Starch for breakfast, starch for lunch, good old starch for teeeeeea....
The days I'm feeling like I have much in common with a laundered dress shirt. Most Ugandan meals come with a starchy vegetable of some kind, whether it be a mound of rice, a mass of matoke, or a slab of "pohsho," which resembles cornmeal-based tofu in concept, looks like a wedge of fresh mozerella, and tastes like cold cream of wheat (even when hot. I think it's a matter of texture). These are made much more edible by the presence, generally, of a sort of sauce or gravy. I'm at a loss as to which to call this. It's primary traits seem to be that it is vegetable based, quite pleasant, and not quite as plentiful as one might wish. Except....
It's always the same. At least in Kamuli. I've visited three different restaurants, and I can't seem to escape it. And the portions are huge. The United States is internationally famous for its portion size, but it's not the king of the gut-busting meal. Oh, hell, no. I can take lunch at two PM here, and I won't be hungry until the next morning. And most of that is the goddamn STARCH.
When I first got here, I was more or less fine with this. Getting a dinner plate covered to half an inch's depth in mashed matoke, topped with half a tilapia? No problem! Now, though, I feel like I'm in foodie hell, trapped and smothering beneath an ocean of starch differentiated only by texture.
The only time this changes is when someone's trying to feed me "what mazungu like to eat," which invariably means [fill in the blank] and chips, in the English sense. Yep, more starch, only with oil, ketchup, and chili sauce instead of that gravy/sauce/whatever it is.
I'm losing my mind.
I need vegetables in just the worst way-- not the unchanging broth that accompanies every lunch or dinner I eat, but real, solid, actual, factual vegetables. I've been getting headaches the last few days, and they've gotten progressively worse. I'm almost dead certain the lack of vegies is to blame.
Happily, I think I've discovered the key to this mysterious lack of all things green and leafy, courtesy of my conversations with a kid named Ismael who's been killing time hanging out with me while recovering from malaria: the Ugandans regard vegetables as a full meal, rather than an accompaniment to one. I've accordingly requested same for lunch today, and I'm praying to whatever deity will listen that it doesn't involve potatoes.
It's always the same. At least in Kamuli. I've visited three different restaurants, and I can't seem to escape it. And the portions are huge. The United States is internationally famous for its portion size, but it's not the king of the gut-busting meal. Oh, hell, no. I can take lunch at two PM here, and I won't be hungry until the next morning. And most of that is the goddamn STARCH.
When I first got here, I was more or less fine with this. Getting a dinner plate covered to half an inch's depth in mashed matoke, topped with half a tilapia? No problem! Now, though, I feel like I'm in foodie hell, trapped and smothering beneath an ocean of starch differentiated only by texture.
The only time this changes is when someone's trying to feed me "what mazungu like to eat," which invariably means [fill in the blank] and chips, in the English sense. Yep, more starch, only with oil, ketchup, and chili sauce instead of that gravy/sauce/whatever it is.
I'm losing my mind.
I need vegetables in just the worst way-- not the unchanging broth that accompanies every lunch or dinner I eat, but real, solid, actual, factual vegetables. I've been getting headaches the last few days, and they've gotten progressively worse. I'm almost dead certain the lack of vegies is to blame.
Happily, I think I've discovered the key to this mysterious lack of all things green and leafy, courtesy of my conversations with a kid named Ismael who's been killing time hanging out with me while recovering from malaria: the Ugandans regard vegetables as a full meal, rather than an accompaniment to one. I've accordingly requested same for lunch today, and I'm praying to whatever deity will listen that it doesn't involve potatoes.