Last year I was having lots of trouble keeping healthy eating habits. It wasn't related to my salary and it was only partially related to the food shortages in my community. It was mostly just a lack of desire for food on my part. I wound up losing 45 lbs in my first six months in Kenya.
Fortunately, I've turned all that around. I put some of that weight back on (since I was at a rather unhealthy level) and now I'm eating a lot more regularly. Part of that has come from sharing a house with 1-4 other people (currently there are three of us living there). We've started making a bit of a schedule. Tuesday is kuku mbili (two chickens) night, since we go out to a bar run by one of our co-workers and he cooks us two delicious chickens for a better price than they usually run in town. Friday is "chakula cha asubuhi kwa chakula cha jioni" (breakfast for dinner, but it's awkward since it literally translates as "food of the morning for food of the evening"), which usually features french toast or pancakes (and sometimes eggs). We're also looking to start a vegetarian night (there isn't really a kiswahili word for vegetarian), although a lot of nights wind up being vegetarian anyway. More likely, Jodie and Reuben are going to push for a nyama nyumbani night (meat at home); that just requires planning a trip to the butcher or, more reliably, the supermarket. We've also talked about starting pizza night, but that might require going out, since cheese is the main limiting factor near our house. In the meantime, we'll probably keep up pasta night (which isn't regularly scheudled, but we tend to have pasta at least once a week). And most importantly, I think we need to start a weekly chapati burrito night.
I know what you're thinking. This menu doesn't sound terribly Tanzanian (well, obviously the names should sound Tanzanian; and kuku mbili night is definitely Tanzanian food). In truth, a lot of our cooking is a bit un-Tanzanian. Many Tanzanian dishes require a healthy dose of solid fat (think Crisco). We typically get that for lunch (and my stomach does not usually thank me for it). So dinner is our chance to shake things up a bit. Now that Jackie's gone, we don't get our salads anymore (I should revive that practice too since we have lots of balsamic vinegar).
Now I just need to work on that regular exercise thing a bit more (I do lots of walking, but not enough time on the sports field).
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3 comments:
Daniel,
This isn't a true reply to you comment but a birthday wish. Hope you had a good birthday and wishing you much success and happiness in the year ahead. Albert, Gail, Kathleen,Julie, Brian, Paul, Mark,Rachel, JEff and Emily
bila nyama == vegetarian ????
Also, what does cyotfs mean?
@Maddenkids8: Thanks so much! I miss you guys and hope to see you soon :)
@David: bila nyama = "without meat", which works for the food, but I'm looking for a way of describing the person. Technically, asiyekula nyama = "person who does not eat meat" is the closest translation, but most people are confused when I use those words together. Maybe it's because I live in Masai country, and they don't often encounter anyone who doesn't eat meat.
cyotfs is my little tag (explained way back in 2008 in my first post) that stands for "catch you on the flip side". I seem to wend my way into and out of people's lives, so I like to use it as a farewell. Try putting that in kiswahili...
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