“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
Yuca is a common root starch that we eat here. I think that in English it is cassava… But I really had never heard of it before living here. Now it is something very common, eaten with breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is a staple in every potluck the community has; I love helping peel the yuca at the olla comunitarias! They made fun of me at first because I was really bad at it, but I have definitely improved.
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| Peeling yuca at an olla comunitaria |
1) The time I tried not to eat yuca
When Aleja and I first arrived to the coast, we were inundated by yuca. We ate it all the time in the communities. The first time we left the communities to go back to Sincelejo, we decided to not eat any yuca. We ate bread, apples, good coffee… things we don’t have easy access to where we live.
That night, the office had a fancy dinner for all of us. One of our coworkers made a special juice to celebrate. We all drank it, commenting on its deliciousness, asking what type of juice it was. We guessed all sorts of fruits and vegetables; someone even guessed spaghetti… Finally we gave up and she told us: YUCA!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
So when we tried not to eat yuca, we drank yuca.
But now, we both love yuca and when we are traveling out of the communities, we miss the fresh yuca that we have access to here.
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| Yes... I even eat yuca with mac and cheese. |
One of the things I do in town is lead a psychosocial support group for some kids in the school. We cover all sorts of topics, from team work to affective education to self esteem to coping skills. When we were talking about coping skills I asked the kids to tell me what they do when they are feeling sad, frustrated, nervous, or scared. They said things like dance, play with friends, talk to a parent, walk, listen to music, pull yuca…
What?!
Pull yuca.
ABSOLUTELY! Pulling yuca takes force and strength and it would positively be a fantastic way to get out anger. It’s probably one of the best coping skills I have ever heard and it is something I would have never heard if I didn’t live here.
3) The time the kids taught me how to play The Yuca
I spend a lot of time with kids. We just get each other. And they always put me in a good mood.
The other night, I was just doing some stoop sitting when some kids surrounded me. After they read me a book and brushed my hair for a while, I asked them what we should play.
“Yuca!” they all screamed.
Interesting… yuca is a game the kids play? I was intrigued.
It begins with deciding who will be the seller and who will be the buyer; the rest of the kids are yuca. The kids who are yuca grab onto a nearby post and cling on for dear life. The buyer comes up to the seller says, “Sell me yuca.”
The seller says, “What happened to the yuca I sold you yesterday?”
“The mice ate it.”
“Why weren’t you paying attention?”
Here the kid makes up some excuse: “I was washing clothes,” “I was sweeping the patio,” “I was in the fields,” etc.
Then the seller gives the buyer the go ahead and he or she grabs a kid/yuca and pulls until the kid lets go of the group.
The process repeats: “Sell me yuca.” “What happened to the yuca from yesterday?” “The mice ate it.” “Why weren’t you paying attention?” Excuse. Pull up a yuca kid.
When all the yuca is pulled up, the game changes. Now the kids that were yuca become dogs. The buyer passes by where the seller is and the seller asks, “And the money?”
The buyer makes up an excuse: “I left it on the shelf,” “I left it in the laundry machine,” “I left it in the sink,” etc.
Finally the seller says, “The next time I will send the dogs after you!”
When the buyer passes by again, all the kids chase after the buyer until they catch him.
Spectacular.
Definitely my new favorite game.
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| Let's play The Yuca! |
Oh my goodness I love you Lani. Miss you and your fun and your heart and your enthusiasm. Thank you for being you.
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