GOAT

Since I arrived in Botswana I have been invited to three traditional dinners, and the menu has been pretty much the same: seswaai, pap, matemekwane, morogo, watermelon, roasted corn, and chicken.

So now for a bit of translation:
Seswaai - heavily salted and shredded goat (and sometimes beef) meat along with intestines

Pap - similar to grits, it is very thick porridge made of maize meal or other ground grains. It is the Southern and Eastern African (where it is called "ugali") equivalent of mashed potatoes, i.e. it goes with everything

Matemekwane - a large, softball-sized dumpling that is a self-contained meal when topped with any kind of sauce

Morogo - If Popeye were Motswana, this would be his thing. This spiced spinach dish is absolutely scrumpious.

Roasted Corn - Just what it sounds like, except it is maize, not sweet corn. In case you didn't notice, I skipped watermelon since some things don't need translation.

Chicken - I've discovered two things are universal: (1) Chicken with rice and (2) nobody likes repetitious cafeteria food.

Now, while I have quite a bit of goat here, I am still acquiring the taste for it. It's a bit gamey, and according to the Finnish students, it's a perfect stand-in for reindeer. What I refuse to acquire a taste for, however, is mopane worms. Named for the mopane trees on which these caterpillars feast, it is a great source of protein for many Africans, but my few tastings of them left me with a very buggy taste in my mouth of which no fizzy drink could rid.

Speaking of drinks, I have to mention that many people here drink soft drinks, affectionately known as "fizzy drinks". Along with many flavors of Fanta, there is also ginger beer (a very gingery ale and by no means an alcoholic drink), Iron Brew (an African Dr. Pepper of sorts), and Pine Nut, which, contra its English-language implications, contains no coniferous seed extract. It is just shorthand for Pineapple-Coconut, or in bartender vernacular, pina colada.

This post is by no means an exhaustive account of Botswana gastronomy, but I have to leave myself some material for future blog posts. Up next, some more pictures of my travels and an update about the student demonstration situation here at UB.

Tsamayang sentle (go well)!