Food LadenThoughts!

I have been in Dakar now for 5 weeks! The time seems to have gone by so fast already and life here is starting to feel normal. However, the more time I spend here, the more my thoughts have turned to food. I am convinced that when everything around you is different, the first thing you seek comfort in is food. Even the first coherent sentence I uttered in Wolof to my family had to do with food: Dese na tuuti ceeb bu dama mën lekk, ndaxte dama xiif, ndaxte suur umawoon ci añ? [Is there any left over rice that I can eat because I'm hungry since I didn't eat enough at lunch?]. What a joyful moment that was; they understood, we all laughed at my amazing feat of speaking an entire sentence in Wolof, AND I got a heaping bowl of rice and vegetables smothered in spice-enriched red sauce! In light of the "grand histoire d'amour" [huge love story] between food and my stomach (as one of my travel-mate's host sister poignantly contested about our obsession with food), I will spend this post detailing the good, the bad, the ugly (and the cravings) of food that I have encountered since my first petit-déjeuner of baguette, butter, and hot milk on this peninsula called Dakar.

Speaking of breakfast, this has become my favorite meal of the day here. For those of you who know me as a grumpy, sleepy-seed-eyed, bed-head in the morning, you would not recognize me here! I actually look forward to waking up every morning in order to butter a freshly baked baguette and mix together a packet of powdered milk and sugar in a cup of hot tea! For some reason it just tastes so good. After I arrive covered in sweat to school, a nice cup of Café Touba beats a Starbucks any day (both in price and taste). Although I was watching a show today and somebody was drinking a frapaccino which made me quite jealous.

Lunch is always an adventure. If I'm feeling lazy, I can get a traditional Sénégalese dish for about $2 at the school restaurant. Most of the time though I head with a group of friends to a nearby restaurant and eat anything from fataya (fried dough with ground beef, onions, fries, mayo, and ketchup all stuffed inside) to falafels. A nice red orange from a street vendor or a local fruit juice adds to a delicious meal. Yesterday, I discovered the "McDonalds of Dakar". Nope, not a single MacDo exists in Sénégal, but as the jovial owner assured me and my friend, his little shack on the side of the road was the Sénégalese version. I'll take the Sénégalese version any day after enjoying my egg, tomato, and onion sandwich for about $1.50.

If lunch is an opportunity for me to explore my surrounding neighborhood, dinner is my opportunity to explore Sénégalese cuisine. We eat dinner around 9:30 or 10 every night, which was hard to get used to at first. I never know what we are eating until my host Mom lifts the lid from the large platter that all of the women share. Even if it looks scary and different at first, most of the time the food is delicious. Dinner usually consists of rice or couscous with meat or fish, vegetables, and some sort of sauce. Although, other dishes including Spaghetti, and the French "Biftek" (beef, lettuce, and fries) grace the table occasionally.

There have been some strange meals, however. Probably the most memorable was when I was eating at an event with other extended family members. We were all gathered around a platter of rice, meet, and vegetables under a dimly lit party tent outside. It was hard to see what I was eating, but as my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized that our platter was garnished with the poor animal's skull. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've ever eaten "face meat" before, and hopefully the last. At another meal, this time at home, I was feeling quite shy around the plethora of sea creatures doused in red sauce. When my host sister asked me why I wasn't eating the meat, I meekly blurted out, "je ne connais pas ces animaux" (I don't know these animals) and everyone burst into laughter, preventing me from having to get to know such "animals" on a more personal level. Other oddities have included fish balls (someone must have thought they could make meatballs out of fish one day, I would call it an utter failure), fish egg sausage (once again, somebody's creative juices were flowing), and observing my host mom consume fish eyes. It's been hard for me to get used to the amount of fish that we eat here, but I have learned that eating with a fork and knife is counter productive and it is better to just use your hands.

Before you start thinking that Sénégalese people will eat just about anything, let me set you straight. One evening I was talking to my host brother about how in some cultures people eat dogs. His response was utter disgust (much like my response to eating fish egg sausage) and I assured him that I was not one of those dog-eating types. I take comfort in the fact that we both considered dog meat disgusting...

That leaves desert for last, which consists of grapefruit, oranges, and pomegranates. I have gained a sweet tooth here, probably to set off the spicy and salty meals that predominate. As I mentioned in my last blog, my discovery of a nearby beignet [donut] shack was one of complete bliss. I have also become addicted to ataya (a very sweet, frothy, minty black tea served in three rounds over the course of the afternoon) and lait caillé [yogurt] with millet. The latter is our Sunday evening meal, and my favorite dinner of the week. I had an epiphany after dinner last night. I was conversing with my host uncle outside as he made a final round of ataya with a little tea kettle heated over a bed of coals and I thought, I should teach my family how to make s'mores!

So yet again my mind is consumed with food laden thoughts and I will keep my eyes peeled for chamallow [marshmellow] and graham crackers to go along with some good French chocolate. The thought of s'mores with my host family certainly makes up for a close encounter with a cow skull any day!