! Made of solid wood, it is most definitely an arm workout.
My job was to pound the cassava to the consistency of flour. I was taken off this duty within a half hour when sharp-eyed Tete observed the newbie blisters on my softened foreigner hands. The assignment switched to sifting the ground flour into a large basket, the fine powder drifting like snow. In the meantime, Tete lit the fire and prepared her giant flat pan. It's essentially one large flat skillet balanced on 3 low burning stumps. She then would take the sifted flour and spread it across the pan, forming a large round flatbread. Watching her bread carefully, she employed the use of a straw fan-like tool to flip the bread when golden and toasty. She then proceeded to take it off and let it finish drying in the sun.
The whole thing took us from 5 am to maybe 12 noon. Tete rewarded us with breakfast and a nap in her homemade hammock. Along with this, she sweetly said that we were becoming more Amer-Indian, the best kind of compliment!
That's it for the Cassava Adventures. Stay tuned for the next post!
Love,
The Adventurous A.
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