Today, just two days before I leave my homestay for good, I fianally was able to visit my baba's (host father's) bakery and help him make some bread! I've been eating his bread most mornings since I got here. And even before being dropped off at my house for the first time I was told my baba was a baker. But I hadn't seen where he baked or even where he sold the bread until this afternoon.
It wasn't the mess of flour-coated dishes and counters I would have expected in America. It was just a giant oven and a few racks for storage. The store front (which I forgot to photograph) was a window with a rack to display the bread and not much else. Just a few various items to go with the bread. Also in the store, though, was a bed in the back. This has been another big mystery until now. My kaka (brother), George, has been my guide in the village and in learning Swahili in my homestay since day one. But until I noticed this bed in the bakery I didn't know where he slept!
The dough had already been made, put in nice shapes/molds and risen before I got there so I really didn't do much. But the giant oven was heated up and we put the bread into it with a long stick.
Baba putting the bread in the oven
It had already risen so there wasn't a lot of waiting to do after it was in. We took it out and then my little kaka, Noel, showed me how to brush oil on the top of the bread.
Noel putting oil on the bread sticks
They let me try too...
Once we were finished oiling the bread we flipped it over. I'm still not sure why... I may never know.
Then, for some reason, Noel took me to a small room between the oven area and the shop where they keep ducks (bata). He then showed me the flour that they feed the ducks. There were three of them. We stayed there for about one minute. Then we left. That's probably going to be another mystery...
And that's how I learned to bake bread!
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