MEAT

it's very important in Africa. In Uganda, there are two types of things to eat: food and meat. I'm not kidding.

tonight I ate a catered Christmas Party dinner for my Uganda office - this was hosted in the capital city, Kampala. There were 5 types of meat served: beef, chicken, pork, beef, & fish. Additionally, the catering company served rice and potatoes. My poor boss is vegetarian... not sure she had a wonderful Christmas dinner, but what else do you expect if you're veg. on this continent?

In the northern part of Uganda, I don't think people have figured out how to chop meat yet - so many times you will get bits of bone in your mouth. My recommendation: chew carefully!

In Zimbabwe, the attitude is very similar. Although you can get salads as entrees, it's unusual to find them without meat on top - and especially red meat. One time I got pizza for lunch (cheese, pizza sauce, crust, basil, something like that), and one of my team told me, "Oh Abigail, it's not real pizza unless it has meat on it." And then showed me her pizza which had not 1 but 2 types of red meat on top.

It's not that the meat is always terrible, but honestly - where are all the fruits & vegetables? Well, fruits are served as breakfast or dessert (ok, cool). Vegetables are definitely a side dish only. Sometimes you might get beans n rice as an entree, but that is considered a poor man's dish.

at least people are getting their daily/weekly iron needs fulfilled.......