People pay me to tell them what to eat. Companies bring me in to speak to their employees on healthy eating at home, at work, and on the road. I have a degree in dietetics, taught college nutrition courses to culinary students, and worked as a dietitian in the eating disorders unit at a mental health hospital. I know food.
The kids and I are vegetarians. I think my husband is, too, except for that time I caught him eating pepperoni pizza in Jen & Dan’s play room during their Superbowl party. And the time he tried to act like he didn’t know the juicy burger he got off the grill wasn’t a veggie patty at Keisha & Chris’ house. And the carefully torn Whopper coupon I saw in the armrest of his car. But I digress. We’re vegetarians. And in the months leading up to this trip, we had been inching closer to an entirely plant-based diet. Nothing was official, but we were making tiny moves in that direction.
The point is that food matters to me. I’m intentional about what I eat and what I feed my family and have always planned to continue providing well-balanced, healthy meals within the context of our host culture during our travels. In fact, I love ethnic food. If given a choice of restaurants, I will choose a yummy ethnic spot over the same ol’, same ol’ American chain 100% of the time. Apart from meat, I’m an adventurous happy eater, and I don’t succumb to the pressure from my kids to provide a steady diet of junk.
Eating locally is a huge part of experiencing a culture, and I’ve often judged Americans who travel all the way to another country and eat at McDonald’s or Hard Rock Cafe. My thought bubble went something like this:
Who does that? Why bother leaving if you’re just going to try to recreate a little America in your new destination? Is your culinary palette so limited that you can’t even make it a short time eating different foods? Grow up! Embrace new cultures. Food is love.
But now everything is different because I’m hungry.
We went to the MegaCenter shopping mall in La Paz today, and they had a food court. In the food court, they had a Cupcake Cafe, The Donut Factory, Cinnabon, Subway, Eli’s Pizza, Factory Grill & Bar, a Mexican spot that looked like Moe’s and…Hard Rock Cafe.
I almost cried.
I’ve been trying to be strong for the kids. I want them to be travel warriors who don’t turn up their noses at other people’s traditional foods. Food is on my short list of “Things to Experience While Worldschooling,” but there’s just been so much vomit and diarrhea for me to deal with since arriving. We actually went to Hard Rock Cafe first, but we couldn’t stay because they had entirely inappropriate music videos with incredibly large breasts and backsides bouncing to the beat displayed on mega screens throughout the place. I wanted that food so badly that I tried to convince myself the kids would be too hungry to notice, but when my 4-year-old son asked, “Mama, why is that boy’s mom naked?” I knew we had to go.
We ended up in the food court. It was full of the things I normally dismiss at home as we retreat to our minivan stocked with a cooler of fresh fruit, cut up veggies, hummus, and guacamole. But today, all of that cheap processed food was calling my name. It was saying, “Am-ber…Ammm-berrrr…It’s OK. You don’t have to be perfect. You can eat “food-like substances” and still be a good mom.” I agreed with the little voice and we had bad pizza, Lay’s potato chips, Subway sandwiches, and chocolate-filled churros. And Fanta. Orange Fanta, to be exact.
I know. Smh. I know. It was so bad that it was good though. My kids were so happy and I got full. And I had a burning desire to buy a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt, but I’m too cheap. Now I understand the obsession people have with those shirts. It’s not because they’re cheesy Americans wasting money on dumb souvenirs. No. They’re hungry Americans that are so happy to see a menu with familiar food that they want to give Mr. Hard Rock and his shareholders a reward for being so awesome.
I’m sure that I’ll be revisiting the whole food situation here in future posts, but here is a short rundown for right now:
- The water here is not potable. We can only drink bottled or distilled water (from a countertop distiller). We also have to use that water for brushing our teeth, cooking, and cleaning all fresh produce (along with a chemical produce wash). We can’t drink fountain drinks or any juices that were made from concentrate with added tap water. We can’t eat produce anywhere that we don’t wholeheartedly trust.
- The altitude makes baking and cooking many things very difficult. You know that little note with different directions for cooking at high altitudes that you find on packaged food and recipes? They don’t work. Pretty much everything tastes different here. Some of it is different and edible. Much of it is different and inedible.
