The Food Post

The Food Post
Ok, so I've definitely mentioned food a few times, but I have not really accurately described the food situation in Benin. Basically, because people are generally poor here, there is a need to get cheap food that fills up the belly. For the most part, the staple items are carbohydrate based and are served with every meal. Breads, rice, couscous, pate (pronouced 'pot'), spaghetti pasta. Pretty much at every meal, there is a large quantity of one of those things. Pate blanche is the traditional dish and it is made from millet or corn flour (or yams for pate noir) that is boiled until it becomes a sticky, solid mass. Chunks of it are then used to pick up the sauces. There are several kinds of sauces. A big one here is this spicy tomato and onion sauce that is absolutely delicious. I have had that sauce about half of my meals here because it's cheap and gives some nutrients and it's easy to make. Another sauce is the sauce de legumes which is basically just a bunch of different veggies and beans, mostly this spinach type leaf, that are mixed with peppers. Another one is a gumbo sauce with okra, but they let it get so sticky that it's like snot and not good in my opinion. The texture is just too slimy for me, but it tastes okay. I like the legume one and the tomato one.

In addition to pate, a lot of the time we eat rice or couscous with the sauce (or sometimes pasta, but not too often). Sometimes they throw in an egg to the sauce, which I think is awesome because that's primarily where my protein is coming from. The non-vegetarians also eat a lot of fish in the sauces and sometimes poultry, usually chicken. A lot of pimante (pee-mahnt) means a lot of spicyness, and a lot of the sauces are spicy that I've had. Another addition to a lot of the sauces is this fried cheese called wagasi. It's definitely cow's milk based and pretty pungent. I like it, but it's pretty strong and I suspect might be part of the culprit for my stomach aches lately.

So that is primarily dinner type stuff. For lunch, it is the same staples (rice and white beans sometimes, couscous, or spaghetti) with a salad and bread. Salads that I've had consist of lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, mayonnaise, and spaghetti with an egg cut up on top. It's so different they way they mix spaghetti noodles with the salad, but I guess that's the way of adding in the carbohydrate! Sometimes people get sandwiches (at least a lot of the volunteers ask for it at the street vendors) with avocado and ham (or an egg for us vegetarians) with a vinaigrette sauce and onions with possibly cheese if it's available. That is pretty darn tasty and so far my favorite thing so far that I've eaten. You can get a full sandwich or a demi-pain (half size...about the size of a half size sandwich at Goodcents, but a bit bigger than a 6in Subway sandwich).

Breakfast in my experience has been very dull. Bread with vache qui rit (laughing cow cheese) and tea or coffee (but not drip coffee...instant coffee...which is nasty...so I just drink the black tea and miss delicious starbucks lattes). I'm not a huge fan of all the white bread everywhere, so I have been skimping on breakfast and just going for the vache qui rit and a little bit of bread (like I'll eat maybe half of the demi pain that my family gives me in the morning).

In addition to all of that, a LOT of food is purchased from street vendors during the day. They bring a bunch of stuff to make rice or something with a sauce and you tell them what you want on your plate and they tell you how much. Sometimes they sell a fruit juice, too, and you can get the whole meal for like 500F. That's what most of us do during the day. You can also buy a fresh pineapple (best things ever) or an orange or some little peanut brittle ball snack thingies which are pretty tasty. We have to be careful to only eat at street vendors who cover their food because a bunch of flies getting on it is of course not good because of the potential to spread bacterial infections. Eww.

The Peace Corps requires that we get fruit with every meal, but I have not been getting any for breakfast...which is actually okay with me because I am not that hungry in the morning anyway. I prefer to eat a good lunch and decent dinner. At dinner, I've definitely been receiving fruit, though. Sometimes I'll get two oranges (of which i only eat one...and apparently I've been eating them wrong...the Beninese totally squish out all the insides from the top after they peel the outside with a razor...and the oranges are not orange. They are green.), sometimes I get pineapple. The pineapple is white here and amazing, although I am getting a little sick of it actually. The bananas are also really good, but freakishly small, like half size bananas...I think Tenacious D might have a word referring to the size of them...haha, mom totes knows what i’m talking about.

Other things I've eaten are fried plaintains and watermelon and fresh coconut. All three have been freaking astoundingly good, but I think the watermelon was so good just because it was so surprising to see. Another volunteer said he had mango, but apparently it was the last one of the season, so I'll have to wait until next season for that. Darn. I guess I have to stick around until then, at least!

That's basically it. I've been sort of sick for a couple days. I'm 90% sure that it's just getting acclimated to the food. All the sauces are pretty much swimming in oil...which is really yummy, but a big change from what I usually eat. Also all the carbs and I have to really be conscious about making sure I get enough protein. Apparently there exists some sort of soy cheese like tofu, but I have yet to find it. I'll probably ask my maman to get some, but I'll wait another week or so until after the fete (party) for the 50th Independence Day which is the first of August. The volunteer from 2 years ago who had this family will be coming to visit then...which will be interesting. They really loved her and talk about her all the time...so I'll probably feel pretty lame for a couple days. Eh.

Anyway, I'm going to work out a bit before dinner...that consists of me lifting my 5 L jug of water as if it was a weight and doing push ups and situps. I can't really do the whole running thing because it's not really safe for me to be out by myself at any of the times when I have available for running. I will try to find a running buddy. I know the Wiricks like working out, too, so maybe that's my best bet.
Anyway, I'm adding my phone number up top so people can just call me if they want without having to get it from mom. It's 229.66.23.91.13. Mom said she has to dial 011 beforehand as well, but I don't think you have to if you use skype from an iphone for example.

Ok, A demain,
Elaina