A Quick Note on Food

My school package includes full room and board with my host family. Meals with my family means an enormous amount of carbs....something my body is not most fond of. For instance, last nights dinner was the following: iceberg salad, potatoes, cheese, fried plantains, and bread. If I were to actually eat with my host family every day I would come home 200 pounds heavier and ready for my first cardiac arrest. Last night I ate little, trying to be polite, then stole away to a local cafe for some chicken and vegetables. I excuse myself for lunch citing the need to study and wanting to be in the marketplace. My host madre is so kind and generous and so tonight we are going to a restaurant. Staying true to form (I can´t not invite people to dinner...it is a compulsion!) I invited her family (she and her youngest daughter accepted) and my New Zealand roommate out to dinner. I get the feeling that Angela rarely if ever goes to restaurants and she lit up at the invitation. I am taking her to a fine cafe that serves great food. I am a very very rich woman in this country. It is astonishing, humbling, troubling, and comforting all in a moment....but tonight we shall eat good food and Angela will do no work, save for lifting her own glass and chewing her food.