makala making, museums, mocaf, and my mom

tourist |ˈtoŏrist| noun

A person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure

I’m pretty sure there’s no word for “tourist” in the Sango language. If by chance there is a word, I’m quite sure it rarely gets used. Bangui may be the capital city of the Central African Republic but if you’re on the search for entertainment this city is probably bottom on the list of places to visit.

This is why I feel quite triumphant at the fact that in the past week my mom and I have successfully pulled off being Bangui tourists! Leave it to my mom and me to accomplish the impossible. I played the role of tour guide, activities coordinator, and translator while my mom was the sightseer. (Hopefully we weren’t too stereotypical but then again, who’s to say what a typical Bangui tourist looks like?!)

Like all good tourists, we did our fair share of shopping. We hit up all the markets from centre ville marche where we bought fresh pineapple and watermelon to Kilometre cinq, Pk 12, Be’Afrique Art, and of course the tourist catch all: the local artisan market where you can buy dead butterflies, colorful African dresses, elephant hair bracelets, carved wood statues of hippos wearing hats and all sorts of other great things all for a beautiful price if you’re any good at bargaining.

We had African clothes special made for us. Now we blend right in!

Raymond receiving his "kamba"

Sunday morning was our cultural experience full of music and dance. Raymond, my best friend from PHC, invited us to go to his Flambeau ceremony. In the Central African Grace Brethren churches there are groups for the young people that are along the lines of scout clubs or awana (the group for boys is called Flambeau and the girls group is Lumiere). At this ceremony the kids are awarded a kamba, or scarf, and become official members. It’s a big deal and involves a whole lot of marching, singing, dancing, photographing, perfume, and joy. Being white people, we were treated as honored guests with front row seats in a church crammed with proud Central African relatives. It really was an honor to experience this special ceremony.

Sunrise over Congo and the Ubangui

To satisfy our adventurous outdoor spirit, my mom and I went on an early morning hiking expedition down to the Ubangui River to catch the sunrise over Congo and to watch the fishermen at work. It was beautiful! (However, if I were handing out a survey after this hike I probably would have received a very low tour guide rating. I’m sorry to say that in the excitement of my “tourist leading” I forgot to keep in mind that my sightseer is in the over-50 age range and not acclimated to the heat. Sorry Mom!) By the time we pulled ourselves away from our perch out on the rocks and made our way around the mountain trail, the sun was already scorching hot!

mixing the dough

Tuesday we focused on the culinary scene with a private cooking demonstration at Marie Claire’s house. We learned how to make makala, sweet dough rolled into small balls and fried in peanut oil. The final product is the African version of a donut hole and very yummy. The process involved first hopping on a crowded green bus and going to the open-air market to buy flour, baking soda, yeast, sugar, and salt (which happened to be right next to the stalls selling all sorts of animal parts covered in flies). We bought a whole lot of flour and as Marie Claire bartered the price down and the vender added more and more flour to the sack and I just stood there wondering how exactly we were supposed to get all our goods home. I shouldn’t have worried. When Marie Claire was finally satisfied with the price and the amount of flour she scooped up the huge sack of flour and balanced it gracefully on her head and weaving her way back through the crowded market like there was nothing to it. Well of course… why hadn’t I thought of that?! At Marie Claire’s house we not only learned how to make makala, we also learned the art of making a cooking fire. Marie Claire’s daughters couldn’t stop laughing when they realized how uneducated we all were on African cooking and fire making!

Caitlin ready to make some makala

Wednesday morning we went to the Central African Republic Museum to learn all about the country’s history and culture. Yes, believe it or not, Bangui does have a museum. If anyone who knew anything at all about proper museum preservation and maintenance wandered into this place they’d probably have a huge heart attack but my mom and I overlooked all this and enjoyed our personal guided tour. It’s not a very large museum but it was interesting none the less and our tour was the extended version due to the fact that the information had to be translated from French into Sango for me and then I had to translate into English for my mom. We were just trying to get our money’s worth. It was pretty easy translating: “And this over here is a document the first president signed… and here is a gorilla someone shot and stuffed 50 years ago… and these are musical instruments Africans use for ceremonies…” Going through the museum reminded me of how culturally rich Central Africa is and still is. The things in the museum are things like you’d see in an American museum covering ancient civilizations or National Geographic like aboriginal cultures but here in Africa it seems strange that these things are in a museum because all you have to do is walk outside and go a little out of town and these things are a part of modern every day life.

Our last activity was a tour of the Mocaf factory. Mocaf is the company that produces all Central African beverages including Castel beer and an array of sodas. Factory tours are not a norm here but my friend Sophie (the US ambassador’s daughter) knows one of the French managers so we pulled some strings and got a private tour (too bad the tour was all in French). The factory happens to be the only factory in the whole country and it’s not large, only around 150 workers total. That should tell you something about the shape of this country’s economy.

Between all these activities, our trips to the pool, meals in the air conditioned Grand Café and fancy French restaurants with live music, I feel like we pretty much nailed the whole Bangui tourist thing. Mission accomplished.