Spaghetti Shack

The spaghetti shack is Abidjan's version of the diner. I actually had no idea spaghetti was such a popular food item. These little eateries are usually blue (so I've discerned from on of my infamous, informal and highly unscientific surveys) but can also be green or orange, or any color I suppose. They host a bar area complete with stools or benches where patrons sit, watch TV or listen to music and eat a bowl of spaghetti. They seem to be great gathering spots for conversation and interactions with strangers. Many also seem to have the air of a pub- Cheers style- bringing together the same round of regular customers who chat about the news and enjoy each other's company over a plate of pasta.

Our neighborhood just got its own spaghetti shack a few months ago and it's already become well established as a place to be. I was amazed at how quick and seemingly simply it went up. The owner had electric lines dug in and there is a small tv for the all important matches. Mohamed has watched several soccer games from there and has become enamored with the fare.

Even closer to our house is another small business that has popped up in the last week or so. I think it is a rice shack, though we're not quite certain. I thought it might be a chicken shack but they don't have one of those large grills for preparing the bird. The women who are a mere 10 steps away sell rice with sauce grain and I don't think they are in competition. I'm not really sure.

But I did watch the newest shack go up with a sense of awe and inspiration. It's a 'new' building but looks as if it could have been there for years. Or since yesterday. Buildings in Africa seem to have that way about them. You can never really tell if they are going up or coming down.

It was a simple construction and now some entrepreneurs are trying their hand at business. It serves to remind me that all I really need to succeed is a strong desire and not necessarily a lot of money (though I often get stuck in my mind by the barrier of poverty preventing me form doing what I imagine.) I've developed a new response to all those defeatist kinds of thoughts. I simply tell myself, "I'm not going to listen to that idea" and then try to remember the building of the shacks. If they can do it, surely I can too.

I sent Nabih out to snap some photos.

The newest of the eateries- we're still not exactly sure what they sell

An artistic interpretation of the food stand

Our friendly neighborhood phone credit cabine entrepenur
He sells a bit of everything and gives away
good spirit and glad tidings for free

The spaghetti shack- at an angle only Nabih can appreciate

Ivon hanging at the tables next to his phone cabine
People gather here to share lunch in the day
 and in the night it is a quite hopping spot 

No collection of shacks and food would be complete without our version of the veggie shack:

The kids built this which was sort of fun to make

and tastier to eat

Even if it was supposed to look more like this.