One thing I knew I’d never do—and I had to come 8,317 miles to do it—is write a food blog! But not including food in our story is a waste of a good trip, right? We’ve had two recent exploits, one extremely American, one as Congolese as it gets.
One Friday night, we had something to celebrate, including everything! A little place called “Nice Cream” is not far from us, tucked safely behind a well-defended security gate. We hadn’t ventured out after dark before, so we felt super brave! The air was muggy, the foot traffic still heavy as we strolled down the street like tourists on a boardwalk.
Aren’t these cakes amazing?! They are for Maren, our baker supreme. And of course they have an “Obama Cookies” ice cream flavor. Doesn’t everyone? I’m not sure any other U.S. president can boast an ice cream flavor in Africa. I ordered an enormous, chocolaty scoop and it was worth every frank and every calorie.
Great name for a hot fudge sundae 
Sign in the window
Giles, Marcy, Christian, Annie 
On Sunday, we decided we’d played it safe long enough and braved new territory. We asked De De (pronounced Day Day), one of the teachers at ALI, and Christian, our ALI housemate, to help us find some real Congolese food. And boy did they find what we were looking for!
Get this, it was called Chez Flore! Families were dining, kids rocked back and forth on metal porch swings, waitresses and waiters scurried about, a TV or two broadcast loud soccer matches.
We couldn’t understand a thing on the menu except “porc” With help from the guys, we swallowed hard and placed our order: antelope, goat, and porc, which all came on the bone. The antelope looked like spicy little ribs. We added veggies they call (in Lingala) bitekuteku (beetaykootaykoo). They looked like extremely limp, finely shredded blackish green spinach floating in oil. Trusting our friends, we dished some up and let it glide down our throats. Unusual, to say the least, but pretty tasty!
I found out that one of the bowls, pandu, was cassava leaves, and the other, matembele, was sweet potato leaves!
We came home with mountains of leftovers, great memories, and a resolution to go back soon.
Congo Calling 
You are both such good writers! Your pictures remind us of Rwanda—and make us “homesick.” Your experiences sound so familiar. One has to experience Africa to begin to understand it, don’t you think? It’s a wonderful thing that we can be so different from people in another culture and be fascinated by them and love them. The children are beautiful in their school uniforms. It’s obvious they love you too. You will appreciate, even more, when you return home, the profound ways you are changed by this experience. Thanks for letting us share it with you! Mary Ann
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Thank you, Mary Ann. I was so envious of your time in Africa and knew that it was a highlight in your life. I never dreamed a similar opportunity would come my way. Yes, this place is endlessly fascinating and appealing. It doesn’t even feel like the same planet we live on, and I love the surprises! As you know, the people are amazing.
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I feel in sisterhood with you two, having had a brief three-week — but more chaperoned — time in Madagascar. (And time more alone in Asian countries). Developing nations open our awareness, deep and wide.
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