Welcomed in Their Home, Hearts, and Kitchen by Mikala D. Skelton

This past week, we spent three days with an indigenous family in Keloldi. It was an amazing experience, but slightly difficult to get to. A tropical storm had recently passed through the area so the trails where covered in mud; some areas I sunk into mud that almost reached the top of the rain boots. The hike took about an hour and was exhausting but completely worth it. The beautiful house was in the middle of the forest. We had electricity for only two hours a day, mainly so we could have lights on at dinner time in order to see just what we were eating. It was really a shock to my system as I got back to the basics of no electricity, no Internet, and no hot water but it was great at the same time.

The food was also amazing. Sebastian’s wife made corn tortilla type pancakes especially for me since I am gluten-intolerant. Even the people who could eat the other options wanted to eat my pancakes because they were so delicious. Naturally, I wanted to learn how to make them so I asked for the recipe and instead Sebastian’s wife offered to show me how the next morning. In order to do this, I went to sleep around nine, and woke up at 4:30. When I got downstairs, I found Sebastian and his wife cooking in the complete darkness, with flashlights only. At first I just watched but soon they insisted that I try myself. By about 5:30, I was placing the dough in the boiling oil and flipping them myself, with a little timing help from Sebastian. His wife refused to let me stand by and simply watch.

After only being there a mere day and a half, this wonderful couple had completely welcomed me not only into their home but also into their kitchen to help prepare meals. It would have been much easier for Sebastian’s wife to go about her normal routine, but instead she took time out of her morning in order to show me exactly how to do each part and then proceeded to let me try and do it myself. I’m sure this process took much longer than her normal morning cooking routine, but she was more than willing to take that extra time. It was such an enlightening and personal experience to have her welcome me into her kitchen like that as opposed to simply handing me a note card with the ingredients and directions, which is what I was expecting. I am so thankful to their family for giving me that experience, and providing me with a delicious new breakfast option.