Genuine Hospitality

When what the last time you watched TV in a mud hut? Yesterday we were the honored guests for lunch at Omar’s house. We drove from Janice’s house in the city out to suburbia only about 1 mile away. None of the roads are paved and all the homes are huts. Some are just mud, while others are mud bricks that have been fired. The walls are then plastered smooth with cement. All of the homes have a practical grass roof.

So, we arrived at the home and were greeted by our host who led us in to his nicely fenced yard (with grass tied to bamboo posts) and on in to the house. The door was about 4 ½ feet tall, so we all stooped to enter. Inside the room was windowless and only about 8 feet square. Omar seated us at a tiny table and took a bench in the corner for himself. There was a TV in the corner playing a fairy cartoon in Portuguese and a single light bulb hung from the ceiling. The electrical wires were plastered into the mud walls. It was an interesting little room, besides the TV blaring, there was another table with a large radio/tape/CD player sitting on it. They had posted a Christian newsletter on wall and I read that it was about missionaries in India and it was all in English. It struck me as a little odd (not that the rest of it didn’t, this was just especially different) because Omar and his wife speak no English and the newsletter was over 2 years old. Omar remarked to Janice that he thought the white guy in the pictures looked like Steve, one of the fellow missionaries here. The man in the pictures really didn’t look anything like him, but it was decoration.

We waited for 15-20 minutes and finally Omar’s wife came in to great us. Considering she had probably been cooking for the last 3 hours just to prepare for our arrival, she wasn’t late at all. We said hello and then she left again and Omar went to get the food. Janice warned us when he left that it is a custom for the host to leave his guests alone to eat – they never eat together. So, when Omar returned with our bowls of food, he did not join us at the table, instead her went to sit in the corner to watch us eat. The food was really delicious. The fish was similar to a Sardine, very salty, but good. It is customary to eat the whole fish, bones, head, eyeballs and all, but we didn’t. We ate the meat out and left the rest… the beady little eye stared at me through the whole meal. We had rice instead of insema which showed we were very honored guests indeed. Insema is maze flour cooked with water to form a very white, tasteless ball of gelatinous goop. The Mozambiquans eat it at least 2 times a day, so rice was a real treat. The rice was seasoned well, although I couldn’t figure out what the combination of flavors were.

Omar expressed his gratitude to us for coming to his home. He said it was such a blessing to him that Christians would visit his city so that more people could know God.

Next time you hesitate to invite someone over because your house isn't perfect, think of Omar and his kindness. You don't need to have a big house or even a kitchen to entertain! You just need to be willing -- even when all you have is a mud hut and 3 chairs.