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Chapter 26
Handing Hannah another bowl, Wilkister asked her
to mix it. Hannah looked in the bowl and tried not to gag.
“What is this?”
“Is ugali. Flour and water. You mix.”
As Hannah stirred, she asked, “Do you cook it?”
Wilkister rolled out the dough from her mixture
into circles and lit the charcoal with a match. Sitting on
a tiny stool and cooking the chapati like pancakes, she
laughed. “No, is ugali. Just eat like that. Sometimes with
cow’s meat.” Hannah tried not to make a face. “Hannah
Banana, tell Kiano about your dog who I teach Swahili.”
She giggled.
Hannah said, “Oh yeah, I have a dog. A Tibetan
Terrier named Livvy. She’s awesome.”
“And she learn to speak Swahili?” he asked.
Hannah looked over at Wilkister and then answered
Kiano’s question. “Yes. She only speaks English, so
Wilkister is going to teach her Swahili.” Wilkister’s
laughter echoed from the tiny area where she was frying
the chapati.
“I have dog, too,” Kiano said. “His name is Jimmy.”
“Really?” Hannah asked. “Can I meet him?”
“Sure, is good. We go meet Jimmy. Is okay Kister?”
“Yah, is good, is good,” Wilkister answered.
The most delicious food Hannah had tasted since
she got to Kenya, chapati was like warm pita bread,
scrumptious. She left the bowl of ugali on the counter.
