The family work full time jobs. Then they come home and perform a multitude of chores. We have animals to care for; prepare feed for chickens, cats and dogs. Things to clean; there are three little houses, a separate kitchen, a big courtyard, a near garden and a far garden. From the moment they get home to the moment they go to bed there is something to do. Weekends are just as busy. Going to the bazaar is fun, and practical. There we get fresh fruit, meat, flowers, and necessities such as langos (fry bread), er, I mean shoes. We bike home, where it is time to prepare food, or wash laundry, or sweep the courtyard.
Lucky for me, they take siesta after lunch. Whew! By then I need it and the day is only a third over. After siesta they are back at it, tending flowers, pulling weeds, or fixing something. They are very sweet and tell me to rest. I feel guilty not helping out, so I try to wash or put away the dishes. I can sew by hand so I take over mending and darning. I also need to study language, so sometimes I do that as my contribution. Sometimes I want to cry from frustration at my poor communication skills. So studying is truly a contribution to the household! (I don't want to stress them out with my tears so sometimes my contribution is just in holding myself together and not blubbering like a baby!)
All that work results in the family needing lots of calories to sustain them. They cook hearty and healthy, and enjoy the food with gusto. They enjoy plates piled high with fresh veggies, meats, potatoes, or pasta and special, thick, meat sauces. They graciously fill my plate and urge me to seconds and thirds. The food is wonderful and I love it! But my caloric need is about 1,300 calories per day, and I feel sluggish can't function on what they courteously offer me. I suspect some family members eat over 3,000 calories a day. But they are slim and energetic because they work so hard. I'm blown away at their capacity, until I try to keep up with chores. They wear me out! Then I have huge respect for how hard they work.
The diffulcity comes in when I need to stop eating. They urge me to "Eat, eat!" But I can't! I hurt their feelings; they think I don't like their cooking. They complain that I eat too little. Hospitality demands that they feed me well. I explain that I can't eat this much; I don't work as hard as they do and I will get fat. They say that it's ok to get fat on holiday. I can loose it when I go home!!! Gee, I wish it would work like that. I know that if I go up in weight now it will be very difficult to loose at home. I explain that and they'd grudgingly agree. But every day it is a friendly battle. My husband just laughs when I tell him about it in our dialy FaceTime chats. He knows well the mind set and it has taken him years to pull back from trying to get me to eat massive amounts of food when he cooks.
I have learned that I can get away with a small breakfast, eat a big lunch, and a tiny dinner. If I eat big at lunch I think I satisfy them. My sister in law said that a person needs a big lunch to fuel the day. So between that and trying to get exercise most days I think I can handle this. I will also start going to the gym with my niece. It was a big shock to learn how little stamina and strength I have when it comes to actually getting necessary things done in day to day life.
So much for my idea of myself as a hearty person. I am just a soft person used to an easy life. This will teach me to appreciate my decadent lifestyle!
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