Yuck - food is food!

One thing I don’t want my blog to be is a place where I continually gripe about things. BUT, I just have to gripe about something, so bear with me…

I have mixed feelings about “missionaries”. In general, I don’t like them, but individually, I do! Yes, a lot of my good friends are missionaries. Heck, I’m even supposed to be one! Like any group of people, you have some good ones and some bad ones. I’m just really intolerant of the bad ones : (

Some of the missionaries who were raised as missionary kids are the worst. Not all, but some. We were at a party this holiday with a group of these people and I was disgusted and somewhat surprised when I heard one of the “old timers” going through the food line with his daughter, talking about “Wazungu food”. Now, Wazungu means “white person”, so this was evidently all white people food? What the hell?

Yes, I was eavesdropping – he wasn’t talking to me- but I was a bit shocked at his ignorance. For one, it was a VERY mixed group of “white people.” Egyptians, South Africans (white ones), Russians, British, a Ukrainian, Americans and a Canadian. His particular group of missionaries doesn’t really mix with Ugandans socially but in this context we also had my kids, our Ugandan neighbor who is married to a Brit, and our friends black American son. So? Because these four people are black they’re not going to like the food? The black American boy is only going to like the beans because he’s black? My kids won’t like the quiche simply because of the color of their skin? What is “white food” and “black food” anyways? Is Ethiopian food “black food?” Um, no…. it’s Ethiopian food! My kids and I love Ethiopian food but most Ugandans don’t, so the type of food you like has nothing to do with race! Ethnicity is what makes food different, not the color of the ethnic group. Duh. And you’d think this fellow, after all these years of being a “missionary” would realize this. Nope, he was trying to impress his young daughter with his command of Swahili (which isn’t even spoken in these parts!) and teaching her about “white food”. Yuck.

Maybe I won’t share the pizza that we’re making tonight, with the kids. Because after all, Italians are kind of white so it must be “white food.” And no more Ethiopian food for me, because it’s “black food.” Bummer. And so ridiculous!