Who Knew Cole Slaw Juice Could Be So Good??

I've been in a food slump since I got back from Haiti. I just can't think of anything good to cook. I'm going to the grocery store this afternoon - not because I want to, but because we cannot exist on what's left in this house one more day. We're down to the stuff in the back of the pantry that I never intended to feed my child. In any case, I can't think of anything worth buying at the grocery store so I'm just going to stock up on lots of fresh fruit. Jack loves it and it'll make me feel better about cooking frozen foods for him. As long as you have to turn the oven on, it's cooking, right?

Being the picky eater that I am, I'm always concerned when I travel to other countries about their food. I always take LOTS of food with me assuming that I won't be able to eat anything on the trip. I'm very thankful on this trip that I did, too, because we realized that our Haitian team members weren't eating during the day. We had lots of extra food to share and I think that was just the provision of the Lord there. I haven't talked a lot about the hunger, poverty, garbage and other things that were more prevalent in Haiti than any other country I've ever seen. This is mainly because there were so many wonderful things about the people and culture that I don't want to dwell on this, but those things are some of the things that have stuck with me and haunted me as I've returned home. That may be part of my cooking problem too. I'm really not sure.

Surprisingly, the food was really good on the trip, but also pretty American. Our hotel really catered to Westerners and for that reason, the food was very "normal" for us. I took some pictures just to show you all how I "suffered for Jesus." :)

My favorite meal: Shrimp in a garlic/butter sauce, rice, and fries. (We had rice with every meal but it was about the best rice I've ever had so it worked for me.)

My favorite drink (other than Diet Coke which they had at our hotel - the day I realized this was a GOOD day!): Papaya with milk:

I even got a hamburger one day. It was pretty dry and made with some sort of beans or grain in the meat. Tara didn't like it at all but I prefer my food dry and bland so it was good to me:)

The fish was really good too. It was cooked with onions and mushrooms and some sort of sauce, but we never did figure out what kind of fish it was. We heard it was fresh which was a little disconcerting in the fact that we were told we couldn't swim in the ocean because everything from "up at the hotel ended up down in the water." But somehow the fish was okay??? Regardless, it was very good:

Our team leader - an 80 year old, retired missionary to Nigeria for 35 years and also known as McGuyver or The Bionic Man or The Most Amazing Person Ever - would somehow end up with fruit at the end of each day. We're pretty sure he scaled mountains and killed wildlife with his bare hands and foraged through jungles to get it, but we never asked. Here is some mango he found for us:

And this was everyone's favorite. It's called "kol sol" (which we South Alabamians pronounced "cole slaw" which I'm sure was not endearing, but totally annoying to our Haitian friends). The fruit itself is both sour and sweet and Bro. Don said they call is "soursap" in Nigeria for that reason. Nobody was crazy about eating the fruit, but the juice of it was wonderful! I have really missed it since coming back home:

So, I didn't have to reach too far to try the food in Haiti. It was mostly very Americanized. Still, I miss it a little bit. I'm headed to the grocery store, but somehow apples, oranges, and bananas don't seem all that exotic or appealing. I have a feeling, though, that if I had the friends I made on my trip to share my meal of apples and bananas, they would hold much more excitement for me!! Sometimes, it's not really the cole slaw juice itself, but the people you're sharing it with that makes it so wonderful!