Little America

Last week I was in San Diego for a conference.  When the conference ended I went to San Francisco for a few days to visit my friend Brian.  I had never been to San Fran before, so while my first priority was visiting Brian and his family whom I hadn’t seen in over a year, a close second was checking out the city.  One of our excursions took us to Chinatown, which is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, and the oldest in North America.  The funny thing about all that stuff being sold in Chinatown… is that it is all made in India!  I took great pleasure in picking up all the little trinkets, turning them over, anticipating a “Made in China” tag, only to be shocked upon reading, “Made in India” instead.  What IS the world coming to?

Somewhere between the fortune cookie factories, the foot reflexology massage advertisements and the Indian made chopsticks, I was reminded of a conversation I had with some friends about a similar phenomenon... Little America.

Believe it or not, Africa is not typically known for being culinarily sophisticated or diverse, but there is evidence to the contrary.  There are at least three established Chinatowns on the continent, in Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa; Mombasa, Kenya hosts a huge annual Oktoberfest; and Johannesburg has a Little Italy.   One afternoon I was sitting in the lounge at Joburg Airport with some recently acquired single serving friends discussing these types of ethnically-centered communities.  A Brit made the comment (in the way only a Brit could say it), “I don’t understand, why aren’t there any Little Americas?”  To which I responded (as only an American could), “Of course there are!  In fact there are several thousand of them.”  After a belated pause for effect and the expected exchange of confused glances I continued, “And you have all been there, likely many times.  It is called McDonald’s!”

The mention of McDonald’s sent the conversation off on a completely different tangent, one in which only a tourism professor could dominate, and so I did.  My companions began debating the merits of McDonald’s, the menus selected according to geographical region and questioned why some countries have a never-ending supply of McDonald’s, while other areas, particularly the large majority of Africa were McDonald’s-free zones.  Even the Brit admitted, “The last four months in Zimbabwe have been the longest of my life.  I would have killed for a Big Mac.”  There are only five African countries with McDonald’s restaurants: Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Mauritius and Reunion Island.  The other 49 countries are sans-Mickey-D’s.  In case you are curious as to why McDonald’s has not infiltrated the continent there is a simple answer: The Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention.

In 1999 Thomas Friedman wrote the book The Lexus and the Olive Tree in which he stated, “No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s.”  In the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention chapter, Friedman goes on to explain that McDonald’s will only enter a country that has reached a certain level of economic development, one which supports a middle class that can patronize a McDonald’s establishment.  Once a country has that kind of financial security it becomes a “McDonald’s country,” one which is stable enough not to want to pursue potentially destructive actions, such as wars.

In all fairness, The Golden Arches Theory is not absolute.  In fact, shortly after the book was published NATO bombed Yugoslavia.  The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon and the current crisis with Russia and Ukraine are other examples which make the theory flawed.  But at the same time, there are countries which could be categorized as possible “McDonald’s countries” which haven’t made the cut.  Namibia and Botswana haven’t been in wars with anyone since independence, 24 years and 48 years, respectively.

Trust me, I am NOT advocating the spread of McDonald’s, particularly into Africa.  I would much rather see these countries develop their own businesses outside of the big brand giants.  But I have to admit, there is nothing more challenging than teaching in Botswana and saying to your class of 100+ students, “Ok, you know how McDonald’s does XYZ?”  You look into the crowd of faces and realize everyone is staring back at you completely clueless as to what you are talking about.  “No, no most definitely do not know how McDonald’s does XYZ, or anything for that matter.  Never mind, give me a second, I can find another example for you.”  At some point in your academic career you think you are pretty well versed in your field.  And then you get a little reality check like this one and remember that learning should never stop.

Here is a map of countries with and without McDonald’s, along with some other interesting facts.  It should be noted there is a mistake on this map: the large red spot in northwest (top left side) Africa is Algeria which does NOT have a McDonald’s.  Instead that should be blue and there should be a red area NEXT to it (on the left) where Morocco lies.  Minor detail, unless of course you are Moroccan or Algerian:

“Dr. Kelly, what do you think about Service Quality in Botswana?”

I could see the question coming from a mile away, and despite all efforts was unable to manage an escape prior to it actually being asked.

I sort of co-teach a class with another Lecturer here at UB.  The course is called Tourism in Botswana.  Since I am grossly under qualified to teach a tourism course focused entirely on Botswana, he teaches the class and I supplement the material by providing outside examples and relating it to the worldwide tourism industry.  There is a published course syllabus but that has little to do with what is actually covered in any given class session.  My colleague often shows up and teaches whatever strikes his fancy.  Thus, I often feel unprepared for what to expect and have to be ready to provide input on the fly.

Yesterday’s class focused on Service Quality.  As soon as I saw the topic I wish I had called in sick.  I had little good to say about anything service-related here in Botswana, or Africa for that matter, but knew I would inevitably be asked to provide an outside opinion.  As the instructor was highlighting the importance of various customer service principles I began jotting down notes I could refer to later when it came time for me to speak.  While listening to the lecture and the students’ questions I began thinking about the frustration involved when I attempted to get my university ID.

Then one of my students, Martin, said something very profound.  He said, “I was at dinner with my parents in a restaurant here in Gaborone.  The waiter hadn’t been back to my table since he gave us our food.  I tried to get his attention so I could get more water.  My parents yelled at me and said, ‘You are a child.  You have two legs.  Get up and fetch your own water.’”

This story reminded me of an incident from when I was in Kenya for my conference.  At one of the dinner events my entire table had been seated for easily 20 minutes and no server had ever been around to take drink orders.  Several of us tried to get someone’s attention until I finally got up, went to the bar, took 8 glasses, filled them with water, put them on a tray, and carried them back to my table myself.

