Besides running the middle school English summer program, Hannah and I teach together at our host’s private English school. These are the students that are lucky enough to have parents who both highly value their education and can afford extra classes. They are talented, bright, and curious, and we get to work with them in a small classroom setting.
For our first hands-on cross-cultural activity with them, we used ingredients generously gifted by Kendall, the executive director of Global Playground, as well as local produce, to bring their taste buds on a journey to Morocco, Mexico, and Sierra Leone! The theme of the week was connecting basic human needs, geography, and culture. For example, stilted houses common in various cultures around Southeast Asia were originally built primarily with the intention of avoiding flooding during rainy season, using materials available to them, like wood, bamboo, and other plant material. This fulfilled a need for safety and shelter, but each group’s unique architectural style, which also in some cases reflect its family and community structure, is now an important part of their cultural heritage. The basic needs we chose to focus on for our classroom activity were food, water, and community.
We began the class by welcoming them with Moroccan mint tea, a symbol of hospitality that is central to the Moroccan way of life. While the tea is a product of globalization for sure, it would not have become THE drink of Morocco if not for the country’s supply of spearmint. After a journey along hot and arid streets, of course your friend or relative would offer you some as soon as you’re through the door. Connecting the need for water with the need for community, serving tea is now a centuries-old tradition to welcome guests. Students loved the sweet, minty take on the green tea they have daily and requested glass after glass.
Noticing the abundance of avocados being sold on the streets of Khe Sanh, Hannah and I immediately thought of introducing students to guacamole. While avocados are everywhere right now, they are not incorporated into dishes, and we thought this would be something easy and fun for students to try. Guacamole was once, of course, simply a way for the Aztec’s to fulfill their need for food, but now it’s a major part of Mexican cuisine and almost no dish is complete without it. Students loved mashing all the ingredients together – surprisingly keeping most of the desks pretty clean, even though they could barely contain their excitement. Cooking together was obviously a special occasion and something they hadn’t gotten in the classroom before.
Next, we provided them with homemade tortillas, made from cassava flour from Sierra Leone. Cassava is a staple in the diets of many around the world because of its high carb content – AKA how easily it fulfills the need for food. However, every region prepares it differently. In Sierra Leone, they use it to make a flat bread – though, like in Vietnam, their main starch is still rice.
Finally, it was time to eat their creations! We were lucky to not have any overly picky eaters in the room, but while no one resisted trying any of the food, most were a little underwhelmed surprisingly. “Come on, guys! Miss Hannah and I dream about Mexican food every day! Do you really not like it?!” They gave it their best, but it just really didn’t suit their taste buds. A few groups decided to add sugar to the mix – the Vietnamese love everything sweet! – which made the guacamole a little more edible to them, but in the end we were left with many nearly full bowls. All I can say is that it will definitely take a few more years of globalization to make Mexican food a popular international cuisine in Asia. Regardless, our students loved the class, and are now eagerly looking forward to future “Friday Fun Days.”
To conclude, we were a little bummed they didn’t eat more – that is, until we realized how many leftovers we had to ourselves..
