Rice, rice, and más arroz (Teresa)

We're practically living in paradise, yet there are a few things I get tired of here.  Like rice.  We're served a generous portion of plain, white rice every lunch and dinner.  I shouldn't complain, but I do (only to Kent and to you).  With meat and veggies, it's reasonable.  But we also have the same portion of rice when we have spaghetti -- which is noodles, with a bit of tomato and chunks of beef or chicken.  We also have rice alongside mashed or cooked potatoes, and alongside a large helping of yucca, a locally grown root.  My mom taught me that we only need one starch at a meal!

Of course, different foods and diets are to be expected in a different culture.  And, the house grandma (and boss of the kitchen) made it clear that we should tell her if we like or don't like particular foods.  But, I make a good attempt to eat everything, even things that are hard to stomach.  Even when the meat is hard to cut, much less chew.  Even when it's an unidentifiable sea animal.  They have enough work trying to prepare foods that Luisa will eat, much less enjoy!  (They noticed that she ate two large helpings of the Haystacks we prepared!)

Finally, when the two new German volunteers arrived (slender young teen women) our cook realized that most of us weren't finishing our rice.  She reduced the portion size from ~2 c. to a more reasonable ~1 c.  What a relief!  I've also realized that there are times when we are served rice (like with spaghetti) but some of our local family aren't served rice.  So, if they don't have rice at every meal, neither do I have to force myself to grin and eat it!

All in all, I have been pleasantly surprised at the variety of foods they serve here.  It's a much wider variety than we were served in Mexico, even in the urban areas.  And it's more variety than we'll likely have later in our sabbatical year.  We regularly have some variation of fried rice or Chinese-style stir fry, we've had Tex-Mex style burritos, and they prepare a good balance of seafood and regular (for us) meats.  And sometimes, we even have legumes, either brown lentils or pinto-style beans (fresh or dried).  At times I really crave fresh veggies, and then our cook prepares a new type of veggie salad.  A recent salad was red beets, carrots and potatoes with a simple lime and cilantro (hierbita) dressing.  Yummy!  And I'll look forward to a fresh veggie diet, and less rice, when we return home....