Food, the bad.

On the bus ride home, our director called randomly on people and had them come up and say what they liked/didn't like about the trip (to the bus on the microphone, no less). Most people (out of maybe 6 total) gave sort of testimonies, which was nice, but also sort of out of place on the noisy, sleepy, smelly bus ride. I got called up last and decided I'd be honest. I believe my comment was something like this: "I hated the food. That was the worst part. I also loved the food. That was my favorite part. It was either great or terrible" and I went on to explain that my biggest fear since I was a kid for serving a mission was the food. This was after the raw salmon/raw roast beef experiences.

Since then, I've gotten to eat more exciting and terrible stuff. We eat dinner with our French Maman (mommy) 3 times a week, and there are always more than 3 courses, usually about six, and usually it is all new. One night we had a "cheese pie," which is basically quiche. We always have some kind of meat, and Fr. Maman likes pork which is good since I do, too. Once for an especially ornate first course (she spends 3 hours cooking for us. It's amazing.) there was this cucumber/cream sauce thing, which was tasty, except for the slices of crab on top. I had to eat it all. My American mom suggested taking small servings and that way avoiding too much nasty food, but not so! She dishes it all out and we get a new plate/bowl for each meal, so no serving ourselves. I want you all to know that I ate ALL my crab and I was so proud that I didn't gag visibly. It was pretty much the hardest thing here...until last night, when we had fish.

There were only two fishes, (well, breaded fish fillets, I guess) and so I hoped she remembered that I hate fish and didn't get one for me, but NO, Fr. Maman wasn't having any fish! Sigh. I should have taken a picture - it was huge. I had to eat it - what else could I do? Oh and Ben would appreciate that on the side, as an added blessing was steamed/cooked spinach which in comparison to the fish was a veritable doughnut. I managed to eat 3/4 of the fish before I simply couldn't anymore, but that was enough to render itself acceptable, and everything was good.

I am quite proud of me but I'd rather not have any reason to be proud...!