Food Dilemmas

One of my biggest challenges since I arrived has been finding edible, reasonably priced food. Many of the Americans here ship boxes of food before they arrive, and now I understand why.

Due to the devastation caused by the civil war, Angola produces next to nothing. Farmland has been destroyed and littered with landmines and roads outside of Luanda are so poor, that it is almost impossible to transport products into the city. Therefore, almost everything in the grocery stores is imported, making it incredibly expensive and of poor quality.

I have tried a couple different grocery stores because I've been told that the quality and variety of food is hit or miss. So far, it's been a miss. I usually walk around the produce section for a solid half hour searching for anything that looks remotely enjoyable, with little success. For sanitation reasons, it's best to follow the "peel or cook" rule, which can also be limiting. Some people wash fruits and vegetables with a bleach solution, but I think that's gross.

I keep asking Angolans where I can buy fresh vegetables and fruit, like in an open market or on the street, but they are convinced that my 1st world stomach can't handle street food so they simply refuse to give me any information. So finally I made my driver stop the car because I noticed some women selling delicious-looking fruit on the side of the road. Before I knew it, I was bombarded. I spent $40 and ended up with I think 38 oranges and 12 avocados. I've been eating roughly 3 oranges per day. I'm still working out the kinks in my system.

On the bright side, I made a wonderful guacamole for our BBQ on Saturday night!

 On Friday afternoon, my Angolan co-workers reluctantly invited me to join them for lunch (not because they don't like me, but because they didn't think I would enjoy their usual lunch spot). Boy, were they wrong! We walked across the street to a modest "restaurant" which consisted of a sheet held up with wooden poles and 2 plastic tables inside. Outside, there was a grill with whole, fresh fish sizzling. I was served a heaping plate of beans, cassava greens, fish, and funje by a smiling, plump woman who anxiously awaited my reaction to her cooking. It was by far the best meal I've had since I've been here and it was only $5!



Enjoying a traditional Angolan meal with my co-worker, Djamila



       

My new lunch spot

* Funje (the white blob in the photo) is a staple in Angola and is a thick porridge made from manioc (yucca) flour. It doesn't have a strong flavor and is used mostly to soak up sauces, but the texture is a bit rubbery and it sometimes has a gray-ish color, which is off-putting to most foreigners