Culture Shock_Episode 1_"Napa Land", my island home
For all my non Seychellois friends, "Napa Land" translate to the land of nothing. That is what I have come back to. Basically it means that in the land which I now reside, there is nothing. This is a short list of the items which I can't find in the shops and markets:
-potatoes ( there has been signs at various "take away" shops stating "No chips available". The reason being that there are no potatoes in the country.)
-carrots ( haven't seen it since I came into the country just b4 christmas)
-various other vegetables such as cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce etc....my mother almost got a heart attack when she went for her new year shopping spree.
-butter (there is no butter in the shops and there is only ONE kind of margarine, and everybody in my family hates it. We are currently using a dip which I came back with from australia as to coat the bread in the morning.)
-sausages( I found out that my cousin's birthday was on the 2nd Jan....on the day, and decided that we have to do something. 4.5 yrs in australia quickly gave me the idea of doing a BBQ...now I wonder why:)...so I ran to the shop to buy some BBQ stuff, such as meat sausages, meat chops, and most probably some lettuce etc.... oh, I got a nasty surprise! After visiting 5 shops, I could only buy 2 small packets of fish sausages(fish sausage is not too bad, but some beef sausage would have been much better), and nothing else! Well, there went my BBQ idea!
-white wine ( on christmas day, I decided that we will have wine with lunch, and ran to the shop with my wine list(it tells u what wine is good with what food). I had a white wine in mind. yum yum...maybe a sparkling white wine. Alas, there was only 2 types of white wine in the shops! Not much of a choice I am afraid. I chose one anyway, and was utterly dissapointed. It was no good. I guess next time I will try the other one, or drink water:( )
Talking about culture shock after spending 4.5 yrs of my youth life overseas, this one is by far the greatest obstacle for me to overcome. During my time overseas, I have managed to put on some weight and muscles, and my body had almost reached its maximum potential, in terms of health. I am sad to realise that all that has started to dissapear. I have eaten very little vegetables since coming back, and fruits are a rare commodity. I am almost always feeling dizzy because of a combination of not enough to eat, and not eating a balance diet.
I guess one of my best friend, Michael R, wouldn't find that much of a problem since he doesn't eat most vegetables, and my x gf, Irene on the other hand, would surely had died already since she is a vegetarian!
At this rate, I will be as skinny as 5 yrs ago in a few months, and just as unhealthy.
-potatoes ( there has been signs at various "take away" shops stating "No chips available". The reason being that there are no potatoes in the country.)
-carrots ( haven't seen it since I came into the country just b4 christmas)
-various other vegetables such as cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce etc....my mother almost got a heart attack when she went for her new year shopping spree.
-butter (there is no butter in the shops and there is only ONE kind of margarine, and everybody in my family hates it. We are currently using a dip which I came back with from australia as to coat the bread in the morning.)
-sausages( I found out that my cousin's birthday was on the 2nd Jan....on the day, and decided that we have to do something. 4.5 yrs in australia quickly gave me the idea of doing a BBQ...now I wonder why:)...so I ran to the shop to buy some BBQ stuff, such as meat sausages, meat chops, and most probably some lettuce etc.... oh, I got a nasty surprise! After visiting 5 shops, I could only buy 2 small packets of fish sausages(fish sausage is not too bad, but some beef sausage would have been much better), and nothing else! Well, there went my BBQ idea!
-white wine ( on christmas day, I decided that we will have wine with lunch, and ran to the shop with my wine list(it tells u what wine is good with what food). I had a white wine in mind. yum yum...maybe a sparkling white wine. Alas, there was only 2 types of white wine in the shops! Not much of a choice I am afraid. I chose one anyway, and was utterly dissapointed. It was no good. I guess next time I will try the other one, or drink water:( )
Talking about culture shock after spending 4.5 yrs of my youth life overseas, this one is by far the greatest obstacle for me to overcome. During my time overseas, I have managed to put on some weight and muscles, and my body had almost reached its maximum potential, in terms of health. I am sad to realise that all that has started to dissapear. I have eaten very little vegetables since coming back, and fruits are a rare commodity. I am almost always feeling dizzy because of a combination of not enough to eat, and not eating a balance diet.
I guess one of my best friend, Michael R, wouldn't find that much of a problem since he doesn't eat most vegetables, and my x gf, Irene on the other hand, would surely had died already since she is a vegetarian!
At this rate, I will be as skinny as 5 yrs ago in a few months, and just as unhealthy.