La nouriture...or, due to popular demand, what I am eating.
First we shall begin with a small history lesson. The currency in Cameroun is the FCFA, or Camerounian franc as the country is a former colony of France. (in addition to the residual name of the currency, there is also the residual morning French baguette for breakfast. There is a small section of West Cameroun that, when the country was taken from Germany and divided after WWI, remained under British control. There is still a great internal division between the english speaking and the french speaking people in Cameroun and this division can be seen even in the bread that is eaten for breakfast; the anglophone population eats a british style loaf while the francophone population virtually survives on the baguette.) Back to the franc...before 1994 the ration was approximately 1 French franc: 50 FCFA. But, in 94 the currency was devalued and the ratio became 1:100. It has been increasing ever since and with the strength of the euro the current ratio is now 1 euro: 650 CFA. Due to the (rising) weakness of the CFA it is nearly impossible for the country to import much of anything and most products, including food, are made/produced locally. Quite a long winded explanation to say that there is virtually no variety and we eat about the same thing every day. Bananas, papayas, avacados, tomatoes, plantains, prunish things, and really sour green oranges are abundant, but most the diet is ALL carbs (good thing youre not coming to visit me here dad!). The most shocking thing i suppose was the fish head in my rice last night, but I covered its eyes with my spoon and we were fine. It is impossible to find anything familiar here. I have found one bakery that has imported pinapple yougurt that tastes sooooo good (there is no other dairy at all). And yesterday we found a restaurant that has...it so wonderful that youll never guess...CHICKEN! Comparatively, its very expensive: a normal lunch costs around 350 to 600 CFA, ie. 60 cents to about a dollar and the chicken costs 2000CFA or about 4 dollars. Oh, it also comes with plantain frites that are fantastic...and Mama Titi herself serves them to you in a small peptobismal pink dining room with a tv that blares american gangsta rap music videos...it really doesnt get much more eclectic than that! And in addition to Mama Titis, there is the UNCAU cafe which serves real Camerounian coffee in mini mismatched tea cups with two sugar cubes and little party spoons. You can also order omlets there at a rate of 15 cents per egg, the same price as a cup of coffee. It is the Camerounian version of JPs and, needless to say, is probably our favorite spot. And, on the food note, I should probably head home and attempt to help with dinner...mostly Im there for amusement but I do snap the green beans!
Think of me today if you eat cheese or drink milk ;)
bisous
Brianne