Moving on swiftly from Philosophy to Gastronomy...

The arrival of a constant municipal electricity supply at Djenne Djenno has opened up a whole spectrum of culinary possibilities: we are now able to make ice cream, for instance. And here are Papa and Fatou in the kitchen doing just that. They are using a recipe for banana ice cream from my tried and trusted 'Carribbean Cooking' by Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz. But we are adding our own invention, the crucial ingredient cinnamon.
When I was a little girl in Sweden, my mother kindly allowed me to have a party for my class mates in our house. On the menu was ice cream of course. 'You can have as much ice cream as you like' said my mother excitedly. OK, fine, I replied, modestly impressed. My mother was raised in a small Swedish town during the war years. Ice cream was known, and had perhaps even been tasted, but was regarded as a delectable distant mirage. 25 years on in the Sweden of my childhood, ice cream was still nice, but no longer possessed the qualities of the Holy Grail.

But in Djenne, Mali, it is safe to say that ice cream made its first triumphal entry yesterday . The French for for ice cream 'Glace' meant only 'ice' here until last night. The new Djenne Djenno 'Glace de banane a la cannelle' was fit for kings, it was agreed by the whole staff, who all got to taste it.
Move over and tremble Amandine's of Bamako!