The Many Meals of a PCV

Though I wouldn't consider myself the most adventurous eater I do believe that you won't know if you like something until you try it (with the exception that if what you haven't tried makes you feel like you lose whatever's already in your stomach beforehand, maybe you can skip out on new things this time around). Coming to Peru, I knew I would encounter many new and interesting foods, flavors and tastes so I set out to try everything at least once. Pushing myself outside my eating comfort zone has been an adventure in itself throughout my Peace Corps experience.

In training, we were scared. Well, I'll speak for myself and say I was scared, though that shouldn't come as a shock you you, and maybe the general feeling of the group was more cautious than scared. So much of the advice given to us by trainers, language teachers and previous volunteers seemed more like warnings, how could we not be? Always treat your water, don't eat the mayonnaise, beware of street food, you WILL poop your pants eventually. In the end, the pooping your pants part was what all these warnings would boil down to if they weren't followed and nobody wants to poop their pants.

The first time WASH 20 left traveled to another volunteer's site for a training trip, we went out to dinner and everywhere I looked red alerts flashed in my brain. Cremas on the table! How long has the mayonnaise and hot sauce been sitting there? Ice in the drinks! Was that water treated before it was frozen?? Of course it sounds crazy now, but back then, 18 months ago, what could you expect? I was a total nube still recovering with my first bout of stomach sickness that had kept me up all night clutching the toilet. Too fresh to even be grateful for the fact that I at least I had constant running water allowing for a properly functioning toilet regardless of the time of day; something you don't gain a complete appreciation for until you find yourself in the middle of the night scraping from the bottom of the garbage can that stores the post-2pm water supply to fill a bucket with enough water to push down whatever you've left behind in the toilet with what little strength the food poisoning or parasite in your tum has left you with.

Regardless of my unfortunate friendship with the toilets and latrines of Peru, I have continued to try new foods at least once (unless they can still look back at me, I don't like that). Oftentimes, I don't even realize what I'm eating is something I haven't tried yet because it looks like something basic (chicken or beef) and I've just stopped asking what's what. Thankfully, my host mom is an amazing cook and no matter what we're eating the flavors are always fantastic. She's also gotten used to the fact that I don't eat anywhere near as much as her growing teenage children, especially my host brother who eats all his food out of a bowl instead of a plate so that the food keeps from spilling over the sides, and she always checks to make sure she hasn't given me more than I can handle.

One afternoon, early in my first few months, my sister Juanita came home during lunchtime and greeted us all. She looked at what we were eating and asked my other sister, Trini, "Oooh, are we eating beef or goat?" To which Trini replied, "Goat," as I took another big bite of the meat on my plate. To this day I still don't know the difference between beef and goat unless I'm told what's on the menu. Honestly, I prefer it that way. It all tastes the same when you don't know what it actually is; however, there was one day my host dad came home with a box of live bunnies and I was so scared I was seeing tomorrow's lunch hopping around unaware of their doom that I didn't come home for lunch for three days. By the third day, my host cousins were heading back home from their visit to Guadalupe and as they packed up their belongings they also packed up the box of bunnies, still alive and well. Only then did I realize they were for my little cousin to take home as his pets. True, they were probably going to be eaten at some point, but where I was concerned the coast was clear!

I have eaten or tried ceviche (fish cooked by the acidity of lime juice), duck, fried guinea pig (a peruvian classic), goat, blood sausage, a wide range of fruits I never even knew existed (the jungle is full of interesting and delicious fruits you'll never find anywhere else), cow heart, grilled grubs (straight up Timon and Pumba style) and countless other things I may not have even known I was trying for the first time when I ate them. When you're not in charge of buying the groceries, cooking your own food or even serving yourself the amount you can handle eating, meal time will always be somewhat of a surprise and maybe even a struggle.

In the end, the greater struggle of every PCV is the undying cravings of your favorite sweets and treats, mom's home cooking and good old American fast food. Every care package we receive is cherished, envied by surrounding volunteers and either immediately devoured or stashed away, hidden from host families, and eaten little by little on rough homesick days. When a volunteer goes home for a quick visit, it is customary for every other PCV to request goodies or send packages to the homeward bound volunteer's stateside house to bring back upon their return. The last time I cashed in on one of these favors I scored an iPod touch, some Skittles and three marvelous packages of In 'N Out's special sauce. If you don't know what a hot commodity In 'N Out's special sauce is, we have nothing further to discuss.

In 'N Out: My first, and long awaited, meal during my visit home for Thanksgiving.

My friend and neighboring volunteer, Tim, went home in February and was generous enough to bring me back these glorious items. I sent the iPod to his house, he picked up couple bags of Skittles and brought it all back along with a handful of In 'N Out special sauce for the California kids. On his way to give me my long awaited stash of treats he ate one of the bags of Skittles and forgot the In 'N Out packets but I was so happy about the iPod and remaining bag of Skittles, I couldn't be too upset. It was a good day.

A couple of weeks later, Tim came to visit me, check out my projects and bring me the highly anticipated packets of special sauce. At the end of the day, as I emptied out my pack and Tim got ready to head back to site he said, "You better get those in the fridge cuz they've already been out in the sun all day." Then I realized: These things need to be refrigerated and I don't have a fridge! After thing it over I gave two packets back to Tim to keep in his fridge and decided to risk it and keep the remaining packet to eat with my breakfast the next morning. Breakfast came and, running late, I completely forgot to use the sauce. By the time I came home and saw the packet sitting on my desk a whole day and a half had passed with the sauce slowly boiling in the Guadalupe heat. What could I do?

Later that night as I was skyping with my old roommates, Curtis and Maria, my host mom brought me some bread and avocado for dinner. I eyed the packet of special sauce with big red letters saying KEEP REFRIGERATED, and thought about how much it would upgrade my meal. I asked Curtis and Maria for their advice and it was decided. I couldn't allow myself to waste the sauce after it had traveled so far and I had already been dealing with an upset stomach, if I got sick from the sauce it wouldn't be any different from the previous week. I had to eat it! I spread the sauce on the bread and added some slices of avocado, immediate upgrade. It was delicious. Once my plate was licked clean, I went to the kitchen to see if there was any bread left over to eat with the rest of my sauce. No luck. 

I stared at the half full packet of special sauce. I couldn't just waste it, could I? No, I could not. As I sat there chatting with my old roommates, jealously listening to them discuss their own dinner plans ("Are we gonna have Thai tonight?") and eating In 'N Out special sauce from a spoon, I realized I may have hit a low in my mealtime adventures as a PCV. My upset stomach continued for another week but I don't blame the sauce, because in the end it was worth every spoonful.

*This post has reminded me I haven't taken enough photos of all the awesome and delicious foods I've tried here so expect more food photos soon!