where is my green food?!!

Where is my green food?  Peace Corps Training Highlights

So when Peace Corps delivered our food baskets to our host families when we first arrived, it was filled with the following fresh fruits/vegetables: 1 bag of apples, 1 bag of carrots, 1 head of cabbage, 5-10 potatoes, 3 or 4 onions and green peppers.  If I forgot something I apologize to my Peace Corps friends.  We also got tea bags, instant coffee, sugar, margarine, bag of rice, cooking oil, creamora, 1 liter of milk, 1 or 2 loaves of bread, 6 or 12 eggs, a jar of peanut butter, a bag of corn to make phaleche, a frozen or semi-frozen chicken, a bag of pasta noodles, a small can of jam, and 2 cans of baked bean-ish beans.  Again, if I forget any other food items I apologize to my Peace Corps friends.

So imagine my delight when I arrived at site and had been paid and could do my own shopping!! But then I first really took in the most important lesson we were taught during our Pre-Service Training and one that most of us didn’t even know was part of the lesson plan. Namely, what they gave us is what we are most likely to get even after training because that is what we can afford! My first shopping trip: apples, carrots, onions, potatoes, green peppers, rice, pasta, among a few other things. I added garlic, some cans of tomato sauces, a bag of beans (which apparently will take me a few days to cook soft enough to eat, I have since learned), some curry, ginger, a few bananas, a custard mix and oatmeal. A few hundred pula later, I staggered away from the store, without any green veggies, notwithstanding the green peppers which I don’t really count as a serious vegetable, though it turns out it helps with seasoning when there aren’t any spices.

Yesterday one of my co-workers gave me some sweet potatoes from his garden and today I went to the store and broke down, buying both broccoli and green beans!  I think I have about $40 left for the rest of the month (I write this on the 14^th), but I have enough rice and beans to last if I have to. Wait, I DO have to. And I still have some of my M&Ms from Stan…I have stopped gifting them except to people who really do me big favors. I keep thinking I deserve to buy a liter of that great boxed wine called “bad goat” (despite the name, it is GOOD) but it costs almost $5 plus a bus ride to and from Lobatse which is another $2 round trip, so I will wait until I am truly desperate.

On the bright side, some of my settling in money was spent on cleaning supplies, which I won’t have to buy again for months (or ever if I decide not to clean again) and this month we only got paid for 23 days, from our swearing in date.  I think my main items to purchase will be candles, given it is still cold in South Africa.  Tonight, I think it will be green beans, some eggs, left over pasta and a good book, since there won’t be any power again, I am sure.