Abidjan--"I would totally take Africa over a burrito"

The quote in the post title is attributed to Chad after I gchatted that I was jealous about his getting Chipotle.

As such, I suppose I should take the time to describe the cuisine here in the ever lovely Cote d'Ivoire. First, African portions are about on par with American portions--I never leave the table hungry. Each morning, the hotel gives us (Nes)cafe au lait, three chunks of baguette with butter, an omelet, lemon/ginger juice or bissap, and a banana or half of a papaya/mango/pineapple. See the picture for a typical breakfast. I practically go into a food coma after breakfast. The rest of the food is very much centered on fish, chicken, fruit, and eggs. There are so many chickens roaming about and TONS of eggs at the little food booths.

Second, and most importantly, CI is a former French colony. That means many of the French food customs. For example, there are creperies in the mall, patisseries all over the place, and we get baguettes at every meal. Additionally, the Ivoirians subscribe to the ideal of giant French lunches. For the lunches that were catered during the trainings, we got three course meals. Delish. However, for a lot of the other meals, I get an omelet and some sort of fried food. French fries, fried plantains, or fried yams. Upon my return to the states, my diet will consist of salads, oatmeal, and Cheerios to lower my cholesterol. My arteries are probably on their way to solidifying as we speak.

Finally, and probably most strangely, there is a wide variety of types of food. Last night, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant that was quite fabulous. There are TONS of Vietnamese restaurants. We weren't the only ones who had decided to go to Nuit de Saigon. Almost every single ex-pat in Abidjan was joining us for dinner. For once, Amy and I weren't minorities. It was actually the first time that I have really thought about being white versus African. Strange.

Tonight, we are going to go with Murtala to a Senegalese restaurant. I'm pretty pumped. Apparently, a lot of rice and a couscous like thing are involved. It should be tasty. I'll report back later. A plus!