Food!

I'd thought I'd take a minute to tell you guys about the food so far..and so far I've been pleased with it all! One of my favorite means is a bean and corn mixture. It's kidney beans and what looks like giant corn kernals and we each get a huge serving. I would much rather have a plate of beans than questionable meat, so I'm ok with that's for dinner. Another meal is the rough equivalent of polenta, but we eat it with our hands. My favorite bread is called diphaphata and it's cooked over an open fire and looks like an english muffin.

The most bizarre thing i've been served/helped make was pasta with mayo and ketchup on top. I have to admit, I was hungry enough to eat all of it, but I can promise that it won't be something I'll make once i'm cooking for myself.

There is a large grocery store near our school that has a lot of familiar foods. Who knows how far away i will be stationed though or what my regional 'store' will have stocked. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Peace Corps doesn't pay families to host us; they give them extra food and supplies.

A couple of stories with food and communication breakdowns/cultural differences:
I believe it's custom to eat only one big meal a day so my family was sending me off to school with an apple and banana (for 8 hours). I could have said, "oh, I will need more food" and they would have found something else to give me. But because I didn't on that first day, I'm assuming they assumed that i didn't eat very much. I bought bread the other day so I could make sandwiches. My family said, 'oh, you like peanut butter and bread?' So, when I woke up the next morning i had bread and peanut butter for breakfast- and lunch. Also, people really don't drink very much liquid, especially not water. They have tea a few times a day (with milk and a TON of sugar) but never drink anything at mealtime. However, my family has hosted a PCV before so they expect me to carry my nalgene of water around everywhere I go.