A Tradition Borne Out of Necessity

In 2008, I spent my first American Independence Day on the African continent. I was studying abroad in Tanzania at the time, and my classmates and I were searching for some good old fashioned American food to eat. But we weren't in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in the country, or Arusha, a cosmopolitan city in the country's northeast. No, on July 4, 2008, we were in Mwanza, a large city on the shores of Lake Victoria that exudes a small town feel. Restaurant options were limited, so we went to the most American restaurant we could find: a pizza place. Kuleana, the pizzeria, didn't have spectacular pizza, but it hit the spot and was about as close as we were going to get to our goal. I vowed to spend more American Independence Days in Africa and promised myself that if I did, pizza would become my holiday tradition.

Fast forward to 2016, and I find myself back in Africa and once again in a city where American food options are limited. What's a guy to do? Yep, you guessed it. Pizza it is. Debonair's, a South African chain, in fact. Is it good pizza? No, not particularly, but it isn't terrible and the memories it brings of 2008 makes it absolutely delicious. I've always wondered how people's random traditions are borne. Some are clearly passed down from generation to generation, some are clearly cultural, and some are definitely a result of necessity and happenstance. It's why, stereotypically, Jews eat Chinese food and go to the movies on Christmas. And now why I will have pizza on American Independence Day. It's all because I was in a far-off city and pizza was the closest thing to American food I could get.

Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate, enjoy some Bruce. There's little that's more patriotic than listening to Bruce.