So I have been here a month now and sadly things took a slight turn for the worst this week (which was envitable, luckily it`s also kinda funny how it happened). If you know me at all you know I love food. I treat pretty much every meal as a time to enjoy something wonderful and I like to have lots of variety in what I`m eating. I expected that the food here wouldn´t be what i was used to and that was fine. But let me explain the eating routines here.

Breakfast everyday is at 7:30 and consists of hot tea and bread. no jam, no butter, nothing else. Luckily the bread is usually fresh, the tea hot, and there is ample sugar to add to it (the girls like about 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar in each cup of tea. It`s sweeter then Sweet Tea). It`s not bad but it´s not quite what i´d consider filling.

Lunch is at 12:00 every day. For lunch and dinner usually one of the girls cooks. Upon arrival I thought this was great that they were learning how to cook and that if they were cooking then the food couldn´t be that bad cause they were going to eat it too. The older girls do actually seem to be quite good cooks and even mix up the menu a bit. However, one day I went to help a 13 year old cook. I guess i assumed she knew what she was doing with the two frozen chickens but after multiple efforts at thawing them, cutting the skin off, not knowing to take the insides out, and finally just throwing them in the oven I decided she did not know what she was doing. These chickens luckily did not appear at lunch or any meal there after. I`m also pretty sure no one ever taught her about all the bacteria associated with raw chicken as she reused the knife (there`s only one for cooking) and cutting board without washing them. A few days later I found one of these chickens, still uncooked and uncovered, in the fridge. So if i get ecoli it won´t be a mystery from where.

Besides chicken, we have pasta or rice every day and usually one at each meal. Sometimes there is a sauce that accompanies it, sometimes just a little melted cheese. Maybe twice a week we will have salad (very wet lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and carrotts, no dressing, no cheese, no bacon bits). Hard boiled eggs are also popular and sometimes served as the only protien in a day.

Lunch is followed by tea at around 6pm which usually has some crackers with it and sometimes even cheese (it´s just kinda a generic cheese) and dulce de leche.

Then Dinner is not until 9 pm. Usually by this time I am so hungry that all i can do is lie in bed until I hear "Vamos a Cömer". It was missing this call a few nights ago that led to my breakdown. For whatever reason (probably i had fallen asleep) I missed the call. Around 9:40 i started to get suspicious and really hungry so i went to investigate. Not only had they already eaten but the left over food had been thrown to the dogs (of which there are anywhere between 3 and 10 running around). So I got a plate of pasta with a bit of cheese that we had had for lunch and headed to my room where, at the thought of roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar, spinach salad with crazins and walnuts, and grilled pork loin, i burst into tears. So of course, of all things, it is a lack of food that broke me. Yes I´m a food snob so I´m just going to have to find some way to get some good food daily. I guess the upside is that I am losing weight.

And really i can handle bland food but it´s my fear of horrid dieseases that really dominates my timid approach to each plate put before me. First, the girls, who also do all the cleaning up, don´t always feel it´s necessary to wash the cups after dinner if all we had was water. Second, there are always lots of animals running around the kitchen trying to snatch a few scraps. Even worse, one of the boys brought over his hamster which he decided needed to be bathed in the sink and then used the oven mitt to dry. I´m pretty sure the oven mit then was used at dinner time without being washed.

Then this morning when I went in to the kitchen/dining room my fear reached new porportions. As i entered, one the cats (which I have excepted only because they are better then rats) jumped off the cupboard to catch a bird in the air which it then killed on the floor and dragged through the kitchen leaving a trail of blood and feathers.

So i have been basically lathering myself in purell (as the bathroom sink was used to wash the hair of a girl who has lice). I will also spend the weekend looking up words like sanitary, ecoli, disinfect, and deadly disease.

Other then my fear of dying, things are fine. We had a lovely meeting today of all the projects associated with the overarching organization that the home is part of. I got to learn all about the different projects that help lots of different children and families. I also met some more of the staff members who are all very nice. Also all the rooms are being painted so I am helping the girls rearrange their things and organize their rooms which is actually very enjoyable.

So anyways I have decided to stop fixating on food (though it´s hard when your hungry alot) and will here on out talk about more interesting things but it´s not all steak and wine. Ok well time to go nap before dinner.