the africa diet

I'm going to Africa. I'm flying to Africa in exactly 22 days.

Peggy, the director of the NGO we're working for, said, "When you reach Zambia, go to the market. Buy some cornmeal and a couple of chickens. Put the chickens in the truck. When you reach the villages, hand them the cornmeal and the chickens, and they'll turn that into your meal."

Jeff sent out an email letting us know that he's buying clif bars...just in case we tire of corn mush after a couple weeks.

It's looking like it's shaping up to be four weeks of cornmush, chicken, and clif bars. Somehow I don't think that I'll be stuffing myself into oblivion during those four weeks.

And I must admit, with knowing all that, my eating habits have been less than satisfactory this past semester. I tend to justify eating everything with "I'm going to Africa."

Friends have told me, "Oh, my brother served his mission in Africa! He lost, like, fifty pounds."

I nod my head every time, and to be completely honest, I didn't feel guilty in the slightest about downing a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream this past weekend.

Anyhow, my boss broke my bubble: "Emily, you're not going to be there for two years. You're going to be there for one month."

I went running this morning. It's better than going on the Africa diet for two years.