green leafy stuff

Normally expats here go out for lunch to one of the hotels or restaurants that cater to expats. Lunch usually runs $3-$10, depending on where you go. The fare is traditional European/American variety: sandwiches, salads, Italian, pizza, Indian, etc. (Alas, no Mexican!!!) So at about 12:30/1 there’s an exodus of cars from offices as all the expats leave to go to the same places. There’s even lunch-time traffic.

I decided to be brave today and eat lunch with our Tanzanian staff. It was a great idea in theory, but in reality I ended up eating the same food as them at my desk since I have a ton of work to do. We decided last night that our study starts recruiting women in less than two weeks so suddenly all the things on my ‘to do’ list actually have to be finished. (Preferably by yesterday.) Hence the eating lunch at my desk.

Lunch was a huge pile of rice, three pieces of meat, a small pile of green leafy stuff and a small pile of beans, all covered in a red meatish-tasting sauce. There was also an option for upagi, which is a cornmeal paste, basically a polenta. Those are the staple foods here: rice, upagi, beans and green leafy stuff. Tanzanians also eat tropical fruits. There are banana trees everywhere and since pineapples and mangos are in season now they really taste wonderful. Meat is too expensive for a normal Tanzanian to eat, but our staff are employed and better off than most.

The best part about it is that the food is brought to the house. A woman cooks it in the morning at her house, puts it in tubs that look like big paint cans, and then brings it to the office. (I’m sure the tubs are completely sanitary.) I have to say that was one of the best lunches I’ve had since I was here. I even ate the green stuff it was so good.

And the cost? 55 cents.