Just to let you know, for the record, they don't put sauce on their meatballs. Don't worry - I figured that out the hard way for you to know.
Denise and I went to the restaurant next to our school for a snack after work yesterday. I ordered a boiled tomato and meatballs. She ordered chips (aka fries) and a half-cooked sandwich (she didn't want it half-cooked, it just came that way).
The service in Rwanda is to be found wanting quite a bit. It makes French service often feel more like fast food. On average, whenever I've been out to eat anything - no matter how small - it takes about an hour or so to actually get the food. And sometimes that doesn't mean you'll get what you ordered.
So we waited for a while.
The meatballs came finally, but they were dry. Really, they looked like falaffel balls with toothpicks poked in the middle for easy access. With the meatballs, the waitress put in front of me a little bowl with a dabble of sauce. I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, they really skimped out on their sauce." Denise gave me a non-discernible look while I poured the spoonful of sauce onto a meatball. I finally chomped down on the meatball...and...
OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SPICY PEPPER HOT SAUCE!!!!
Denise chuckled while I panicked and tried to remedy my mistake with tea (didn't help), ketchup (helped a little bit), and onions (I don't know what I was thinking). My nose started to run, my eyes were watering, and my tongue had lit up into flames not unlike, I'm sure, the fire of The Cocoanut Grove.
I felt congested beforehand, but the hot sauce really fixed that problem for me.
So, how is the food here?
Well, my first response to that question is...you know how I was all excited to eat healthfully and lose some weight as soon as I got to Kigali? Not so much...
Despite my gluten allergy, I ate pizza two nights in a row. They eat a lot of oily foods here, and mayonnaise. And they have ample numbers of cakes and pastries to chew on. Many of the shops I've been to - I dare say most - do not have vegetables or fruit, but cakes and chips. And lots of boxed goodies. And they have a lot of potatoes. A LOT of potatoes. The Man would be happy with that.
And I have been going out with my housemates for a few nights, and I am absolutely wiped. It's been hurting my exercise plans. But tomorrow, I've promised myself to go for a jog (FINALLY!) with my housemate, Prosper. He's a lanky, tall guy, so he'll have to pull it back for me. But I am feeling pretty nasty and my body aches for exercise. My goal is to get the exercise done at 5am every day before I go to work.
So it seems like I'm going to have to make a real concerted effort to lose some weight and eat the healthy diet I so crave right now.
My hope is that once I get into more of a schedule, and I start cooking my own fresh produce with my housemates, I'll feel better about it all.
Denise and I went to the restaurant next to our school for a snack after work yesterday. I ordered a boiled tomato and meatballs. She ordered chips (aka fries) and a half-cooked sandwich (she didn't want it half-cooked, it just came that way).
The service in Rwanda is to be found wanting quite a bit. It makes French service often feel more like fast food. On average, whenever I've been out to eat anything - no matter how small - it takes about an hour or so to actually get the food. And sometimes that doesn't mean you'll get what you ordered.
So we waited for a while.
The meatballs came finally, but they were dry. Really, they looked like falaffel balls with toothpicks poked in the middle for easy access. With the meatballs, the waitress put in front of me a little bowl with a dabble of sauce. I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, they really skimped out on their sauce." Denise gave me a non-discernible look while I poured the spoonful of sauce onto a meatball. I finally chomped down on the meatball...and...
OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SPICY PEPPER HOT SAUCE!!!!
Denise chuckled while I panicked and tried to remedy my mistake with tea (didn't help), ketchup (helped a little bit), and onions (I don't know what I was thinking). My nose started to run, my eyes were watering, and my tongue had lit up into flames not unlike, I'm sure, the fire of The Cocoanut Grove.
I felt congested beforehand, but the hot sauce really fixed that problem for me.
So, how is the food here?
Well, my first response to that question is...you know how I was all excited to eat healthfully and lose some weight as soon as I got to Kigali? Not so much...
Despite my gluten allergy, I ate pizza two nights in a row. They eat a lot of oily foods here, and mayonnaise. And they have ample numbers of cakes and pastries to chew on. Many of the shops I've been to - I dare say most - do not have vegetables or fruit, but cakes and chips. And lots of boxed goodies. And they have a lot of potatoes. A LOT of potatoes. The Man would be happy with that.
And I have been going out with my housemates for a few nights, and I am absolutely wiped. It's been hurting my exercise plans. But tomorrow, I've promised myself to go for a jog (FINALLY!) with my housemate, Prosper. He's a lanky, tall guy, so he'll have to pull it back for me. But I am feeling pretty nasty and my body aches for exercise. My goal is to get the exercise done at 5am every day before I go to work.
So it seems like I'm going to have to make a real concerted effort to lose some weight and eat the healthy diet I so crave right now.
My hope is that once I get into more of a schedule, and I start cooking my own fresh produce with my housemates, I'll feel better about it all.
1 comment:
It probably wasn't your intention, but I couldn't help laughing! I can't wait for you to get some good food, either, but that hot sauce story was pretty funny! Now you don't need the netty pot!
Think about you all the time.
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