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February 7, 2021Back in the Kitchen AgainI can say it’s a joy to be with the students once again. Sixty of the pre pandemic students returned in January, a higher number than expected. We did some classroom revisions, then swiftly returned to the kitchen. Our course compresses a two-year curriculum into one. What the government has mandated this year is that we complete this year by August inclusive of the one-month exams. So, what I have done is squeezed a full year of kitchen practicals into six months. For example, instead of preparing one three course meal each week, we will be preparing two to four menus each Tuesday through Friday.
When I prepare as how to order the supplies and assign the many recipes, I become anxious as to how each day will play out. Everything prepared must come from its natural state, not from a box or can. We begin at 8:30am and serve the clients at 12:30. So being on time and prepared ahead of time is key. Not the way Kenyan’s live. Being a mzungu (white person) living in this culture is not a simple thing, especially for me whom plans weeks ahead and keeps time. Africans are pole pole...slowly by slowly as I am haraka haraka...fast fast! Therefore, I have acquired the nickname, Boom..Boom..Boom that has been passed on each year from the former students.
This is the first class I had to discipline from the beginning, and it was a challenge for me because I like to have fun, laugh, and get to know the students. I was stone faced, demanding, and direct. New rules were implemented. The girls had to get rid of the wigs and use only their natural hair. Kenyan women sit most of the time, making them stand for hours is painful, but by the end of the school year they will be able to make through the normal 8-12 hour shifts they will be keeping in the hotels. In the past, some of the ladies would cry when they went to train in the hotels. The boys now wear socks, tucked in shirts, no facial hair and a shave (haircut) on blade thickness #1, very close cut.
Here are some of the remedies for misbehavior. If a student falls asleep during class, they must stand, if they are even one minute late for class, they go for a 90F degree run around the compound. Forget your name tag, go chop wood or dig in the hot sun for a few hours. The boys are the most stubborn, if haircut does not fit criteria, they are sent to the hair salon students, who are all brand new, for a haircut. They are so frightened, but only takes one cut like that to keep them shaved in the future. I have sent many students out of school for not complying to the rules.
This is what will be expected of them when we send them out for their four-month internships at very nice hotels that cater to Europeans and the wealthy Africans. I am proud to say that most managers in the industry tell me how well disciplined our students are.
The returned students are performing very well, both in theory and in practical. I am confident they are going to manage the challenges of a shortened academic year which I attribute to the disciplines they have acquired. This week we made croissants, puff pastry, sausage rolls, and meat pies. These doughs are classic French cooking methods. Each days’ classes accomplished them very well. They then must go out and sell all that they made which is a challenge here, money is small and bargaining for everything is a normal way of life. We sell at a higher price than what things go for, in anticipation they will have to “put on their sales shoes”.
God love these kids! And God love all of you too!
Missing St. Michael and look forward to my return this summer.
Mungu Bariki,
Mike