Milk & Other Dairy Products

So you might guess that as hot as it is here in Côte d’Ivoire there are not many milk products. If you guessed that, you would be kind of right. Right in the sense that you will not see a fresh cold gallon of milk at the supermarket.* It is also difficult to find good, fresh cheeses** and cold cuts. When I first moved to Daloa (the city in which I live), I wanted to buy some cold-cuts for when I work out in the villages. I could not find cold-cuts anywhere but finally lucked up on a supermarket that sold sliced turkey. The next day when I got ready to eat the turkey, I realized it was spoiled! The point is that here, conservation of things that must be left cold is a challenge due to the heat. So getting back to that gallon of fresh cold milk – I have not had a glass of milk since I left the United States!

While milk is used, the most popular form of milk here is powdered milk. And while I don’t drink powdered milk straight, I do use it in my coffee and for making mashed potatoes.

Yogurt, on the other hand, is easier to find. While its consistency is very different from what we have in the States, they definitely have Yoplait yogurt available in the grocery stores in my city, in various flavors too. What I imagine, however, is that this yogurt is made with powdered milk. Anyway, it’s pretty good and I purchase it from time to time.


*However, in Abidjan, the capital city of the country, you can basically find any and everything. When I first got to CI, I had a good ham sandwich made with seemingly fresh cold cut meat that I’d found in a huge supermarket in Abidjan.
**I have seen imported French cheese such as camembert here in Daloa but one must wonder about the quality of the product especially since there are challenges with keeping items cool and fresh. For example, over the past few months, there have been numerous power outages. There is however a type of cheese that can be easily found here and it does not need to be refrigerated. I think it’s the same as the Laughing Cow brand of cheese that we find in the United States. I do not eat it, as I do not eat cheese of this sort in the US either.

Smoked Sheep

As with olives, I must thank France for getting me to love eating sheep or “mouton” in French. To explain the taste is difficult but in my opinion it is like eating roast beef with a distinct flavor added. The distinct flavor of sheep!

Here in Côte d’Ivoire, my preferred way of eating sheep is smoked. There is a culture here of grilling and smoking meats. Here in my city, there is a place that I go to that smokes sheep and beef daily. They also make beef sausages. They cut off about a hand’s cup worth or about $2.25 for the sheep and $1.25 for the beef (sheep is always more expensive than beef).
They cut the meat into tiny morsels and then put it in brown paper and add onions, peppers, spices, and maggi sauce (kind of like soy sauce). When you get home, take out a cold Coke from the fridge and prepare to eat your fingers off!

The beef sausages that they make are pretty good too. For those of you that know about sausages, the traditional way of making them is to grind the meat and then use the cord of the intestines to incase the meat. Here, they certainly use the traditional method. Now, I hate to admit it because typically I do not dare eat anything other than the “regular” parts of animals (no organs, no feet, etc.) but I do eat those beef sausages with intestine casings and all!

So for any of you who have never had the occasion to eat sheep, my suggestion to you is the next time that you have a BBQ, while you’re selecting your chicken, beef, and wieners at the grocery store, pick up a pack of lamb chops and put them on the grill. You won’t regret it!

Igname = Indiam Yam

The day before yesterday, my landlord gave me two ignames. He said that although I have eaten ignames, I need to experience cooking them. He then said that I should take pictures of the ignames and share them with my friends and family in the United States. So while I am waiting for them to cook, I thought I would take the time to explain yams to you!

Ignames are a bit weird looking. They are a type of starch – I would say they are in the potato/yam family because when I looked up the English translation I found igname = Indian yam. (Even the name here sounds like “yam”). Their skin looks like tree bark. They are a pretty good size (see pic) but he told me that these are small in comparison to how big they can grow. He said that they can easily grow to the size of one’s thigh!

To prepare ignames, you start by skinning them (much as you would skin a potato). Once the skin is removed, you are left with the whitish starch part of the vegetable which has a slippery layer on top which reminds you of the “slime” from okra. You then cut the yams into chunks and place them in salted water. You let them boil for 30 minutes or so and after that …ta-dah! Lovely yams to eat! They taste much like boiled potatoes (but lighter and better) and go well with meat and sauce. For lunch, I will be eating ignames with a tomato-chicken-onion-garlic sauce I made. Tonight for dinner, I will have igname with smoked sheep! Oh my gosh. I will leave smoked sheep for another discussion but talk about good eating!!

You Ask : What Are You Doing in Côte d'Ivoire?

After finishing my master’s program last year in public administration, I accepted an awesome opportunity to work in Côte d’Ivoire as an International Educator for Africa in the field of rural and educational development for one academic year. My post started in October 2009. The program is administered by an American foundation and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Here is a summary of some of the activities I've already completed:

• Established 5 literacy centers in rural cocoa farming villages, hired and trained 10 literacy teachers, and managed their performance via monitoring and evaluation (i.e. classroom observations and tracking students’ test scores).
• Strengthened management and teaching practices of professors, staff, and students at Daloa Teacher Training College with workshops and trainings.
• Partnered with local and international organizations, such as the United Nations Côte d’Ivoire, to host community conferences on themes such as HIV/AIDS, human rights, and child labor.
• Organized a 3-day training for 100 primary school principals and a 3-day training for 160 student teachers and 79 in-service teachers on child-centered learning and current best practices in the areas of French, Math, and History/Geography.
• Planned reproductive health sessions for women in 10 rural communities and mobilized the female population to participate in income generating activities to increase their livelihoods.

About Côte d’Ivoire (also known as The Ivory Coast)

Many of you ask….”where in the world is MC?” “What is it like there?” “Côte d’Ivoire, in what language is that?!” Well, this blog is my way of sharing with you this lovely country in which I am currently living.

Here is a little background about Côte d’Ivoire (also known as the Ivory Coast).

Continent: Africa
Location: West part of Africa. The countries of Liberia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali border Côte d’Ivoire.
Meaning: Côte d’Ivoire literally means “coast of ivory” in French. This used to be the area where poachers hunted down and killed elephants for their precious tusks of ivory. After so many years of this activity, elephants here are a seriously endangered species.
Flag Colors: Orange, White, Green
Population: approximately 20 million in the country (to give you a reference, there are 18 million people in Florida and about 3 million in Mississippi- makes you realize how huge a country like the US is)
Languages: French (officially) but there are 60 other (native) languages! Everyone here speaks at least one other native language besides French.
Religions: about 35% Muslim, about 30% Christian, about 35% indigenous religions
Literacy rate: 51% (meaning about only half of the people in this country can read and write compared with the 99% literacy rate in the U.S)
Independence Day: The Ivory Coast gained independence from the French August 7, 1960 (the United States gained Independence from the English on July 4, 1776)
Weather: There are not seasons in terms of temperature really because it’s always hot! But there are seasons based on humidity and rainfall. Warm and Dry (November to March), Hot and Dry (March to May), and Hot and Wet (June to October)

What is one of the most interesting things about CI? I think one of the most interesting things is that there are approximately 64 different languages, in addition to French, spoken here. Ivorians often speak the official national language, French, and at least one or two of the 60 languages. Another interesting aspect of Côte d’Ivoire is that there is about the same ratio of Muslims as there are Christians which creates a certain religious harmony and respect that is sometimes atypical in the United States. For example, in my neighborhood, there is a mosque and a church practically side by side. So, depending on the time of day, I will hear chants from the imam or the hymns from the evangelists.