African Fiesta Cafe

18/09/2024

Following a shepherd in action is very interesting. There is much more to it than just a flock of sheep! It was in the Occitanie region in SW France

18/09/2024

Looking through the 18th century chateau window... history simmers inside, adventure beckons outside ...

17/09/2024

Happiness in the crosshairs and at the crossroads of life makes a crazy pattern of emotions

16/09/2024

A drawing I made on the suggestion of my grand-daughter: "Make a heart full of hearts", here it is, yay!

28/06/2024

Happy how this photo shoot resulted in a sort of amphibian pattern ....

25/06/2024

Notre logo evolue avec les petits poissons faisant reference au mot "Pesquies" qui designe un endroit ou l'on trouve du poisson. Logiquement, la couleur rouge des poissons se reflete dans la bordure dans le meme rouge qui evoque noblesse et en meme temps les creneaux d'un vieux chateau. Nous edperons qu'il vous plait aussi!

Our logo evolves with 4 little fish added, in reference to the word "Pesquies" that designates a locality with fish. The matching red border hints at royalty and the fortifications of an old castle. We hope you like it!

20/06/2024

Wildflower bounty, and you should hear all the busy bees and beetles and the birds chirping on every branch and twig!

19/06/2024

J'adore deambuler sous les nombreux tilleuls de mon village en ce moment d'eclosion de douce senteur de fleurs et de miel....mmmm

10/06/2024

A dreamy portrait of a beast that is ready to pounce ... Bugatti Mistral ...

08/06/2024

Voluptuous power. Nothing more, nothing less.
Captured at Top Marques Monaco Monte-Carlo 2024

23/05/2024

My absolute favorite pre-summer impression of Cinque Terre, Italy:

15/05/2024

Fluffy clouds being born after a heavy downpour ...

04/05/2024

Part 8:
Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?
(Border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

Somebody pushes me.
“Come on, move, cantee-een!”
“Okay-okay, no worries. Go ahead, I’ll follow you guys.”
The menu is posted right at the entrance of the canteen. Simone pointed it out to me. Today, there is spaghetti bolognese, parmesan, spring salad, pink French dressing and lemon meringue tart. One of my favorite meals, I can hardly believe it!
The chef must have quite a good culinary training, I am now convinced he has. The spaghetti and salsa remind me of my holidays in Italy, as a kid. They are a tiny tad overcooked, but in a collective kitchen this is to be foreseen. The spaghetti are cut in short bits so that they would fit in the limited compartment of the food tray. In Italy, nobody would ever dare to cut spaghetti threads. The longer, the better. It is like a belief or a superstition, even if one has to suck them in or roll them around the fork. The long spaghetti are a symbol for a long life and a long line of good luck. For real, one would never ever think of cutting something promising good fortune in Italy. Of course, a cook in prison can be forgiven as they probably were never given the opportunity to travel to Italy nor considered and even less studieed the gastronomical and cultural superstitions that were in all likelyhood transmitted by the Chinese as the original long noodles came from them. The lemon meringue tart is delicious. I am relishing each bite.
by Peggy Kankonde
Authorities advised me not to collaborate with a US physician to write a book, pushed me to apply for a tourist visa, then arrested and detained me, an immigration judge suggested we got married while detained and pursue a greencard, such application was compromised by a wrongful accusation off-the-record by the final interview officer followed by ten years of platonic messages on repeat: Your file is under extended review. Feeling unwelcome is an understatement.

02/05/2024

Part 7:

Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?
(Border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

The clock reads four thirty in the afternoon.

“Ladies. Canteen!”

What the heck? A meal in the middle of the afternoon? For me, it would rather be the right time for “Afternoon Tea”, a nicely British tea, with a China teapot, small matching delicate cups, butter cookies and warm raspberry preserve. To then attack the second half of my day which usually stretches at least until midnight. While I get in line by the door of our pod I try to imagine the scene: I hold my lovely yellow teapot with the ciseled golden trim motive, and the cute little cups, I put them gently onto the tray. The small spoons as well. I fill the little jug with milk and add cookies and a few chocolates on a plate. Then, I am focusing on the tea ceremony. Boil the water, pour it into the teapot. While it warms up, I boil some more water. I select the tea: a pleasant Ceylon filling the cups with a lovely red hue. I am pouring the freshly hot water over the tea and carry the tray to the sofa table. I enjoy chilling by my husband’s side, with my children, or on my own, it depends on the circumstances. We chat, or read a book or make a to-do-list for later.

Somebody pushes me.

“Come on, move, cantee-een!”

“Okay-okay, no worries. Go ahead, I’ll follow you guys.”

30/04/2024

Part 6:
Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?
(Border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

All there is left to hope for is a game of ping-pong and one game of fusbol with Simone. At least we will spend a pleasant moment, even if locked up inside. I will do all I can to obtain it. I am an optimist by nature. I love to move, run, play. Like a kitten or puppy, always ready for action, like running after a ball.
The noise of the air conditioner that has finally been turned on, covers the few timid whispers. Almost everyone sleeps during the recount this afternoon, a recount that seems to never end. And I do not sleep. I might go for a five minute power nap, later, certainly not yet if it can be avoided. I hate falling asleep in the afternoon. It always causes me nightmares and headaches on waking up, like when one falls asleep on the beach under a blazing hot sun. No thanks to waking up with a headache and gummy legs. Not for me.