Martin’s story was met by a round of commentary from the rest of the class, some taking Martin’s side, and some agreeing with his parents.  Finally a girl said, “You know, most foreigners focus on really minute details, like the water thing.  I just don’t think those kinds of things are important.”  This comment prompted my colleague to ask, “Dr. Kelly, what do you think about service quality in Botswana?”

I answered initially by giving a lot of examples of “foreigners” and service quality elsewhere.  I told them being a server in a café in Paris is considered a respectable job, which is why they take pride in their work and make sure their customers are well cared for.  I told them in China a position in a hotel or restaurant was considered an embarrassment because you are admitting someone else is your superior.

I was beginning to think I was losing them so I decided to boil it down, “Here’s the thing that matters.  Botswana has the highest price point for tourism products in Sub-Saharan Africa.  If I’m spending $1,000 a night in Botswana I expect to get water.  If I’m not going to get water I might as well go to Zim where I only have to spend $100 night to be thirsty.”  Ultimately, I got through to them.  There is one thing the Batswana do NOT want, and that is to be compared to Zimbabwe. 

“What’s a drive-thru?”

About a week ago I wrote a blog post about the lack of restaurants here in Botswana (Who goes to a restaurant only once per month?). Today I had to go back and visit my friends with whom I had that conversation.  I hadn’t seen them in a little while, so they were asking me how I was settling in, about my classes and again, we discussed food and restaurants.  Mompati was saying he had read an article about obesity in America and wanted to know if restaurants were the reason.  The conversation bounced back and forth between restaurants, fast food, obesity, cooking, and then I said those two magic words…drive thru.

Gladys and Mompati exchanged glances then asked in unison, “What’s a drive-thru?”

I explained how drive-thrus were available at fast food chains, banks, dry cleaners, liquor stores, post offices, pharmacies and chapels (for both marriages and funerals!).  However, despite my attempts at explaining how the drive-thru worked they didn’t quite get it.

Back in Lubbock I am known for having a rather rowdy office on occasion.  Part of that is because my graduate students and I like to do “demonstrations.” Before I went to China my graduate students organized a demonstration of how to walk properly in Asia.  When I returned I presented my own demonstration of how to successfully enter the subway.  Typically these little gatherings involve a lot of laughter and color commentary.  My graduate students would have been proud, because when I couldn’t figure out a way to properly explain a drive-thru I proposed a demonstration.

Mompati was getting ready to leave campus anyway, so I went out and drew a path in the dirt and indicated the path he should follow and where to stop.  Unfortunately, after 30 years of frequenting drive-thrus myself I made a fatal mistake on the first try, I bent down on the left side of the car (driver’s side in the U.S., but passenger’s side here) to “take his order.”  Oops, scratch that.

Take Two went a bit more smoothly.  He drove up to the “entrance” where I took his order a la imaginary menu board and microphone.  Then he proceeded to the second window where he paid, and then a third where he received his food.

The demonstration itself was a lot of fun, as were the questions which followed: “But, why don’t you just park the car and walk into the store?” “What if I want to go in the store? Does this mean I can’t?” “Do I have to eat the food in the car?” “I don’t get it.”

When McDonald’s first opened drive-thrus in China people couldn’t understand the concept either.  People would go through the drive-thru to purchase their food, then park and take the food back inside the restaurant to eat it.

Needless to say, not all American inventions are easily translatable or welcome.  Some are willingly embraced while others are less readily adopted.  I have it on good authority that, “Botswana would never do this.”  I hope he’s correct.  But there is one thing I always say to my students, “Never say ‘never’ my friends.”

Who goes to a restaurant only once per month?

As many people who know me are aware, I don’t particularly like eating at restaurants.  I’m not necessarily opposed to restaurants, but if given the choice between making my own meal at home or eating out I would choose the first option 9 times out of 10.   The biggest reason for avoiding restaurants is my food allergies and wanting to avoid getting sick.  But at the same time eating out is probably the number 1 social activity in the U.S. I found out today that is definitely not the case here in Botswana.

I hadn’t noticed it until the conversation began, but there are practically no restaurants here.  There are probably about 5 restaurants at the mall. But driving around from place to place I never see any restaurants.

I completed my PhD at Purdue (Boiler Up!) in Lafayette, IN.  According to UrbanSpoon there are 259 restaurants in Lafayette, which has a population of 67,000 people.  That means for every 258 people in Lafayette there is one food outlet.  If the same formula was used, that would mean there should be at least 900 restaurants/fast food operations here.  We could even be conservative and go for half that.  But there is not 450 food and beverage outlets here, not even close.  I would be shocked if there were 100 restaurants here.

This afternoon I was visiting with two friends on campus, Mompati and Gladys, and the topic of food was broached.  As the “new kid on the block” they were asking if I could cook.  I told them that yes, I cook, and according to my taste testers I was an excellent chef.  Of course I failed to mention most of my tasting victims were graduate students who could not possibly be completely objective and were probably stressed out as I was standing over them insisting, “Do you like it? Do you? DO YOU?”

Somehow the conversation shifted from recipes to restaurants.  They asked me about restaurants in the U.S. and I easily listed and described 20 or more from memory.  They were dumbfounded.  They told me it would be unusual to eat in a restaurant more than once a month here.  Sometimes they didn’t even eat out once a month.  I told them that was unheard of in the U.S. and sometimes people eat out every day or even multiple times a day.  Mompati and Gladys looked at each other in such shock; you would have thought I just told them I was an alien.  Though I can relate in small part to their disbelief, I can definitely think of a few people who would find a year without McDonald’s, Chic-fil-A, and Pizza Hut a little tough.

For the curious out there here is the ONE fast food chain my friends could name for me.  I will check it sometime and report back.  Also, I should mention there is only ONE location for that chain (the chain in South African, there are no true Botswana fast food chains) in the entire country.