spoiled with produce

Turns out i’m spoiling nelly! Well, as she put it ‘you will have to send me money when you go because i will be used to how we live!’ Initially I couldn’t imagine what she was referring to because I feel like every other phrase out of my mouth is something like ‘does it really cost that much?’ or ‘yes I know you say L$100 but can you make a soup for L$50, how about L$80?’ But apparently my encouragement of produce consumption speaks louder than my words! There are oranges everywhere I look in this country, and naturally I translated that to mean everyone eats oranges. They seem to be affordable and easily obtained, but clearly I have a misunderstanding of what life on the poor side of the Liberian scale means. I get the deal with rice: everyone eats it, every day, all day, it’s not a day unless you eat rice. I was surprised by how much they love meat and fish, but more surprised still when Nelly explained that living with her aunt before I arrived she would only eat maybe one piece of fruit a week. No wonder she feels spoiled, every day I’m asking her, did you have an orange and a banana because the bananas will spoil soon and we have a lot of oranges this week! Plus, she’s thrilled with the knowledge I shared that oats in milk are just as tasty when served cold. It’s so much easier than cooking in the morning (she leaves for school by 6am) and it’s just as tasty. I’ve also realized that it blows her mind if we manage a day without eating the rice, we had hard-boiled eggs and elbow macaroni for dinner the other night and she announced that when I leave she will still eat like this. I made spaghetti for the girls a couple weekends ago and Antoinette wasn’t a fan, but Nelly thought it was wonderful – except that there was no meat involved (silly me got the tasty mushroom & green peppers sauce instead of the meat!).

I also spoil her with music videos on youtube occasionally! Haha here’s us rocking out – had to share my headphones since the generator’s so bloomin’ loud!!!