Our fridge broke on Friday night….and food does not keep very well in this humidity! It’s been an adventure trying to figure out what is still good and what needs to be thrown out. We have become experts at opening and closing the door really fast so the bad smell doesn’t escape. Our landlady is in the process of getting us a new fridge right now. She has allowed us to keep some of our food in her fridge – but we feel bad taking up the room, so we try to put as little in it as possible! We also try to avoid using things which will need to be refrigerated after opening them.
So, it’s safe to say we currently don’t have much food to eat! Tonight [Monday] for dinner we had dry cereal and split half a baguette between the three of us. I started joking about how we were going to starve tonight – I mean, what kind of meal is dry cereal and a 1/6 of a baguette? As soon as I said this a sick feeling crept into my gut and I felt such remorse. How could I even joke about starving when I am surrounded by people who live on next to nothing? I am surrounded by people who don’t get three meals a day. I am surrounded by people who, by definition are starving. How could I complain about my dry cereal and piece of baguette? It may not seem like much to me – but it might be heaven to my neighbour. The thing that gets me the most is I only have to go one or two days like this – whereas some people go their whole lives like this. How dare I complain?
Food. It’s such a part of our daily life. It’s necessary for survival. I have been spoiled growing up in a family where we always had three meals a day; growing up in a country where the majority of people have the privilege of three meals a day. Not only three meals a day, but three meals a day. We are taught at a young age to incorporate foods from all four food groups into a meal. We are taught that variety in your diet is good. Variety is not only good for you, it also makes eating more enjoyable when you don’t have to chew the same thing all the time. Lets be honest, you could probably go at least a week without having to repeat a meal, right?
Just the other day I was thinking about how tired I am getting of eating the same food everyday, 7 days a week. It has been 49 days of cereal for breakfast, noodles with tomato sauce and wieners for lunch and baguettes with jam or avocado as well as fruit for supper. Talk about a lack of variety. But as soon as I start to complain or think ungratefully about food, I am bombarded with feelings of guilt. Just because I grew up in a culture where variety in your diet is common, does not mean I have a right to it. I am living in a place where many people are not able to have a variety in their diet; a place where people can’t always afford to eat from the four food groups. When people have to live their entire lives like this, why am I complaining after living 6 weeks like this? When I should be grateful for the food I do have, thankful I can go to bed with a full stomach, I am complaining about a lack of variety. Why is it so easy for me to be ungrateful and look at what I don’t have?
Where is the balance between being thankful for what you have, no matter how much or how little, and being aware of those around you who don’t have as much. And what do you do about the tension? Do you sell all you have and give it to those who do not have much? Or do you give what you can to those less privileged? Who decides where the line of ‘what you can’ is? Is it still possible to enjoy what you have, and be considerate and compassionate to those around you who do not have much?
I know this is an age-old struggle - it’s just been in the front of my mind lately and I’m trying to figure out what to do with it. I know once I get back to Canada my awareness of this inequality will fade when I don’t have to look into the faces of these people everyday. It will be easy to lose this perspective when three different meals a day become the norm again. How do I incorporate this awareness into my life now so it will stick with me no matter where I live?
Thanks for listening to my musings. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this if you have any wisdom or insight you want to share!
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