Detour: South Africa

So I'll take a little time away from my commentary on the food allergic life to share something else.

I have been planning a trip to South Africa, Cape Town in particular, for approximately two years. You see, being in medical school, I knew now would be a lovely opportunity to go before being bound down with contracts and job responsibilities after graduation. So I looked into my international rotation opportunities and quickly narrowed them down to Cape Town. (I don't speak Spanish, so that knocked out quite a few countries!)

So I've been working around Cape Town in my schedule for the longest time, it seems. Moved it around a few times based on testing schedules and interviews, but had it pinned down to the Spring 2014 for about the last year. It started to become more and more official looking as I got the paperwork sorted out for the school and my passport renewed. I also started to work on vaccinations, get travel insurance, etc...

As the autumn progressed, I was in touch with the school regarding the paperwork, for it obviously takes an extensive amount of paperwork to go abroad and practice medicine. There was a new administrator on the South African end which was complicating things, but we assuredly could get it done.

Along with all this, I was reading books and watching assigned documentaries on HIV/AIDS in Africa. I set up a rotation in an HIV clinic in America, figuring it would be a good experience--and it was, undoubtedly. I know for a fact that I want to work with HIV patients. I got more excited about going to the forefront of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Then I get an email regarding flooding in Cape Town, had I seen it in the international news? You all know, I've been busy traveling and interviewing and while I kept up to date with the headlines (those mornings newspapers in the hotels helped), I had not seen it. I searched a little and hey, there it is waaaaaaay down on CNN. Okay, regardless, a hospital getting evacuated for flooding is a big deal. No need to push, I can deal. Plus if there's flooding, there's definitely not paperwork getting done for the international medical student. I pushed my dates back from February to the end of March, the latest I could go and still get my six weeks in just before graduation.

I even made my hotel reservation. Bought that travel insurance. Have the travel guide sitting there, read through it, got excited about Table Mountain and botanical gardens...penguins! Dolphins! The Cape of Good Hope! (History major here!) Let alone the whole apartheid and Mandela drama that had taken place in Cape Town.

Mandela. The man is most definitely a legend and when I saw the headline news of his death, one might say the writing was on the wall. Mix in another idiom, three strikes, you're out.

It actually wasn't his death that truly that did my trip in, but rather the upcoming elections. The politics will be dicier with Mandela even nominally in the picture. Things get nasty on the TV in the US, but in other countries, elections can be a much different story (eh, Arab Spring anyone?). Taken in combination, it's not a safe place to send students. I would probably be fine, but it's the whole 'probably' thing. While I would be staying in Cape Town, I would be travelling into the poorer areas, where it would be more likely that events could occur. Things were more likely to occur there regardless and I had been warned, so add in the furor over elections, things were not going to be pretty.

So that's that. It's saddening and quite honestly, a bit heartbreaking. I've been dreaming of Cape Town for about two and a half years. Add in my vacation to London (not only was I a history major, I focused in British history--London is my mecca) at the end of it and I've basically got my dream trip to get me through the next few years of residency.

I've spent a few days moping about it, cancelling reservations and making phone calls. I'm moving forward now. It's difficult for me to not be active about anything in my life, so I'm considering my options. There's about three months to get something together, and I doubt anything will live up to South Africa in my mind and heart. There's options in Ethiopia and Ghana, but I'm not sure if Africa is a good place for me right now; like I'm trying to substitute something in for my dream. There's a nice opportunity for HIV/AIDS outreach in Jamaica, which is probably the most likely option going forth.

And who knows, I may just go to London anyway. A Christmas present to myself.

progress

As you all are probably well aware, I have been quite busy these last few months. I apologize for the delinquency of my not posting, but I have fallen into very little cooking and experimenting for many reasons.

First off, I was busy on a surgery rotation where I was at home so not alone was I scarfing down whatever I could feasibly find in a period of time so I didn't get hypoglycemic in surgery, I had my mom cooking for me. We did find the glories of how to bind a black bean burger appropriately--I can't buy fake meat or anything frozen because there's generally yeast. For some reason, my mom tried black beans with couscous to bind it and it generally works. I have subsequently been glorying in the modified burger--a biscuit, black bean burger, a slice of cheese, and appropriately safe ketchup. I have missed burgers so this has become a new standard while I've been home.

The other reason I've been busy is that I've been travelling with interviews (thus the accident with the chicken--that happened at a pre-interview dinner). Getting vaguely nauseous eating McDonald's fries, making my car reek of bananas as I travel with banana skins, dripping honey from biscuits my mom sent me forward with...it's been an adventure.

Oh, and for people who want to know what I ate for Thanksgiving--mashed sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, candied carrots, and green beans. Cherry tarts for dessert.

On an allergen front, this is the time of year that I really become retrospective. Both Thanksgiving and Christmas are heavily oriented around food. I have already become creative trying to avoid the nut-encrusted gifts that have been given to us in the office for the holidays. I pray daily about what will be coming in as Christmas approaches. Holidays that are focused on big meals make me confront the fact that I can't eat like everyone else. My family general celebrates with just us, so it's been doable but it's still up front for me.

And it's been difficult because I've had to come to grips with the fact that they're getting worse. Some things are getting better, so there is some good news, but for the most part, things are going downhill and rather rapidly too. I have spent far too much time recently with abdominal pain and the much more frustrating specter of nausea--can't move, don't want to go anywhere nausea. Standing next to the sink/toilet because I know I'm going to vomit. It has never been like this before. In fact, nearly two years ago, when I was diagnosed, I scoffed at the idea of food allergies--abdominal pain? Nausea? Vomiting? Not me!

For example, I have been able to eat eggs and know the reaction I would have to them--so I could safely anticipate what was going to happen. I cannot predict it anymore.

I have had days when I have eaten nothing allergenic and still had problems.

I have been getting more rashes on my face--a known reaction to rice, but not to rice in these instances (The other discovery? Sometimes they're scarring, which almost made me cry last night).

I want oh so much to be in denial about this, but I can't. I will soldier on, but it will be difficult. Especially considering in the upcoming weeks, I will turn to preparing to leave for South Africa where I will be less stringently vegetarian and also have to start from scratch with knowing brands' ingredients.

So there it is. Things are not all on the up and up and I'm struggling. But whoever said life was fair?

sprouts!

I am a very delinquent blogger here. apologies. i have been traveling and not cooking, resuming my hospital cafeteria salad diet so there haven't been a lot of new recipes to share. there is something i am about to try, and one thing i have been recently exposed to while traveling--brussel sprouts.

I have a feeling that will get a very mixed reaction from y'all but hear me out--i feel that sprouts have gotten a bad reputation. They are actually quite delicious when cooked properly and also very nutritious! Wikipedia tells me "They contain good amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre. Moreover, they are believed to protect against colon cancer, because they contain sinigrin." Thomas Jefferson himself grew them at Monticello. With a recommendation like that...

Cut the sprouts in half. Get a frying pan good and hot and add oil and brussel sprouts flat side down. Let them brown nicely on that side. Shake them around and good a while longer. If they need to, you can ad a tiny bit of water, put the lid on until they are eating consistency. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme if you like. 

They really do need to be browned and crispy otherwise they're just soggy cabbage.

I challenge those of you who have never tried Brussel sprouts and have avoided them based on reputation to try them. Maybe you'll change your tune.