Bench shuffling...the great equalizer

The waiting rooms of immigration halls are the few places in the world that bridge that vast social divide. I was recently at the Nanterre Prefecture Immigration office renewing my Carte de Séjour, and it dawned me that: for as long as I am a guest in a country that is not my own, I will spend some fraction of my life doing the bench shuffle.

The bench shuffle is that tedious movement you make on a waiting room bench, often plastic, in the immigration hall of your host country while waiting to be legitimized in some way. Whether you’re seeking a temporary or permanent status; fleeing or touring; are financial secure or spiritually content; a captain of industry or of your own street corner  - the bench shuffle is for everyone. It does not discriminate.

I saw it with my last visit, clutching my mandatory official-looking manila envelope that held  everything about who I am: not my name and my profession, but my name and a very odd designation : étrangère (foreigner). The monitors, high up above our heads, counted down every one foreigner served at the numerous counters, indicating waiting times varying between 35 and 97minutes. Yes, they calculated down to the last minute the amount of time we would spend shuffling those 5 centimetres, every 5 minutes.

I am still unsure of whether those monitors are on real time or if they are just a form of cruel and unusual punishment meted out by some sadistic immigration official. Give them a really random range and let them mull over that while we have our coffee break. Either way, you are held hostage by that bench – move and you lose your place – nod off and you miss your number. So we grimace and bear it, along with the hordes of crying babies, bored teenagers, apprehensive mothers, and agitated fathers of British, African, Chinese, Algerian and Eastern European descent alike because in those immigration halls, we are all equal.

Gastronomy in Ghana: The View Bar & Grill, Kumasi

The Kumasi restaurant scene is getting a new addition soon, with the opening of The View Bar & Grill scheduled for December 2013.
General Manager, Marcus Etty had this to say about it:

FOOD will be the soul of The View Bar & Grill. British Head Chef Danny Cornwell, former Executive chef of critically acclaimed Café Des Amis in Covent Garden, London and private chef for the Rolling Stones and Elton John has put together a menu that will incorporate British gastronomy blended with classic French Brasserie cuisine.

The DRINKS menu will offer the best of classic, premium and signature drinks, together with an extensive wine list.

MUSIC will be at the heart of this new establishment. Feature nights of Jazz and Blues, Nu Soul and R&B and Soulful House work alongside daily playlists of the very best vintage and new music.

I  looking forward to reading comments and reviews about this place once it has opened.

International Day for Tolerance

What does this day mean to you?
This was the first year I ackowledged it, even though the issue of tolerance is a recurring theme in politics and in life in general.
This post first appeared on
African Writing Blogs .

Slumming it has become fashionable once again

Poverty tourism, slum tourism or the industry of poorism - whichever label you give it, I have always been very uncomfortable with it. When it is hawked as a cultural learning exercise – I am not even sure what that is really supposed to mean – I can understand it to a point, but on the face of it, it’s exploitative, demeaning and misery-as-entertainment.

What does it essentially mean? Take a bus load of tourists, all eager to experience and learn about all facets of the country they are visiting – the good and the bad – away from their four-star hotels and pristine beaches, into the heart of a township, favela or slum of a developing country. The point being to give them a better understanding of the socio-economic divisions of that country. Is there not enough information out there available to better inform? I do not have to visit the slums of Mumbai to fully understand the dire poverty under which people live. All this education is done within a very  limited time period of course. It can be a meal in a local restaurant serving local cuisine carefully adapted to suit the foreign palate; it always includes a walking tour, with photo opportunities with the unschooled local children, and often ends with a bus load of self-satisfied tourists armed with their newly-acquired bragging rights, who will start off dinner conversations months later with: “When I visited the favela…township…slum of [insert developing country of choice]…”.

Photo source: Reuters

South Africa did it in the 80s, as a means of educating tourists about apartheid, it continued during and well after the 2010 Soccer World Cup - taking curious tourists into its townships as part of the overall tourist experience . I don’t think France organized tours into its impoverished crime-ridden banlieus in 1998; and I am almost certain that South Korea and Japan were not as quick to showcase their less attractive sides to the curious tourist; I can’t say much for Germany either in 2006,  but now Brazil is fine-tuning its poverty tourism in anticipation for the 2014 World Cup.

Proponents of this industry - yes it is an industry – argue that it encourages tourism to the marginalized parts of these countries; that it creates jobs and generates income; and that it builds a sense of worth amongst the slum inhabitants. The first two points I get – factor in the multiplier effect of the tourism revenue earned and theoretically a community should be better off. But the latter point? How does being curiously observed and photographed by tourists in one's home, for the simple reason that one is poor build a sense of self worth? Tune in David Attenborough’s famous nature documentary voice overs on these tours and you’ll see my point.

I always wonder if the number of tourists that descend upon Paris and France in general, no matter what the season have been curious enough to want to visit the country's less appealing sensitive urban zones (ZUS). Probably not, that would tarnish their ideal of the country’s well-burnished image. They sheepishly step over the homeless along the glitzy Champs-Elysées avenue , and I am certain they would not want to spend a morning ogling them in their natural habitat. Best leave that to the developing countries - let them showcase their own poverty and perpetuate that image of misery.

Château de Chenonceau, Chenonceaux

Château de Chenonceau for me was the best of the châteaux that we saw. It is a magnificent chateau with its landscaped gardens, bien sûr, but moreover its well-restored and maintained interiors. It is awe-inspiring with its reach across the River Cher. The audio tour, which we always make use of, has a children's version that for the little visitors with shorter attention spans worked very well.

Contemporary, delightful cuisine at Le Patio, Amboise

Le Patio in Amboise did not disappoint. We steered fairly clear of the restaurants right in front of the Château after reading reviews such as "overpriced tourist traps...", and made our way to the contemporary Le Patio. With its modern decor and contemporary menu which did not offer the usual french fare, it also proved to be great value for money.

The delightful meal began with a creamy leek with magret du canard, and carrot with  prawn soups, and pan-fried duck liver on pear; which were followed by a roasted partridge -  a taste between chicken and duck; salmon and dorado from the menu du marché , and dessert of chocolate mousse on crème de la vanille and rice pudding brulée - the latter was the only disappointing selection from the menu. The restaurant also offers a tasting menu from their menu d'inspiration. Overall the experience was excellent and just what we needed in between our châteaux viewing.