It's a Tea...It's a Juice...It's Foléré!

I've been amazed by the host of new foods we've tasted, heard about and even started learning how to make since arriving in Cameroon. They have quite tasty fare here, much of it starring ingredients I have never seen or used before.

Last week a Cameroonian lady who is an excellent cook gave us a session on different ingredients that are key to cooking here. She also served us a delicious drink called foléré, and told us how to make it.

Foléré is made like a tea, hot, and is then cooled. Officially, I guess it is a hibiscus flower tea with some added flavor. But it tastes more like a delicious fruit juice than it does tea. Some may even go so far as to say it tastes like Kool-aid. Some, meaning people like Adam, who like Kool-aid. But people like me, who do not really like Kool-aid, may not make that comparison, feeling that it cheapens foléré's reputation as a worthy and truly marvelous drink!

Anyways, I liked it a lot and decided I had to make some. So, here's how I made the foléré. First, I went to the market with my friend Christy, and bought a few pineapples and a couple bags of dried hibiscus flowers:



I chopped up a pineapple for supper (our family has been eating approximately one pineapple a day, no joke) and saved the rinds and extra cuttings for making the foléré:

I boiled the hibiscus flowers in about two liters of boiling water. After that mixture had boiled/simmered for about a half hour, I added the pineapple rinds for about twenty minutes more of boiling:

I poured the whole pot through a strainer so that only the liquid remained and the flowers and pineapple parts were taken out (Christy mentioned today that one could reuse the flowers and pineapple pieces to make another batch of foléré, just using less water). I sweetened the mixture with sugar. Then I cooled the tea in the fridge overnight. Here is what a glass of the delicious, refreshing final result looks like!

Would you like to try some of this stuff? It's so good. I don't know if you can find dried hibiscus flowers around the U.S. in stores, but I wouldn't be surprised. If you know where to find them, leave a comment! I noticed that you can buy them online at http://www.earthy.com/; however, $12 a pound seems a little expensive.

Meanwhile, I think I will keep on making foléré here, since I have the opportunity to go to the market where heaps of the dried flowers and stacks of luscious, fresh pineapples are readily available...and where they probably cost about the same as a few packets of Kool-aid mix would cost back in the U.S.A. :)

Settling in Cameroon

One week ago at this time, we were probably somewhere in the air over the Sahara! Our first week in Cameroon has gone very well, and we are happy to finally be in Africa.

After well over a full day of air travel, we were happy to be greeted by some good friends at the airport (including one we hadn't known would be there to pick us up!) They helped us with our luggage and brought us back to their home for a nice supper. Over the next few days, these friends helped us in many ways: giving us bread to eat, bringing us laundry soap, helping us move from one house to another, and helped us in so many other little ways!

The very morning after we arrived, we began our orientation course. The orientation course runs for the morning, and part of the afternoon, each weekday. Here are a few of the things we have done so far in our orientation:

• Learned about cultural values, particularly ones that differ from our own cultural values, including issues of hospitality, expectations, lifestyle and money.
• Gone shopping with experienced shoppers (bargainers!) and learned how to buy fruits, vegetables, rice, beans and spices at a booming outdoor market that is full of fresh fare of all kinds.
• Spent a day with a Cameroonian family, visiting and learning from them.
• Had several health lectures about preventing, identifying and treating maladies that are present in this area of the world.
• Listened and discussed about spiritual warfare and how to maintain overall spiritual, physical and emotional vitality while on the mission field.

John and Sam have spent time under the care of some wonderful ladies who care for the children of those who are in the orientation course. John's basically spent hours upon hours playing outside and he loves it! I feel content that the time he's now spending playing outside makes up for all those hours I was packing and had to keep John holed up inside the house. :)

During the rest of the time, while we are together as a family, we have been trying to spend plenty of time helping the boys adjust to being in a very new situation! This has been a time of many transitions, especially for John, who has not only moved from America to Africa ("Akfa," as he calls it), but also from a crib....to a "big boy bed" covered with a mosquito net over it. John really does like this new bed, which he calls his "Skeeto bed!!!" and he is especially overjoyed when we join him in it to play or sing songs. I think that to his mind, it is basically a cool fort that he gets to sleep in and likes to play in as well.