- Meat is in everything. The local people really, really, really, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY love meat. I’ve never been anywhere where meat dominated the way it does here. Nearly every meal revolves around meat. Most of the restaurants specialize in meat. Beef, chicken…alpaca and guinea pig.
- The produce isn’t great. I don’t have a full explanation on this one yet, so I’ll have to get back to you. I don’t know whether there’s a systemic issue, if the altitude is to blame again, if I’m shopping in the wrong places or what, but the fresh fruits & veggies just don’t look or taste very good.
Our bodies are still adjusting to the food. I know that it will get easier as I gain more experience cooking at this altitude and finding the right ingredients to make things taste better than they’re tasting right now. And for those days when the hunger has built up and I want to take off my Ms. Responsibility hat, there’s always the mall food court.
LOL, “Food is love.” 🙂 Nope, you’re really getting the picture that food is food. (And when you’re hungry and having a hard time finding it, food might be anger.)
I gotta say, I saw this one coming. Not because I know anything about Bolivia, but because I know you and I have experienced similar issues in many countries. (So, + 4 kids = fun time for Amber.)
Now, the altitude thing is no joke, and I don’t have experience with that. But, I basically have to give up being vegetarian in Spain (where they drink beer for breakfast and meat is also king), because it’s kind of impossible. My friend Melissa (who lives in Barcelona) and I were joking that the Spanish idea of “vegetarian” is . . . Tuna. Yes, anything listed on a menu as vegetarian almost always means tuna. Now, this is fine if you’re a pescatarian, but it is definitely not VEGETARIAN. (It’s a lot like how restaurants in Georgia list macaroni & cheese under “vegetables.”) No comprendo.
Italy, which has an international reputation for good food, is also filled with tourists on a regular basis, and, therefore, is also filled with tourist-focused restaurants (i.e., watered down, tasteless, expensive, quickly-made versions of things). And, what’s worse, is that they look like cute, quaint Italian restaurants. So, even the high-minded “embrace new cultures” traveler who think she is wisely avoiding McDonalds & Hard Rock, can easily sit down to a plateful of food frustration.
On the bright side, European farmers markets (not necessarily grocery stores) give me the ability to eat vegetarian “at home.” Even still, I end up with a very limited diet when traveling (certainly not the nutrient-diverse food plan of which you would approve).
I feel your pain. It is definitely challenging (when you have food standards above that of a teenager) to find appropriate (and affordable) food when traveling. I hope you find that great market with lots of fresh fruits and veggies soon. Ask the locals. (Or eat a lot of rice and meat.) 🙂
Lol, you were so right. It was in the back of my mind that we may have food issues, but I thought I was prepared to deal. I surrender though. I’m a wimp! I can’t eat the meat. I’ll have to post pics of it. And I couldn’t even get pics of the worst of the meat situation because it would’ve been obvious and rude. But I have the images in my head, and it ain’t pretty.
Are there local markets outdoors you can go to? We travelled in Ecuador, Peru and Chile and found the best produce at the daily markets that opened up at 6am? But I do remember our first time shopping in the grocery in Ecuador. My husband and I are also veg and just looked at each other and thought— what are we going to cook? The boys also craved familiar food… memorable adjustment. Hopefully you find a few favorites and can make them over and over! Rice and veggies anyone?
Beth, you’re so right! I can’t cook a good pot of rice to save my life here (Thank you, altitude), but we are killing the veggies with pasta – olive oil, butter, red sauce, white sauce, mix it together for pink sauce…you name it. I’ve been told that the best open-air market in our area is on Wednesdays, and I’m going to be there bright and early tomorrow.
We joke that the big M in McDonald’s stands for “Men’s Room” — and we can usually find clean bathrooms at McD’s overseas.
I never eat McD’s in the US. (Tried once.) But wow. . . Nothing tastes as good as a “FishMak” in Ukraine!
A dose of the familiar is good when immersed in everything new.
Yes, a dose of the familiar is soooo new. That’s something I never would’ve known if I hadn’t experienced it myself. Before traveling with my kids, I thought I’d be all about the having the most authentic experiences all day, every day. Little did I know that sometimes I just needed the big M, lol