27/04/2024

Part 5:

Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?
(Border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

Even when it rains or the sun beats down, we are not allowed to protect our heads when we march to the canteen, not even with our hands. Today, our soggy hair worsens our haggard appearance more than usual. Here we are, a bunch of weakened girls and women, rigged in our bare threaded grey-blue uniforms, providing a sad spectacle on this rainy day under a leaded sky. But the miracle of the desert evaporates the clouds and all the puddles on the ground in an instant and lets the sun shine down on us again. Yet, we are not allowed to play basketball. As per the rules, on rainy days, there is no yard time. Even if in the meantime the rain has stopped and the last drop of water disappeared into the air. Does this even make sense? To tell the truth, it is only rarely that they concede us the alloted yard hour and some physical activity in the sun and fresh air, although it is clearly mentioned in the rules of this prison as well as in our detainee manual. A manual in which the respect of human rights is mentioned, too. Anyway, it simply means that today again, the sun will not be allowed to add a smudgeon of blush to our pale cheeks.

26/04/2024

26/04/2024

Part 4:
Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?
(Border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

Absolute silence. Many sleep. Others read the bible. The police radio attached to the shoulder of the guard seems like a parrot sitting there, on that broad rounded shoulder. It is raining and pretty cold outside. I can sense a stream of cold air passing under the heavy metal door where I sometimes go stand for a little when the air inside the pod saturates from heat and moisture. Once again, I seem to be one of the few who misses fresh air. Simone shares my experience and also enjoys fresh air, except when the weather is too cold, like early in the morning. Let’s not forget that Simone was born in Africa!

25/04/2024

Day 3 of 8:

Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?
(Border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

There is a crackle on the police radio. The message does not conern us. The radio sounds again. Announcing one detainee, female, danger level one, is on her way from Delta to the medical center. Delta is the pod next to ours. I wonder where pod C is located, since we are B and the nearest one is D, where then is C? Clearly, I am the only one intrigued by this quizzical fact.
“Level one” means the least dangerous level, without physical violence. We, the ones of danger level one, are wearing the dull grey-blue uniform. However, a few among us wear the orange suit, like in the movies. I’m looking up the chapter “Uniforms” in my manual: the color orange indicates a danger level “two”, meaning that it is attributed to persons that have a history of demonstrating physical violence. Me, I am a level one, grey-blue, the least dangerous. Yet, it still means, that we represent some level of danger, just the least dangerous level of danger. How dare they even consider me dangerous? In case I had a nervous breakdown? Or a hysterical fit? As long as I can, I will avoid any such thing. I would hate that they might see me in such an unflattering position.

23/04/2024

For 8 days, each day a tiny paragraph from my book:
Arbitrary arrest and detention, a daily occurrence. What if you were next?

(Immigration Detention Center on the border between Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, US)

Once again, the dreaded count.

“Ladies, on your beds.”

On our beds. Twenty minutes of waiting, twenty minutes that seem like hours. For now, nobody has counted us yet. My gaze fixes the clock on the wall, positioned almost opposite my bunk. Why hadn’t I at least picked up something to read? I feel like abandoned on a deserted island surrounded by an ocean of nothingness. Not a move. The guard concentratedly checks the inventory of the game box which, for real, is nothing more than a frumpy cardboard box: two ping-pong balls, one ball for the fusbol table, five dice, six Monopoly figurines. With great attention, her forehead crisscrossed by deep frowns from the weight of all that thinking, she presses the pen hard to mark the result of her inventory in the big book, adds the date, signs and closes it, this our book, called “Bravo”.

23/08/2023

Kyle Kankonde starring in Midnight Hustle. A thriller. Hold on to your seat!

Two struggling ballerinas plunge into the world of stripping at a high-end club, only to find that with money and adoration comes crime and murder.Premiering...

16/07/2023

A Must-see movie about what too many farmers face. And hope for innovative developments that allow the traditional farms to keep sustaining people with healthy food.

A feisty young woman, dedicated to saving her family farm, and a driven real estate tycoon fall in love, but things get complicated when his company assigns ...

14/07/2023

A most tender rendition of "Inutile de nous revoir", first in French and then English... sit back, relax and enjoy, hmmm ...

Open Mic

14/07/2023

Dancing down the street, cooking and having fun to the song in your head is easy with this swinging cool cotton dress, feminine and easy to wear all day!
Wear it as is or with a wrap belt or leather corsett for creative variations

Dans le cadre du French Cultures Festival, African Fiesta Cafe présente chaque jour un nouveau look et un clin d'oeil aux collections précédentes, dessinées ...

13/07/2023

Ma Vie Dans les Rues de Philadelphia, une chanson originale du DoktorK avec le fabuleux John Bashengezi a la guitare

Ma Vie Dans Les Rues De Philadelphia, une chanson originale de DoktorK aka Mutombo Kankonde