Relationships with people are important here in Cameroon. Not that they aren't important everywhere! It's just that, here, when people see each other out and about, they take time to shake hands and stop for a conversation with one another. We are practicing doing this, and in the process, getting the chance to know some new people. Although we will only probably be here in Yaoundé for four weeks, it is fun to get to know some new friends.

God is already giving us an increasing awareness of our need for Him, by putting us in situations where we are more aware of our insufficiencies. So, it is exciting! We anticipate the upcoming weeks and months to be a time of learning--not only learning a new culture and language, but also learning that God is all-powerful, faithful and loving to His children.

On the cusp of leaving...

Thinking this morning as we are getting ready to leave tomorrow. We are leaving a day early and getting a hotel with my parents in Charlotte as there is a snow storm predicted for the area. This way we will be able to be close and make our plane (if the flight is not cancelled).

Just found out that Ruth has some tightness in her chest and was recommended by our Uncle Doug, who is a doctor, to go to a urgent care center to get checked out (we really are pressed on time, but of course, Ruth needs to be seen). So she is there right now and I am watching the boys (the final packing is on hold for the meantime)

I was starting to feel a sense of fear and dread (for the first time) about going to Africa. Not about contracting some serious disease, war, or any other fear. It was more like, "Is this really a good idea taking this kids away from their families? Do I really want to miss the birth of my only brother's first baby? I really have no experience in living in Africa, I am really incompetent in so many ways as far as life in this place. Man it really is hot there."

Started playing on the computer one of my favorite songs by a guy named Matthew Smith (it is really a redone John Newton hymn) that was introduced to me at our ordination service at our sending church, New Covenant Christian Fellowship called "The Lord Will Provide"

The second verse says,

We may, like the ships, by tempest be tossed
On perilous deeps, but cannot be lost.
Though Satan enrages the wind and the tide
The promise engages, the Lord will provide.

His call we obey like Abram of old,
Not knowing our way, but faith makes us bold;
For though we are strangers we have a good Guide,
And trust in all dangers, the Lord will provide.

These words were very encouraging to me and the Lord used them to scatter all fear and doubt away. He certainly is with us wherever we go.

After the song ended....my heavenly rapture was interrupted by our little chatterbox two year old, John. He came up to me and said matter-of-factly in his particular style of speaking that loves to pile on the adjectives,

"Oooh Papa....I have a big, heavy, and amazing poopy diaper."

And I must say excepting the word 'amazing' (depending on how one might interpret it) he was spot on in his description.

Such is the life of all who are born again.....we have the hope of eternal life in the midst of our daily work. The unsearchable riches of Christ while changing diapers.

Six Suitcases - Can We Do It?

We haven't posted in over a month, and this time I feel like we have a pretty good excuse! Over the past month, we have done the following:

• Packed up all our stuff in Dallas (with AMAZING help from friends!) and moved out of our mobile home.
• Spent a wonderful Christmas time with family in MN.
• Spent (and are still spending!) very enjoyable time with family in NC.
• And of course, along the way, unpacked, repacked, unpacked, repacked

The next couple days should be interesting. We get to consolidate our most valuable possessions (specifically, those possessions that we think we will find most valuable in the Central African Republic) into six suitcases, finish up any paperwork and anything we want to do in the United States for the next few years, and get on a plane early Monday morning with luggage, tickets, passports and visas all in order.

You know what I'm discovering? Six suitcases is not a lot of suitcases. Not for four people and three years. But we will do it--we will fit whatever fits in six suitcases and leave the rest behind. It's both simple and complicated at the same time.

God has been very gracious to us during this stressful time. I feel like normally under these circumstances, we would be feeling very overwhelmed. But instead, although we do have a tremendous amount of things to do, we are finding ourselves able to do it without going crazy. AND, we have had so many friends and family members rally around us and help with planning, packing and watching the boys. Without everyone else, we wouldn't have been able to do it.

I need to get back to packing, but it's been nice to sit down and take a small break. I will leave you with a couple photo memories from the past month:

David, Kelsea, John and Timo hanging out and reading in MN:

John and Granddaddy eating the special "Three Kings' Day" cake on January 6 (the same type of cake we ate in Oaxaca on our honeymoon three years ago!)

