We all know that we all go number 2, but in US culture it’s not the politest thing to talk about. However, here it’s a normal part of conversation, and can even be part of a dinner conversation without anyone raising eyebrows. So here’s the warning that this is about manure and dog poop, so if you don’t want to keep reading, feel free to stop.
On Tuesday, when we were in My Village, Jen and I went around to say good morning to people in as much of the village as we could. At one place we stopped, the lady had a bucket of very dirty water that really looked like it had some number 2 in it. I couldn’t help it, so I asked what was in the bucket. She said that it really was cow manure mixed with water, and since her house didn’t have a cement floor, she was going to rub it all over the floor to keep the dust down. Lovely. I think I’d prefer a dust floor to a cow manure floor!
With that fresh in my mind, you’ll recognize my hesitation when that evening I looked at what I was given to eat and in the sauce was what really, really looked like dog poop. Sorry, not appetizing to me! But again I asked what it was. This time, luckily, I was told that it was NOT dog poop, but was instead something made from cotton seeds. I’m not sure what all they had to do to little black cotton seeds to make them look that way, but I was glad to hear that it was something edible! I was able to eat it, and it was actually rather appetizing if you could get over the look. Which I had to try to do with each new bite.