Wednesday, July 22, 2009

McDonald's, Ugandan style- sort of


Along the roads here you see these guys making chapatis, a greasy-ish tortilla, baked over yes, a wheel rim cooker. This photo has a lot of cultural points. The not-too-clean counter where he rolls out the chapati, the wheel cooker (open BBQ grill of sorts), the overhang covered with bits of plastic to keep the rain away a bit, plus anything heavy thrown up on that "roof" to hold the plastic down from the wind, the rocky ground where they only need to move the stones around a bit to make a smoother surface for standing, the building (usually this type of building is where squatters live or work) and the woman washing dishes outside for either herself or for the chapati guy. It really says a lot about the culture here, so I thought you'd like to see a little of reality, African style.

FYI we make our own chapatis inside our homes, on clean surfaces, with a stove and a frying pan. They're good with anything wrapped in the middle, or on their own with hot tea (a typical breakfast here is chapati and hot tea).