Sam eating his rice cereal (he just started eating food a few days ago, and he was an avid food-eating pro from bite one!)

Packing Joys

We are in the midst of packing. And although the house and routine is in slight disarray the little boys are not affected in the least bit.



NOTE: Sam's right arm is not in a cast...it is in a long sock in order to prevent him from sucking his thumb because he has sucked an open sore on the knuckle already.

John Turns 2

On November 23, John turned two! In spite of coming down with a cold that day, he still seemed to have a wonderful day. We had a great day with him and Sam and friends, and we feel so blessed to have enjoyed two wonderful years with our sweet little Johnny.

Here, just for memory's sake, are a couple pictures of his other birthdays...the first one in Texas...the second one in France...

I had asked him the day before his birthday, "What would you like for supper on your birthday, John?"

He replied, "Beans...yogurt...milk."

"And what would you like for breakfast?"

"Ice cream cone."

All right. Using some motherly poetic license, I instead gave him a yogurt and fruit smoothie for breakfast, and from there, we headed to the park, where John had so much fun picking up rocks and acorns that in our whole hour there, we didn't even make it to the playground (actually I kept asking him if he wanted to stop picking up acorns and play at the playground...and he kept saying, "No.")

I snapped a couple photos of the brothers sitting together beside one of the oak trees.

After his afternoon nap, Johnny helped me make an ice cream cake. By "helped," I of course mean that he licked spoons and spatulas and ate cookie crumbs that had strayed from the pan.

I have to admit that I didn't make John what he requested for his birthday supper, but I did make him what I know to be one of his favorite meals: spaghetti and asparagus. He was immensely pleased to get to use the red "You Are Special Today" plate.

In the evening, some good friends came over for ice cream cake, playing and visiting. Here are a few videos of the evening's events...

The two-year-old blowing out his candle:

John and Asha, cake-eating buddies and fellow two-year-olds:

John opening a birthday gift:

Dallas Morning News Clip!

ɬ is the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for the relatively rare sound in the world's languages that is technically called the voiceless lateral fricative. How does the mouth make this peculiar sound? Dr. Stranj Sonde of MIT says, "The tongue touches the alveolar ridge ever so slightly while curved in such a way that air is allowed to pass on both sides of the tongue with enough force to make a slight buzzing sound. The sound that is heard is the air passing through the mouth, while the voice box itself makes no sound."

Dr. Sonde continues, "However, we have new evidence of a similar yet surprisingly different sound--this particular speaker of English sends air so forcefully over the tongue that his (in particular right) cheek flaps vigorously against the tongue creating a type of trill instead of the normal slight buzz. This 'trill' effect has never yet been documented in linguistic journals!"

The International Phonetic Association has no symbol to represent such an exotic sound and all of the linguistic communities are all excited about what they are seeing. The new evidence has appeared from an unusual source: a home video of a two year old boy from the metroplex area. The boy's parents,who are linguists themselves, say, "We were surprised to hear the unusual sound that he made, but even more surprised about the public's reaction to a simple home video posted on YouTube."

News of the new (yet unofficially named) sound , the voiceless lateral trill, has not only thrilled the niche of small linguistic departments in large universities, but has also tickled the ear of the some celebrities and political leaders.

Lady Gaga has 'gone gaga' herself over the clip saying, "Its just like, so...like...cool!"

French President Nicholas Sarcozy remarked, "C'est magnifique! J'aimerai bien croquer ses joues!" (Wonderful! I would love to pinch those cheeks!)

Prince William has flown in his RAF helicopter to visit the boy in his simple mobile home dwelling. His Majesty is reported to have congratulated the parents and also bought a couple pairs of cowboy boots while in Dallas.

Pope Benedict XVI himself has sent word saying, "There might be a cardinalship in the future for that boy!"

With such a fantastic reaction, Dallas parents Adam and Ruth Huntley can only say, "We would be proud of our son even if he wasn't such a linguistic phenomena." And they are.

-Didja Bilivit, Dallas Morning News

SOURCE: dallasmorningnews.com


LISTENING NOTE: You can notice the special sound occuring where in standard English the sounds 'ch' (as in 'chair'), 'sh' (as in 'shower'), and 'tr' (as in 'truck') are heard.