Goats Food In America, by Jean de Dieu Tshileu
Friday, August 15, 2008
Imagine you are traveling to a new country away from the American hamburger. What is one of the first cultural interactions you will have with the people of this country? You will be invited to eat a meal enhanced with all the customs and traditions of the new culture you have arrived into. You have no idea of what kind of food you will eat, but you are excited about the new experience. Your expectations are high like an investor waiting for his or her dividend. Guess what! It turned out that I have to eat goats food. What can you do?
As I sat down to enjoy my first cross cultural meal in the U.S. the table was full of delicious smelling foods. There were the traditional meat and potatoes common to many American families and many side dishes. However, one of the first things passed to me was a bowl full of leaves!
I was so confused. In D.R. Congo, the country where I came from, only goats can eat this type of food. But I followed my new friends example and put some of these leaves on my plate. I wish I had known the American culture. Americans are so direct and open. As I know now there are many excuses to use when you do not want to eat a certain food. You can say,
As my hosts started to bless the food, inside myself I was wondering,
As I put the first bite in my mouth it was so cold! This was a sensation I was not used to. How strange to my African palate. Food is to be cooked first, meaning boiled. That is what we mean by cooking, and not eaten right out of the garden. Uncooked food contains microbes; this in turn could affect your stomach. I chewed and chewed for about 3 minutes and could not swallow, fearing that I would turn out to be a goat. Finally I took a bite of bread then washed it all down with water. At the end of the meal I still had salad on my plate. I lied and said I was so full I could not eat anymore. Actually, I was still a little hungry but I did nott want to ask for more food when I had not finished what I did have.
Now that I have lived in the U.S. for several years I am familiar with the salad culture. I even enjoy it now. I can look back at my first salad experience and laugh.
I have a favorite salad recipe that I make for myself. Here are the ingredients:
Romaine Lettuce (I used spinach until the E. Coli outbreak)
Baked turkey cut into pieces
Mandarin oranges (a whole can)
Raisins
Sunflower seeds
Carrots (optional)
Vermont vinaigrette (special dressing from Vermont)
Now when my international friends see me eating my salad they make fun of me saying that I cannot go back to Congo because there I will be called a goat. I do not mind being called a goat because the lesson is that if my fellow Congolese knew that this is not goats food maybe they could harvest and eat it too and not go hungry. My goal is to take the American salad culture to my home in D.R. Congo.
Thank you for broadening our minds, Jean!
As I sat down to enjoy my first cross cultural meal in the U.S. the table was full of delicious smelling foods. There were the traditional meat and potatoes common to many American families and many side dishes. However, one of the first things passed to me was a bowl full of leaves!
I was so confused. In D.R. Congo, the country where I came from, only goats can eat this type of food. But I followed my new friends example and put some of these leaves on my plate. I wish I had known the American culture. Americans are so direct and open. As I know now there are many excuses to use when you do not want to eat a certain food. You can say,
I am allergic.or
No thank you.That was not my case. Two things happened here. First you are not allowed to keep eye contact with the lady who prepares the food; that is not polite. Second you are not allowed to refuse any food that is given to you. Where I grew up we did not have choices. If someone offered food you must accept it. There was no alternative of refusing or waiting to see what else was available. You would go hungry in that case.
As my hosts started to bless the food, inside myself I was wondering,
How am I going to digest this?It was a mathematical equation that needed an instant solution. I figured that if I followed the leaves with a piece of bread or meat that may work. I figured the taste of meat and bread could change these goat food electrons to form safe, neutral molecules. Well, I got an F. What does that mean? It means I failed to solve this equation. So what happened?
As I put the first bite in my mouth it was so cold! This was a sensation I was not used to. How strange to my African palate. Food is to be cooked first, meaning boiled. That is what we mean by cooking, and not eaten right out of the garden. Uncooked food contains microbes; this in turn could affect your stomach. I chewed and chewed for about 3 minutes and could not swallow, fearing that I would turn out to be a goat. Finally I took a bite of bread then washed it all down with water. At the end of the meal I still had salad on my plate. I lied and said I was so full I could not eat anymore. Actually, I was still a little hungry but I did nott want to ask for more food when I had not finished what I did have.
Now that I have lived in the U.S. for several years I am familiar with the salad culture. I even enjoy it now. I can look back at my first salad experience and laugh.
I have a favorite salad recipe that I make for myself. Here are the ingredients:
Romaine Lettuce (I used spinach until the E. Coli outbreak)
Baked turkey cut into pieces
Mandarin oranges (a whole can)
Raisins
Sunflower seeds
Carrots (optional)
Vermont vinaigrette (special dressing from Vermont)
Now when my international friends see me eating my salad they make fun of me saying that I cannot go back to Congo because there I will be called a goat. I do not mind being called a goat because the lesson is that if my fellow Congolese knew that this is not goats food maybe they could harvest and eat it too and not go hungry. My goal is to take the American salad culture to my home in D.R. Congo.
Thank you for broadening our minds, Jean!
