It wouldn’t be a ‘travel/life adventure blog’, if I didn’t
reference that Julia Roberts movie that references that book, Eat. Pray.
Love. My version is more like Eat.
Eat (in French). Eat (in Malinke).
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but my life here revolves around
food (even more than in the US!).
My Guinean friends and neighbors seem to have a similar mentality, as
they are always commanding me with one of the above words while handing me some
form of rice and sauce. Guineans
are either extremely hospitable or trying to fatten me up for a
Hansel-and-Gretel style feast. I’m
fairly sure it’s the former, but they’re certainly succeeding at the later. Additionally, friends and relatives
back home are always asking what I’ve been eating, scared I might be starving
in a place where food security is a legitimate issue. Even my first host family in Dubreka asks me what I ate that
day when we talk on the phone.
 |
| My 'pet' chicken that then became dinner. |
So,
to appease the masses, here is what I ate for a whole week (May 2nd-9th). I will qualify this by saying that this
was the week after IST and the first real rainy week for me in Kankan, so I was
feeling especially energized by the ability to not sweat 24/7.
Monday
BREAKFAST: Quaker
Oatmeal (purchased at expat store in Kankan) with cinnamon and sugar with
Nescafe instant coffee
LUNCH: Rice with
soup sauce ( a broth with some onions, given to me by my host family
DINNER: potatoes
and chicken, again lovingly prepared and give to me by my host family
Tuesday
BREAKFAST: beans
(bought prepared across the street), spruced up with cumin, chili powder and
sriracha; poor man’s mocha (instant coffee with hot chocolate mix)
LUNCH: Terriyaki
Lo Mein from America (thanks mom!) with cabbage, green onions, garlic and eggs
from the market
DINNER: reheated
lunch (I still eat leftovers!)
Wednesday
BREAKFAST: Nutella
(from the expat store) on bread; Nescafe
LUNCH: fish tacos,
courtesy of CED volunteers passing through on their way back from IST
DINNER: potato
leaf salad with cheese I made myself
DESSERT: yogurt and
an orange Fanta from my counterpart
Thursday
BREAKFAST: Peanut
butter and honey sandwich; Nescafe
LUNCH: manioc
balls from the Togolese restaurant with a sweet tomato sauce
DINNER: pasta with
cooked potato leaves (it’s like spinach!) and cheese
Friday
BREAKFAST: Oatmeal
with honey and milk; Nescafe
2nd
BREAKFAST: fried eggs with potatoes; Green Cucumber Tea (all courtesy of
Adrian)
LUNCH: mangoes and
raw peanuts (the taste of these grows on you)
DINNER: hamburger
balls with a boiled egg inside with fries and a beer at the Bofanta restaurant
2nd DINNER:
Rice and soup sauce; cold Coca-Cola
Saturday
BREAKFAST: beans a
la Michelle; tea
LUNCH: Riz Gras
(fried rice) from the Senegalese restaurant
DINNER: rice and
sauce
So I forgot to write Sunday down, but I am betting it
involved oatmeal and lots of rice and sauce.
As you can all see, I am not
starving in Guinea. There’s a lot
of fresh produce available and my family is always trying to force feed
me. In addition to these meals,
there’s plenty of snacks available like peanuts, popcorn, fried dough balls,
frozen juices, and meat kabobs.
I will take this opportunity, however, to point out that
just because I’m not starving doesn’t mean food security isn’t a real problem
in Guinea. There are even some
volunteers whose villages are so isolated they complain of a lack of produce at
their markets (don’t worry PC parents, they’re not starving either), and those
don’t come anywhere near the most isolated places. There are some parts of the
year when vegetables simply cannot be harvested and even I, in the big city of
Kankan, have trouble finding a nice variety. Besides a lack of food in certain places and at certain
times of the year, a lot of people simply cannot afford a well-balanced diet,
especially in the protein department.
This is why PC Guinea has recently started a major focus on
food security, including a Food Security Task Force and a lot more food
security trainings. Our goal is to
have as many people involved in food security projects as possible, from a 5
minute lesson on hand washing or nutrition to starting a school garden. I’m really interested in this and my
work as an agroforestry volunteer fits in perfectly with this PC-wide focus, so
expect to hear a lot more about it in the future.
