SOS

I ate a big plate of SOS last night.  With fresh green beans.  I closed my eyes and saw my family sitting at our kitchen table on the farm, eating the very same helpings of mashed potatoes and dried beef gravy.  Thank you Linda White for the latest package including dried beef that made this meal possible.

This is a big deal; I’ve been dreaming – in detail – about food for the past few weeks.  One morning this week I woke up after a dream meal of a bologna sandwich.  You know it’s bad when you’re dreaming about cold-deli sandwiches- especially bologna. The meal also had sides of Baked Lays potato chips, strawberry yogurt and sugar cookies. YES I DREAMT ALL OF THESE DETAILS! A few mornings later I woke up only wanting a hot dog (with ketchup), chips and an apple. And a Coke. What?! I don’t drink straight pop, let alone COKE! But oh man, does it taste oh.so.good. And the other day walking down the street in village I was craving my mom’s tortilla pinwheels. I can’t even read about characters in books sharing a meal. The story won’t even be about the meal, but the fact that they’re at a pizza place just unnerves me.

Last night, after arriving in Atakpame (with a store that sells all of the above and a house for PCV’s equipped with a refrigerator and toaster oven) this dream became reality. And let me just tell you how my knees about gave in tasting those Pringles as soon as I had paid for them. Wow.

This morning I had cold milk and cereal. Again, a-may-zing. Indulging  on tasty treats when in Atakpame (Snickers, Swiss cheese, apples- imported from South Africa) is nothing new and I look forward to each upcoming trip; in fact, Vanessa and I will text each other what our ‘priorities’ are for Atakpame. It’s like we just get by in village and then have this weird food binge the minute we get to Atakpame. But this trip I felt more called – more crazy – for good, tasty food. And to this end I must eat my words- (if only they tasted like my Grandma’s rhubarb cobbler) pun intended. It’s not uncommon for volunteers to go off about a food their craving, something they’re missing, or how much they would give/do for a certain meal.  In fact, this is probably one of our most conversation popular topics; food. But, for a long time I just saw food as fuel here. I was getting by on cabbage and lentils for dinner with the occasional treat of popcorn for something crunch and salty. Lately, this hasn’t been doing the trick and I’ve forgone healthier alternatives for straight up Nutella sandwiches. My body wants something indulgent; something it knows.

 We try here. Ness and I attempt pizza or pasta dishes but nothing is quite the same. Take my dear friend Connor, who loves to cook and will be a great chef someday.  My hang-up is the kid loves to turn a simple meal into a 2-3..4 hour ordeal; adding random things, sautéing, roasting… and all of it just takes too much time for this girl.  I realized cooking with Connor is like Thanksgiving; you wait around all day, anticipating the deliciousness but you have to eat something throughout the day, so you graze and snack and when the meal finally comes, you’re not hungry enough to enjoy it to its fullest. I just want some simple home fries; no I don’t need any fresh chopped garlic and onions sautéed first, thank you!  Just give me the Beach Club from Jimmy John’s…or simple slice of Casey’s taco pizza.  I don’t need anything fancy! In fact, I vaguely remember saying to someone last week how I’d be willing to personally dismember my pinky for a meal of JJ’s…

Today is Vanessa’s birthday.  This is where Connor comes in handy as he is determined to make something define. And I’m making him start early so we can hopefully eat before 10pm. Meat (fresh from the scary meat market next to the rail road tracks) is already marinating for a Sheppard’s pie and just whipped up some peanut butter cookies. So, we’re going all out..while we can J