Food is Funny in Foreign Country

Mango Mania

I don't normally like Mango, but today my mom came into my room and told me that she had a mango for me. When she said mango I thought she meant like mango pieces or something. Well she said Mango and she meant Mango. (I don't know why I am capitalizing Mango....as if it was a name....hello, here is my best friend Mango. He's a mango.)

It was a lot bigger than I have ever imagined a mango....not that I spend much time imagining mangoes. Anyway, my host mom cut the mango into three pieces. And then handed me a plate with the three pieces and a knife. Being the Gringo that I am, I haven't had too much experience with Mangoes. So I sat there for like two whole minutes just starting at the mango and the knife...i truly didn't know how to eat it. It wasn't like the mango was cut into conveniently bite-sized pieces or anything. I didn't even know if I was supposed to eat the skin. I'm sure I could have just asked my host mom, but  I was American and I didn't. Emily ate Mango on Friday (although hers did come in bite-sized pieces) and I remembered that the pieces she had didn't have skin. So I decided to just cut little pieces out of the skin. So I did that for the two outside pieces, but I really had no idea what to do with the middle. It's a fruit right? So I knew that there had to be a seed or something somewhere, and since I hadn't run into that yet I figured the seed must be in the middle. Then when i stuck my knife in the middle part it hit something solid. So I just left it. My host mom laughed a little when she saw I completely left the middle part, but didn't say anything. I probably could have eaten the fruit until I got to the seed. But I didn't. It was an interesting experience. And guess what? I might actually like mango. I liked this one anyway. Food is funny in  foreign country. 

Kangaroos and Crabs

I don't have a host dad technically. But my host mom's ex-husband and my host sibling's father, comes over a lot. So he's like my host dad. Anyway, today he came into my room and asked me if I liked to eat "Cangrejo". I stared at him for a sec to make sure he was serious, because the only thing I could think of that Cangrejo could possibly mean was Kangaroo. Of course, I had heard that Ecuadorians ate guinea pigs (cuy) but I had never heard anything about Kangaroos. I wasn't even sure there were Kangaroos in Ecuador. Well, while all this was going through my mind he was still waiting for my response. I must have made a pretty disgusted expression, because he looked at me with concern and asked if I didn't like it. I told him I had never tried it. He seemed relieved and left the room to help make this cangrejo for lunch. I sat in bed worrying that I was going to have to eat Kangaroo for lunch. I didn't know how I was going to survive, I mean I just started eating red meat in August, so I still have to get over the fact that I am eating a pig or a cow.....but a Kangaroo? 

By this time I am sure anyone who speaks spanish is laughing hysterically at me. Because guess what? Cangrejo is not a Kangaroo. Its a crab. (To some people that might not be much better, but to a girl whose father grew up in Connecticut, seafood is not a strange thing.) So don't worry, I won't be eating a Kangaroo for lunch, just a crab. When I figured that out I was quite relieved, let me tell you. But guess what? I wasn't too far off with the whole Kangaroo thing. A Kangaroo is a "Canguro" and a Crab is "Cangrejo". See they are similar!  Food sure is funny in a foreign country. 

Laughing at myself, 

Zoe