Something to Consider

 Hey everyone! While my adventures "in" Congo Kinshasa are still going well, I wanted to inform you of something else that was just brought to my attention (I told you I didn't want to bore you with lists of food every day) that relates to the nature of this blog. I just heard that there are plans being made to build a highway in Tanzania RIGHT THROUGH the Serengeti! This is destructive in so many ways- animals are at risk of dying or of losing their wild nature and the culture of Tanzania is threatened greatly as well. I would urge you all to check out www.savetheserengeti.org and join the effort to stop this terrible mess. An easier travel route (if the highway will even provide that) is not at all worth the absolute beauty of the Serengeti and all it offers to the world. Because this plan will threaten the culture of Tanzania, I thought I would share the news... and a way to help, with you. I apologize for getting sidetracked from the usual nature of my posts, but this issue is important and in conjunction with what I am trying to do with this blog.

Day 2 "in" Congo-Kinshasa

Hey everyone! So it's Monday; my first day back to school after Winter Break and my second day "in" Congo-Kinshasa (when I say in, I mean emmersed in the cultural aspect I have chosen for the country- I am still in the U.S.)! It has been going well so far with exception to the beans which are giving me a stomach ache! This morning, I had a light breakfast as the Congolese do which consisted of a slice of bread. My lunch mimicked my dinner from last night in a smaller portion and without the beans (I had to give my stomach a break). At school I got comments that the lunch looked good- just what I want to hear :). For a snack I put two staples together- bananas and peanuts (peanut butter is the form I am choosing to have). I have a hankering for cheese but this very Americanized food is not really in the African culture based on my research. I will not cave in though- I have a feeling that my diet for the week will come to good. I am posting every day so far just to keep you updated because my journey has just begun. I realize within the next day or two, reading lists of the food I have eaten will get old. You will always get a post though at the end of the week with overall reactions and how the week has contributed to the overall purpose I have for this adventure. Posts midweek will come as they are needed. Just thought I would mention that tonight I am trying cumin sauce with my dinner. Traditionally, the sauce is served with chicken, but I will be eating it over my regular staples- as I mentioned, I don't eat meat. I let you know how the sauce tasted and such along with the showing of my pictures at the week's end. If you don't see a post, don't worry. I just don't want to become a bore rambling on about my day to day food (I also tend to get a lot of homework, but that's beside the point)! Talk to you real soon- off to the store for ingredients!

My First Day "In" Congo-Kinshasa

I know it's been less than half a day since my last post, but  I wanted to update you on my first day of eating strictly Congolese food. I made sure to take pictures of everything that I ate to serve both as a visual representation as well as proof that yes I am actually preparing all of this and eating it every meal. I didn't eat breakfast today mainly because I was in a rush but here is what my lunch looked like:
I ate beans, corn, mango and rice. The mango was cut by me (not the kind you can buy in a container at Costco) and the rice cooked by me. I warmed up the beans and corn and ate the whole meal with only some salt as seasoning. I was surprisingly full after I was finished only a plate and a bit of extra rice. Usually I have a very large appetite but not today- I didn't even need a snack in between lunch and dinner.

And my dinner:

My dinner looked a lot like my lunch because my lunch contained much of the staple foods of the people of this culture. The only addition to dinner was Fufu which is very similar to mashed sweet potatoes but a bit fluffier due to vigorous mixing. There is a bit of butter added to the yams but not much. For some reason the Fufu tasted sweeter than the mashed yams I have had but I'm not sure why. I boiled the yams whole (which took forever), skinned them and then mashed them. It was a lot of work to get this meal ready and it felt great to eat it afterwards. The smells of the dish and the work it involved reminded me a lot of my time in Tanzania and the food we ate while we were there. I am really enjoying the food so far but we'll have to see :). I must say, almost two hours after eating I am still pretty full. The rest of the night I may have a banana and peanut butter, both parts of the list that was in my earlier post.  Day one completed!
P.S- Thank you CultureGrams for the Fufu recipe!!

This is the fufu- just thought I would prove I actually made it. That wooden spoon reminds me of the Ugali (a cornmeal mush) spoons they use in Tanzania

The Journey Begins... "off" to Congo-Kinshasa!

Off we go to Congo-Kinshasa!!

 Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the best in 2011, especially my classmates who will be graduating this year! My journey begins this day in Congo-Kinshasa, a relatively large African country in the middle of the contient. During my week in this place, I will be exploring the diet of its people. In my research of the country, I have found that the "staples" of their diet include:
-rice
-bananas
-yams
-beans
-fruit like papayas and mangos
-corn
-fish
-peanuts (which I will be eating in the form of natural peanut butter).
-cassava

I will be replacing my diet this week with these items, in order to hopefully prove that I can be just as happy in the midst of putting my American diet away. By the week's end, you will know how this travel has effected me with descriptions of different Congolese recipes I will have tried with these ingredients, as well as the preparation and eating of these foods. I will eat no "American" food at all this week and no food that strays from those in the diet of the Congolese people. The only two issues I have encountered with the diet of these people is their eating of fish (I am a vegetarian) and cassava (I have not been able to find this in the grocery store yet). However, I have come to the conclusion that there are plenty of other staples that I can eat all week, and that not eating one  or two will not hurt. If anyone knows where I can find cassava though, please let me know- I thought I would try Whole Foods.

To avoid confusion, I would also like to clarify that this week I am "travelling" to Congo-Kinshasa, not to be confused with its neighbor Congo-Brazzaville. Congo-Kinshasa is often referred to as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the country my finger landed on a few weeks ago.

I would also like to source my research so far. The CultureGrams database has helped me a great deal in finding very accurate cultural facts for this adventure. Thank you CultureGrams!

Well, I'm off to start preparing my first meal of Congo-Kinshasa! Talk to you soon!