By Dick Milanese
In February, the St. Elizabeth Seton St. Vincent DePaul Chapter held a thank you party for the parishioners who have given generously throughout the year. During the party, several items were raffled off including dinners with Fr. Williams Abba, our pastor. Eight lucky parishioners were the high bidders and were able to attend Father’s dinner. On March 3rd these eight parishioners along with other guests including Father Timothy, also a Nigerian priest who serves at St. Gabriel church in Cave Creek, along with Father’s helpers, Tina and Chris, who are members of SVdP and some Nigerian friends and their family who cooked and served the dinner came together for a Nigerian style feast. The evenings offering was a multicourse dinner that included two different soups, and five entrees, along with rice, salad, and dessert. The meal was served buffet style for the entrees, while the soups and desserts were served to each guest. One soup was similar in contents to Mexican Menudo. The entrees included choices of lamb, Chicken, and fish, with a puff pastry rice. There were four choices for dessert. Two of the desserts consisted of honey mixed with coconuts and other ground nuts. A ground pepper spice was offered for use over the entrees or in the soup to provide a hot peppery flavor. It is one of Fathers favorites.
With all the help, Fr. Williamsd was able to join at the table and contribute to the conversations. Father first explained that after four years here in the United States he had to go back to his home in Nigeria and ask the bishop for an extended stay, which was granted. During the conversation Father explained about different religions and traditions in his country. For example, cats and dogs in Nigeria. These animals that are cherished pets in our country are mainly used as guard dogs and to control the rat population in Nigeria. Out of the population in there, only 20% are Catholics while 80% are Muslim. Traveling to the West African Country is a long trip. There is no direct flight rather his trip consisted of three plane transfers, taking over 24 hours to complete. Father went on to say that their summers are extremely hot. While their temperatures do not get as hot as in Arizona, the humidity was much higher and tropical. He also said that there is a large contingency of Nigerians in our area and that although there are some restaurants nearby, the best ones are in the Tucson area.
As we said goodbye we thanked Father Williams for his great hospitality, sharing food that was native to him and explaining about his Nigerian background. Overall, a great time!
