Feeling at home

One of the perks of missionaries having to travel around a lot during their home assignment (furlough) time is that sometimes we get to visit fun tourist attractions. One of those that I visited lately with my friend Heather and her mom was Jamestown Settlement in Virginia. We learned a lot about the settlers who came to the area in 1607, and got to visit re-creations of both a Powhatan Indian village and the settlers’ fort. It was interesting and I learned a lot, but my favorite part was the Powhatan Indian village.
Why? Well, probably not for the reasons that most people like it. I liked it because it felt like home. I clapped my hands when I got to the doors of the “huts”, like I’d do with my neighbors in the village in My Country, and though it looked a little different, I felt like I could easily spend the night there, or the week, or whatever. They even had fishing nets (ok, a little bit different than ours, but pretty close), baskets, and big mortar and pestles with corn in them! Ahh, feels like home. Oh, and the lean-to or whatever you’d call it. (What WOULD you call that in the picture? It’s one thing I’m trying to find an English word for.) That looks like one we have all over, even to sit under while waiting for your appointment time at the US embassy. The only difference is that ours are flat across the top and not slanted, and our people don’t wear such “funny” clothes. 🙂
One of the costumed historical interpreters talked to us about their food, and one of the things she told us about was made out of corn flour, water, and bear fat, which was made into a dough, filled with fruit, wrapped in corn husk, and dropped in boiling water to cook. Other people probably listen half-heartedly to that, but I asked to her repeat the recipe so that I’d be sure to remember it for when I got back to My Country. Sounds better than what I eat a lot, and with the exception of bear fat (that I could probably use oil or some other fat as a substitute), we have all the ingredients in the village. Who knew that you’d come to the Powhatan Indian village re-creation in Jamestown, Virginia, to feel at home and get a new recipe to try?