Kentucky Fried Chicken

Last week, Kentucky Fried Chicken made its way and opened up in Xai Xai. It’s just as nice if not nicer than the KFCs in the States. Naa and I went for the first time last week. Naa is a fellow PCV and a dear friend of mine. The drive thru signs are in English, so we assumed this KFC is owned by South Africans. We wanted to find out.

As soon as we walked in, we felt like we were back in America. We needed a quick reality check so we had to look back outside to see the sand and kids on the street and women in kapulanas to remind us yes, we ARE in an American fast food chain restaurant in Xai Xai. In Mozambique. In Africa. Before I joined Peace Corps, I never thought that would be possible. When we walked in, we immediately spotted the ice cream machine and the fryers in the back. Unfortunately they don’t have fountain drinks or biscuits, just fridges full of canned sodas and shelves full of rolls stored in plastic bags. The workers were in uniform at the cash registers. We go to the cash register guy on the left, he was the first to see us and give us a big kool-aid smile and say “Welcome to KFC”. We look up and the menu is limited and in Portuguese. No problem, it was still a big deal for us to take a break from rice and beans!

Before we ordered, Naa wanted to ask the guy who owned the place.

So she asked, “Who owns this place?”

“Sorry?”

“I mean, who owns this KFC? Is it owned by South Africans?”

“This is Mozambique.” he answered.

He didn’t understand her. I asked him, “Where is the owner of this KFC from?” He gave us a puzzled look.

Naa tried one more time. “Is the owner of this KFC South African?”

“Oh. I understand your question. No.” he said.

The look on his face changed, got a little serious looking. He looked as though he had a secret. His voice changed and leaned towards us.
He spoke softly and said, “The owner is not South African…”

Naa and I looked at each other and started laughing because of the miscommunication and because such a simple question led to such confusion and we weren’t expecting the owner to be so mysterious. We laughed even harder when we realized he was still serious. For a second I thought he was going to tell us something really cool and shocking. The way he was acting, I was thinking maybe he is about to tell us Oprah Winfrey is the owner and SURPRISE she’s in the back of the store right now and is going to make your dreams come true for all of your hard work and sacrifice. Or not. Wishful thinking.

He started again and said, “There is only one owner of all KFCs…”

Naa, laughing, asked, “Oh my gosh, WHO? Do you know him?!”

With notable disappointment, he said “No…I do not know him personally…”

He picked up a packet of ketchup and smiled as he held it in his hands looking at it like he still had something to say. Naa and I were laughing pretty hard now. I cry when I laugh so tears were streaming down my face and I’m sure my mascara was running but I didn’t care. We were on a high at this point. We were in KFC in Africa and we’re about to get surprised by Oprah Winfrey, the way this guy’s acting! Anything’s possible, right? Look where we are!

After a minute we regained our composure. Naa let out a big sigh and an “OOOOHHHHHH” while shaking her head and with her hand on her hip she slapped her other hand down on the counter and looked at the guy.

“So…who is it?”

He was quiet. Still looking down at the packet of ketchup in his hands. He picked it up and held it in front of us.

He smiled and said, “This guy right here.” And pointed to the little black and white picture of Colonel Sanders.