Electricity or Water: Which would you choose?

It’s not like we really have a choice these days in Côte d’Ivoire.
Typically, once or twice a week, I am at home getting ready to
Prepare dinner or take a shower when I realize that the water has been cut off.
I can only guess that they do this in order to ration the resources. But everyone is used to it. People buy buckets and pails in order to keep a backup supply of water available for when this occurs. However, this week has been more challenging than usual because as of
Feb 1, Côte d’Ivoire has had a shortage of electricity thus every day since then, the electricity has been cut off at least 8 hours each day. Last night, they cut it off at 7pm and it only came back on at 9:30 this morning. Can you imagine spending a night sleeping in the heat and then waking up in the morning to take a cool shower only to find out that there is no water? Now I know some of you who lived through Hurricane Katrina can relate. But for those of you who do not know, it is a very humbling experience. I have had all sorts of thoughts sitting in the dark. When you must use candlelight in order to see your own hands in front of you or in order to cook or take a shower, you start wondering why people think it is romantic to be in the dark when they do not have to (i.e. candlelight dinners). LOL I mean, I know…it is romantic but really, it is less romantic when being in the dark is a way of life…trust me. But then again, as the humans that we are, we long for what we do not have…even darkness when we have light and vice versa!

To return to my point, not having electricity and water from time to time here in Côte d’Ivoire has indeed been surprisingly humbling. Yes, it is annoying when you have to cook all of the meat in the freezer before it spoils because the fridge is not working. Yes, it is annoying that the water is not running when you want to wash your hair. But honestly, the lessons that I think I have been taught - how to do without, how to respect silence and meditation, and how to look up at the stars every now and again- even if it has been just for a little while, have been invaluable.

My Skin in Côte d’Ivoire

One of the amazing things about Côte d’Ivoire is how much my skin agrees with the climate. For example, in the United States, I apply lotion to my hands daily an average of at 3-5 times a day. Here in Côte d’Ivoire, most days I do not even use lotion! And those of you that really know about my hands, they are the driest part of my body. It’s really amazing. I do not find the climate much more humid than Tampa for example but obviously there’s something here in the environment that is kinder to my skin in comparison with the U.S. As far as my face, it tends to be dry…or at least it was during my former life in the United States. Here, I do not even miss it if I do not use moisturizer on my face. In fact, I have to consciously remember to use moisturizer from time to time and to tone my face. Yet regardless of how kind the weather is to my skin, my wash-tone-moisturize routine is still important!

Beauty Shop

A week or so ago, I accompanied a friend to the hair salon here in Côte d’Ivoire. Talk about an interesting experience. Surprisingly, the beauty shop was much like an African-American salon you’d find in the United States. Take a look at the pic. What the most astonishing thing though was the price of a hairstyle or “coiffure” in French. My friend got a perm and up-do for $6 USD! Can you believe that? That means that if I had come here with relaxed hair, for that price, I certainly could have gone to the salon at least once or even twice a week!

Actually, I thought that here in Côte d’Ivoire, natural hair (or unprocessed hair) would be a lot more common than it is in the United States. Once again, I was surprised to learn that African women use weaves, perms, and other hair alterations as much or more than we do in the USA! In fact, school aged girls from ages 9-16 typically have natural hair as they have their hair cut really short for school but grown women most often than not have weaves or wigs. Thus, my natural hair is sometimes perceived here as it is sometimes perceived in the U.S., a bit backwards or not in vogue. I find that really interesting. So, if you think that going natural is African, you’re wrong (at least in Côte d’Ivoire). The natural Black hair trend is an American trend!

Alloco: Côte d’Ivoire’s Sweet "French Fry"

So I just left work for our 3 hour lunch break. Since I didn’t take my meat out of the freezer to defreeze earlier, I will not be eating a wholesome, fulfilling meal soon. Thus, in the interim, I will have a snack and I thought I’d share it with you. Well kind of.  It’s called alloco. Alloco is a dish of fried bananas but they’re not the kind of bananas that you and I are used to in the United States. These bananas are actually sweet plantains. People here eat alloco like we eat French fries. You can have it as a snack, as an appetizer, or even as a meal but normally people have it in between meals as a snack. You know, Cote d’Ivoire doesn’t have a fast food culture like ours so there’s no going to anyone’s drive thru and ordering alloco! Sure, you can find it any one of their “maquis” (small restaurants) but I never order it. I prefer to prepare it myself. I buy the bananas and make alloco at home. You can buy around 10 -12 bananas for about 50 cents.

Alloco is really tasty. This is how you prepare it:

1) You wash the bananas while they’re still in the skin. Normally, two big bananas is one good, large serving for one person.
2) You peel them and then cut them into mouth-size bites.
3) You deep fry them in oil (palm oil is most often used here) until they are golden brown.
4) Voila! A nice sweet snack that will fill you up! Some people eat it with bread but as for me, I never do as I am not a big starch fan and eating bananas with bread is like eating two starches together. A no-no for this veggie/meat-o-vore!

The Biggest Bug Ever

You know, I really do not like stereotypes. But if I can ever say that I saw a bug that looked like he was from the jungles of Africa...I saw him tonight! I was sitting at my table typing and all of a sudden I saw something out of the corner of my eye (What would we do without peripheral vision?). Let me just say that since I've seen so many insects and creatures (I killed a mouse last night) that I suffer from mild paranoia. Thus, I often think I see things or I expect to see things that are not there. {That's what we call fear people...it's okay, completely normal}.

Anyway, I looked over to what my peripheral vision sensed and low and behold the biggest bug I have ever seen in my life! When I saw it, I was alone but I said aloud, "Lord, what kind of bug is that!?" As I spoke, all I could do was stand up on the table and gawk at it while doing the I'm-scared-of-this-ugly-bug-dance.

The pictures will not do it justice but nevertheless, see for yourself.