Imagine you can transport yourself through time but your time machine
is on the fritz. You keep jumping from time and place after only one hour.
Describe what you see, hear, smell and feel in each time hop. First, you
arrive in pre-historical Kenya, then skip to ancient Sumeria, followed by
ancient Egypt and India, ending with your last jump to present-day at an
archaeological dig.
Today my professor handed out a paper saying to discover about foods. As he assigned the work, I figured out that I had to learn about international cuisine and the history behind. So, I had to use my professor’s time machine in-order to go back to the past. Though going on time machine took a lot of risk and it was fatal, I had to do the job. I inserted pre historic times, the time machine soon generated, and I blacked out.
“Where is this place,” I shouted out loud. After the incidence, I found myself surrounded by giraffes and still holding the unfinished lunch tortilla with ham. The land was very dry, it was all plain, and I knew I had landed in a place where no one could survive. There I was standing on the sign saying “Ramogi hills 5 miles ahead.” The sign also introduced Ramogi (the father of Luo tribe) settled here after long journey from Uganda to Kenya with his people. Now I knew heading to Ramogi Hills was the best thing to do until now; I followed my decision. Along the way I warbled my favorite song all I have to do is dream by Everly Brothers. Here I was, pulling myself through the Victoria River to go to the other side. “Wait a minute, what are those people doing pouring the fresh water on their selves?” I remarked. As I approached towards them they were holding man made basket. The two fellows turned around, and soon felt shock of their life. While I was trying to greet them, they somehow discussed about my clothing and the height compared to them. I somehow figured out that their height was around 2/3 of mine. They guided me to their hut, and handed me their traditional bread much like my tortilla held in my hand called Chapati bread. We compared our bread and try to find differences; I knew that I felt closer now; Nice people went back to get some water for the visitor, meanwhile I tried to keep the bread for later. I a sudden, the nice people became bad people; they saw me abduct the favorite food of their tribe leader. With a sorrow, I ran towards the surface where I blacked out from. I really appreciated being the fast one. I didn’t know what to do so I had typed something in, now I had to suffer the consequences again.
I landed on my back in the Fertile Crescent full of industrious farmers working all day long. It was also weird and special that I was on the edge of the delta between Tigris and Euphrates River. Some farmers appealed to me saying if you wanted to join the agriculture club, soon I had to remember that I needed to encourage myself to study about food so I agreed. They took me into the tiny resting corner; somehow took me, it seemed like if I was a Sumerian Slave. Oh no, I was the Sumerian Slave; I knew I would be sold and had to be in the last social class system and had to work all day long. I was taken to the place where some colorful guy agreed to punish me with his rule. The citizens there shouted “All for Hammurabi,” Hammurabi came down the stairs, eventually to me. He opened the back, and took me out; gave me some of the famous Sumerian-Babylon festival food barley, Summer Squash, and some combination of foods. He responded that it is not proper to torture someone or foreign invader on their festival day, he accounted for how Sumerian lives went. When the speech of how writing system impacted Sumerians in a good way I carried some of the crops to the lonely time machine. Sumerians chose the right place, worked hard, expanded their empire, created writing system, had a civilization, and maintained trading relationships, what could you expect from them.
Extremely hot, I was standing on the boat pointed by the luminous light; cause there was only river I knew in Egypt and it had to be that one, I assumed I was on the Nile. I landed and head towards the market square full of beef, the woman there told me that because Egyptians thought pigs carried leprosy there was not pork. I purchased the beef and some dates. Since I knew that Egyptians liked to put dates in their grave for them to eat in the next world, and which were preserved in the dry climate for three thousand years, I knew it was special. There wasn’t anything special here except the fact that I got to participate in the Egyptian Monument Festival. During the Egyptian Monument Festival I had an opportunity to learn about how to mummify… Here was a tip… and this was my journey to Egypt, short but efficient, I got my resources; I had head on to the time machine of mine.
1. Get four jars to hold the liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach. Keep the heart inside the body and discard the other internal body organs.
2. Poke a rod with a hook on it through the nasal cavity to pull out the brain. Stuff the head with tree resin and sawdust.
3. Soak the body in natron for 40 days. Then put the body on an inclining couch so the liquids and natron fall to the bottom into a pan. Discard.
4. Rub the body with olibanum oil to make the skin supple.
5. Pack the body to make it more lifelike (with spices or sawdust).
6. Use wax to seal any incisions.
7. Tear fine linen into strips 16 yards long and 2-8 inches wide.
8. Wrap the smaller extremities (toes and fingers) first.
9. Next, wrap the limbs, and finally, the torso.
10. Sing appropriate chants over each body part.
11. Secure linen with tree resin.
12.Tuck in an amulet after every few layers.
Very humid, probably monsoon season here I predicted as I was walking by the subcontinent and 1/3 the land size of U.S, called India. Walking down the road was only thing to do, enjoying the incredible India, where on the left I saw Indians stuffing Curry with their hands and on the right rich merchants spending their time looking the sea in their garden balcony. How special is that I remarked, I passed by smelling the scent, watching Hindus clean themselves with the holy water. I was there in-front of Taj Mahal where many gave flowers, told the story of love, I knew I had to be back here one day with my love and my joy. Perhaps this was the end, except the part I had to take another food or a spectacular ingredient called pulses.
Now I knew what to make out of all the food.
I set the time back to my place, the archaeological dig in Catalhoyuk, present day Turkey. Our topic this month was to relate the archaeology with the food that we researched. My professor slowly called one student by one to announce their food and explain the importance. Soon he called me, I was there in-front of class mates, I was there cover with pressure, but I had to say the relation between Chapati Bread- Crops- Beef- and Pulses. This gave me a thought that this could make a kebab, and we all knew that kebab had a lot of thing to do with the Turkish history, perhaps with Catalhoyuk…
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