This is what I have come to

Written Wednesday, 14 November 2007

 

 

Before I joined Peace Corps, I met quite a few returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and several of them assured me that after I had been in Peace Corps for a while, bugs would no longer bother me.   Supposedly, when they get in my food I will eat them happily, glad for the extra protein.

 

Well, I haven't gotten there yet.   But today I got a little closer to that level of "integration" as I was digging through my stash of toubab food and discovered that a mouse had nibbled into a bag of Riesens (chewy chocolatey deliciousness) that my mom sent me.   If this were pre-Peace Corps, I would have thrown the whole bag away immediately (and possibly screamed, if I thought the mouse might still be around).   But this is Africa, and I am in Peace Corps, and I have gotten used to seeing mice running around all over the Peace Corps house in Tamba (which I am pretty sure is where my candy got nibbled – I must just not have noticed it before).   Plus, if I throw away my bag of Riesens, I can't exactly walk to the village boutique to buy another one.

 

So I didn't throw it away.  Instead, I opened the bag and inspected each piece of candy, and discovered that only one piece had actually been nibbled into.  So all the non-nibbled pieces I saved.   Now what to do with the nibbled piece?  Chewy chocolatey deliciousness that has been nibbled by a mouse: is it more delicious, or more gross?

 

Finally I decided to pinch off and throw away the end that the mouse nibbled on, and then I ate the rest.   Delicious.  So this is what I have come to: I am willing to eat mouse leftovers.

Written Wednesday, 14 November 2007

This is what I have come to

 

Before I joined Peace Corps, I met quite a few returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and several of them assured me that after I had been in Peace Corps for a while, bugs would no longer bother me.   Supposedly, when they get in my food I will eat them happily, glad for the extra protein.

 

Well, I haven't gotten there yet.   But today I got a little closer to that level of "integration" as I was digging through my stash of toubab food and discovered that a mouse had nibbled into a bag of Riesens (chewy chocolatey deliciousness) that my mom sent me.   If this were pre-Peace Corps, I would have thrown the whole bag away immediately (and possibly screamed, if I thought the mouse might still be around).   But this is Africa, and I am in Peace Corps, and I have gotten used to seeing mice running around all over the Peace Corps house in Tamba (which I am pretty sure is where my candy got nibbled – I must just not have noticed it before).   Plus, if I throw away my bag of Riesens, I can't exactly walk to the village boutique to buy another one.

 

So I didn't throw it away.  Instead, I opened the bag and inspected each piece of candy, and discovered that only one piece had actually been nibbled into.  So all the non-nibbled pieces I saved.   Now what to do with the nibbled piece?  Chewy chocolatey deliciousness that has been nibbled by a mouse: is it more delicious, or more gross?

 

Finally I decided to pinch off and throw away the end that the mouse nibbled on, and then I ate the rest.   Delicious.  So this is what I have come to: I am willing to eat mouse leftovers.