For G we returned to Africa to do a western central African country called Gabon. Located in a pretty unstable region of Africa (DRC, CAR, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, etc.) but it is a relatively stable. But you probably haven’t heard of this country. Colonized by the French, who have made a huge dent in the country’s culture, language, and cuisine.

We chose Gabon as some countries are too well-known like Germany and Greece, while some like Georgia and Guatemala have the same culture and cuisine as previous countries we have studied. Overall, Gabon is a very surprising, interesting country filled with gorillas, baguettes, and national parks. Happy travels!

 

Interesting Facts:

• Gabon is home to over 25% of the natural Gorilla population, mostly western lowland, This is the most out of any country in the world.
• Almost 80-85% of Gabon’s land is covered by National parks
• Only 3.1% of the population is over the age of 65
• Gabon is home to hundreds, maybe thousands of limestone caves yet to be explored.

For more information about Gabon, check out our presentation here: Gabon Info.

FOOD

Gabonese food is very, very french influenced. They eat a lot of French food such as baguettes and beignets. Gabon also is influent by local flavors like palm oil and okra. Gabonese cuisine is very similar to creole cuisine from Louisiana as the use okra,, peppers and lots of creole ingredients. The food was actually good for an African cuisine.

Breakfast

 

Beignet– Just in time for Fat Tuesday we ate these beignets which were delicuious covered in powder sugar. They come from Gabon’s French influence and can be found sold all over.

Fried Plantains – This is another favorite food in Gabon – eaten anytime of day.

Dinner

 

Poulet Nyembwe Recipe – This is the national dish of Gabon and reminded us a lot of
gumbo. It has rich but spicy flavors that came from the smoke chicken and palm nut oil we had to buy at the African store. It was yummy but the smoke chicken with the bones was a little hard to eat

Fufu – They eat the plantain fufu in Gabon with everything. It kind of tastes like mash potatoes, though I like the yam kind better

Couscous – They also love couscous with lots of things, including dessert.

CULTURE

 

For the Culture of Gabon we made these masks that come from the Fang tribe who make up about 40% of the Gabonese population and are found in the eastern parts of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. These masks have been made by Fang society since pretty much, forever.

White painted masks are used for punishing or killing sorcerers who had done bad
things or broke the law. Most masks though, have been linked to the dead Fang or are used in ceremonies, like when a boy becomes a man. We learned more about the masks here: Fang Masks Info.

We decided to make our own mini masks out of clay. We have fun making them with their long features, though we never go around to painting them.

Next we are going back to Europe for a landlocked country that eats goulash called…

– By Isaac

 

 

 

 

 

For F we find ourselves back up in the Nordic countries to Finland (which is considered Nordic but NOT considered Scandinavia, by the way.) I really like learning about this  very interesting and unique country . It seems when the Russians weren’t attempting to take over their land, the Finns were drinking coffee, basking in saunas, playing hockey or making up ridiculous sports.

Finland has loads of lakes (55,000) and natural forests (timber is its major industries) and has also been on the forefront of social reform, including women’s rights and public education. Consequently, Finland is typically rated as one of the happiest countries in the world

Here are some more interesting facts about Finland:

• Finnish has its own language group – Finno-Ugric language group. (The only other languages included in it are Hungarian and Estonian)
• The sauna was invented in Finland and you can find them anywhere – including a Burger King in Helsinki! In fact, in Finland there are more saunas than cars.
• Despite having the population of Minnesota, Finland has 49 players in the National Hockey League, the fourth most behind Russia and Canada.
• Speeding fines in Finland are calculated based on the drivers income. So you can pay up to $100,00 USD for driving over the speed limit!

For more information on Finland you can read here: Finland Info

FOOD

Finish food is what you would expect from Nordic cuisine. Lots of of hearty food like potatoes and rye bread, sausage and smoked fish. Not very many spices are used by the are heavy on the butter!

Breakfast

 

Korvapusti (Finnish cinnamon rolls) – These were so delicious! Slightly different from their Swedish cousins – cut on an angle and topped with sugar and not icing. (Also a hint of cardamon flavoring!)

Blueberries – We couldn’t find Finnish bilberries, so we decided to eat their American counterpart

Coffee and Milk – Because, well, the Finnish drink the more cups of both of these than any other country in the world!!!

Dinner

 

Karjalanpiirakka – These pastries originated in Karelia, the mythical birthplace of Kalevala, the epic 19th century poem that is classic in Finnish culture. And they were surprisingly yummy! I was skeptical of the egg an butter topping and baked rice but it all worked nicely together. (And BTW, we could not find rye flour so we used buckwheat flour and crushed caraway seeds and it worked great!)

Grillimakkara (Finnish sausage) – Delicious as expected! We couldn’t actually find real Finnish sausages so we relied on a German variety!

Uudet Pernau (New potatoes) – These are apparently a sign of spring in Finland and loved all over the country. They are served with various toppings but we just chose a simple salt, butter and dill.

Pickled Beets – One of the more popular (and locally grown) vegetables in Finland.

CULTURE

The Finns are known for inventing some crazy sports and competitions. They have official air guitar competitions (as they do love their heavy metal) and swamp football games. But what they are probably most known for is wife-carrying races! Apparently We learned about the RULES and what a VIDEO or two. Then decided to try it ourselves. (Err, rather brother/sister/child carrying races.)

Apparently the course has to be 831 feet long and have three obstacles (one water-based) But due to a limited back yard space and cold weather we modified it a bit. Here is are the results of Isaac carrying Eve (he attempted carrying Andrew but it didn’t last long!): Sister Carrying. Andrew carried Eve and I also carried Isaac as well.

Everyone concluded it was lots of fun – especially being the one carried – so long as your partner didn’t jump too much!

Next up for G we move back to as Isaac’s puts it “another random African country,” can you guess which one?