letter dated Sept. 6

Greetings!



Saturday came and went but with no mail. What a sad day it was! That's not to say I didn't have mail it's just that my mail didn't make it on the plane.



Today I went with Bona to some church event that I don't quite understand but this is what I saw. About 12 women came & brought some food. After almost an hour of talking they started to divide the food. Keep in mind that I thought we were definitely waiting for people by the amount of food that was there but oh was I wrong. I imagine the hour of chatting was everyone catching up with the most recent gossip before they began the feast. We had chicken, fish, donuts, rice, rice balls. and coconuts. I was really excited to have chicken because I do love chicken & haven't had any for quite a while, but what a different experience eating chicken in Kaben is from in Utah. First, they, of course, serve whole chickens, then they chop the chicken in half and leave it up to you to decide what to eat. Let me say, I have always been served to much food, and a half of a chicken is too much food alone, not to mention everything else they gave me. So I picked at my chicken & ate a good amount of the breast & decided I better eat some of the other food as well. The ladies are very good at getting every last bit of meat off those bones. I was amazed. I moved on to my rice ball which I liked except it was very sweet. The rice tasted like rice & the coconut like coconut so no surprises there. Also, of course I liked the donuts! :) They dip their donuts in water, tea, or coffee (whichever one they are drinking at the time) and I can't get myself to try that one. Maybe in 7 months. The bwiro, now that was an adventure. It's made from old, dried breadfruit, then wrapped in pandarus leaves and cooked on coals. It comes out as a pseudo pudding but with a more solid consistency. It was weird and I wasn't the biggest fan, but oh well. This entire meal was eaten on the ground under some coconut trees, on lids to pans & with our hands! I was given enough food to feed me for 4 days so I took my leftovers to my neighbors so they could enjoy! Now I have about 2 more hours till I go to church again & nothing to do. I even did my lesson plans yesterday so I can't even do those! I guess I'll read.

love Heidi