Monday, June 28, 2010
The Feast
We are about to take a break for the summer months from the main work at the shelter. We will spend the time building community by having events like films in outside venues. And maybe a knit in or two... spontaneous.
The feast - it was indeed a feast! So much food. Many cooks in the kitchen with knives and bowls and kale and mango and goat and rice and oh-so-much-more. We cooked and ate for what seemed hours. When asked if I had brought my camera I said "no". I did not stop to take photographs as documentation because I wanted to really just be there. I figured the documentation could be this writing.
Many of the women in the kitchen have not cooked their own food for years. They exist with limited choice over their food options - they have eaten what has been provided by shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks. This was different. We cobbled together a menu from different continents and made a grocery list. And a task list - some of the women did not want to cook a dish but wanted to just be in the kitchen helping out. Washing dishes, cutting vegetables, stirring pots. It didn't matter.
The smells of the preparation brought many of the workers through. They laughed and chatted with the women.
This group of women are awesome - I have been able to work alongside of them, individually and collectively and I remain uncertain as to why it takes years and decades to find housing. That will be a subject for later contemplation...
The feast - it was indeed a feast! So much food. Many cooks in the kitchen with knives and bowls and kale and mango and goat and rice and oh-so-much-more. We cooked and ate for what seemed hours. When asked if I had brought my camera I said "no". I did not stop to take photographs as documentation because I wanted to really just be there. I figured the documentation could be this writing.
Many of the women in the kitchen have not cooked their own food for years. They exist with limited choice over their food options - they have eaten what has been provided by shelters, soup kitchens, and food banks. This was different. We cobbled together a menu from different continents and made a grocery list. And a task list - some of the women did not want to cook a dish but wanted to just be in the kitchen helping out. Washing dishes, cutting vegetables, stirring pots. It didn't matter.
The smells of the preparation brought many of the workers through. They laughed and chatted with the women.
This group of women are awesome - I have been able to work alongside of them, individually and collectively and I remain uncertain as to why it takes years and decades to find housing. That will be a subject for later contemplation...
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