(well, actually that was the day/time when i wrote this…now its wednesday)
Our house smells like garlicky garbage because we were gifted a fruit called Durian, which is a delicacy in most Asian countries yet banned in public transportation and most hotels… smelly but good? not my favorite. I wish you all could experience is, because words just don't do justice!
More about that soon…
My bed is an air mattress on the floor, which deflates faster than I remember (to many afternoons spent in the ocean? oops), causing pains in my shoulders and hips.
My diet consists of… not much these days.
We went from having both a toaster and electric tea kettle to cook with… to um… nothing?
Apparently, our luck with appliances in Malaysia is not good.
We have broken (not on purpose, of course) 3 electric tea kettles in a matter of 4 days… and then our toaster stopped working. SO let's calculate this, we have a…. refrigerator and… running water to cook with. (As of 7/17/12, we have a new tea kettle)
No American Food except for, of course, a KFC about 2 miles away… between KFC and Coke, they own the entire world, i swear.
And the grocery store? Well, yes, we have one. It's limited.
One for nuts and candy.
One for dried/canned fish.
One for soy sauce.
One for juice/pop.
The rest for household items.
Highlights of shopping? Buying chocolate milk & dark chocolate.
Every month I have a coping treat. What am I coping with? Well.. that depends on the month.
In Romania… I didn't have a coping treat because I didn’t really need to cope much. AWESOME team, ministry, contacts, food, and housing situation.
In Moldova… the cold weather & hard ministry. My reward: Snickers.
In Nepal… didn't need to cope much, just really enjoyed a toddler size portion of cheese puffs every now and then.
In India… Our food was a delicious disasterous. I didn't need a coping treat, I just needed some eatable food… pizza hut & cafe coffee day.
In Tanzania… coke. Simply because it was guaranteed to be cold.
In Rwanda… everything was hard and I was convinced I was going home. Bourbon coffee and once discovered, the African Bagel Company were my coping places.
(37 of the 43) were in the city.
In Uganda… popcorn. I wouldn't consider it a coping treat because I didn't need to cope much, they just knew how to speak to my heart with their fresh popped popcorn.
In Thailand… ministry/contacts were not the most favorable… oreos & ice cream spoke to my soul. eekk.. i didn't really ever eat oreos… but sometimes you walk into 711 and just have to buy something that screams America.
In Cambodia… the heat was excruciating… I laid starfish on the floor as much as possible and enjoyed goldfish & Hint of Lime Tostitos. I know, right? Jesus knew I needed something that "American" to speak to my soul and survive just one more day of hellish heat. (Seriously, it's probably the hottest I have ever… EVER been in my life. And I lived in NOLA for one summer on the second floor without A/C. It was bad. But Lucky Mart was good… Tostitos, chi chi's salsa, REAL cheese, Breyers Ice Cream, Peppridge farm Goldfish & cookies… so many American surprises)
In Vietnam… I have access to good restaurants, so coping snacks were not necessary. Well, actually, I would say my treats of choice were (but not to cope, just for pure and utter enjoyment) homemade choco-cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting from Bread of Life OR coconut battered deep-fried strawberry ice cream from The Waterfront. I know… they spoiled us in Da' Nang.
***Oh, and in a matter of 7 days in Ho Chi Minh City I consumed at least, and this is being very conservative, 32 smoothies. Obsession! Not even a coping mechanism, just simply that delicious (& cheap!).
And here I am in Malaysia… God gifted me Chili's in Kuala Lumpur… and now in GM, I cope the long days/anxiousness of heading home with chocolate milk & dark chocolate.
As far as you should be concerned, there are two things that will never ever ever be a coping treat for me.
1) rice. (with the exception of Qdoba) One common thing in every country we went to? Rice. Rice. RIce. RICe. RICE. (& KFC & Coke… literally, I promise they own the entire world) I can't even walk down the rice isle at the store, it makes me want to gag. over it. so over it.
2) Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. I like bread, well… good whole grain bread. I like peanut butter (a consistent and unmentioned coping snack for the entire race… sometimes it was a necessity, sometimes a treat, but regardless it has always been on hand). I like jelly… good jelly, not the neon pink stuff runny stuff, the kind with fruit chunks and a spreadable (not drinkable) consistency. I do not like the combination of the three anymore. too many PB & J's… no more… EVER.
