You don’t know what you like until you try it. You know, going on this trip abroad I thought, “Man, I am going to starve and lose weight on this trip.” I was terribly wrong; I can barely button my pants! “GAME! What is that,” I thought to myself. Trying new things, let alone different foods, terrify me. “How will I ever survive?” Going on this study abroad trip, I wanted to make a new goal of trying different foods and getting out of my comfort zone.
A few years ago, I had the chance to visit China for Green Team America; while I was there I had the opportunity to try their different cultural food groups. At the time I was not open to trying new food, so I ate rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here in Namibia, it is different, I find myself actually enjoying the variety of Namibian food. Most people think all Africans eat the same food, but that is not true. My college roommates are from Ghana and Liberia. Being an Ethiopian, I noticed that we have different food choices. For example,”FuFu” is a common delicacy for most people in the western region of Africa. So I thought, maybe Namibians eat FuFu too. Here in Namibia, there is a lot of game, including zebra, kudu, ostrich, etc. This trip was my first time trying it all. Wow! It tastes great.
People often ask me, “What exactly do you eat? Are you vegetarian?” I always have a hard time answering these questions because I am unsure of what foods I enjoy. I never know until I try them. Participating in this study abroad program, has given me the opportunity to express to others that trying new food is great. While staying at Neudamm campus in Namibia, I was terrified of eating the food because I wasn’t informed. Before traveling to Namibia, I learned in my “Agriculture cultural pluralism” class that in some cultures, it is offensive to not eat their food. I told myself no matter how hard new food is for me to try, I will do it. In order to get the best abroad experience being open minded and trying new things is a great idea.
Leave a Reply