Tip of the Week-- January 29, 2015

The cliché cultural adjustment that always comes to mind first whenever someone talks about living in a new country is adapting to local cuisine.  After an initial period of adaptation, you'll find that of all the cultural adaptations that will be necessary, food is among the least important and certainly the least emotionally perplexing.

However, the challenge of trying new foods should not be underestimated.  Few things produce as visceral a reaction as food that you find less than appetizing.  And since food is a social medium, committing faux pas around the table can cause problems.

I think there is a book titled something like "Eat this, not that" out there somewhere.  I'm sure it is a health and weight loss book.  I've often thought of writing one with the same title for the West African context, but I'm still compiling suggestions.  Of course this book would be more along the lines of helping you not lose too much weight by avoiding upset stomach, but the health values are still immense.

As a way of getting started, here are my top 5 lived food experiences that can serve as helpful tips: 

1. Do eat...organ meat, if you have to; it is sometimes unavoidable and is eaten frequently.  Liver is king; you'll agree with me later. But don't eat... any organ meat that has roughly the same appearance and texture as a rubber bouncy ball, especially if the animal you are eating was male.

2. Do eat...dishes prepared with milk that has been soured with lemon juice, vinegar, or ginger.  These drinks are very common, and when you've gotten used to them, they are quite delicious.  Don't eat...dishes prepared with milk that has been soured by leaving it sit out in heat for a couple days.  I made that mistake once--I paid dearly.

3. Do eat... sheep or cow's head at weddings and other various events.  This is often served for breakfast the day of the wedding to guests of honor.  All I can say is, hopefully there is bread to go with it; make the most of dipping the bread in the sauce and pretending you are eating more than you are.  Don't eat... sheep or cow's head after such events, like especially if it has been sitting around for a few days (or weeks).

4. Do eat... grilled termites.  They are a bit like greasy popcorn, and the World Health Organization is recommending that we increase our insect consumption.  Don't eat...maggots that you find inside your smoked fish, even if they do seem like they are cooked all the way through.

5. Do eat... wild caught pheasant.  It is quite good.  Don't eat...dove meat that some little kid shot with their sling shot.  This has less to do with the quality of the meat and more to do with the way it is prepared.  Kids tend to just grill--ok, ok char-- the whole bird over charcoal, resulting in meat that tastes like burnt rubber.  Plus, kids with sling-shots are just as likely to be eating lizard as they are dove, so you never know.

Prayer Requests

1. Continue to pray for our hospital outreaches.  We went to the two villages yesterday to prepare.  The first one is a bit over a week away, and we have quite a bit to prepare.  The focus of these events will be basic health teaching, as well as story-telling (Biblical stories).  Pray that all the details would come together and that the events would be a real blessing to the respective villages.

2. Pray for my friend Issa who starts his trip to Senegal today (Friday).  Pray that his schooling would go really well.  Praise--the Lord provided him with someone to ride with all the way to the school.

3. Pray for a friend, "D" who is quite serious about knowing and following Christ, but is also quite afraid of his family's reaction.  I'll be meeting with him again this week.

4. Pray for our staff in the OR, as well as our two main surgeons, Dr. Dan and Dr. Phila.  The surgery schedule has been quite intense this last couple of weeks.

5.  Continue praying for the situation in the north of Mali.  There has been an uptick in violence, and the political solutions that many were hoping would resolve some of the problems seem to be stalemated.