Peace In Numbers: Deep Frying Party

This is an article I wrote for the PC Peru Health Program's newsletter. ?The theme of this quarter's newsletter was host families. ?

Interacting with our host families, we often find a balance between doing what we want to do and doing those things we?d rather avoid like the plague.? One day, I?ll pretend I?m working so I don?t have to go to the chacra to pick peas.? But to balance that, I?ll make sure to color with my host siblings that night.? Sometimes it feels like choosing our battles.? Maybe I?ll eat that colostrum so that I don?t feel guilty about hiding in my room when my family walks up to church services tonight.? As we move through our service, the shift seems to change; yesterday we bought our excuses to escape tomorrow?s cuy dinners with today?s grudging host family experiences, but today we start to see the beauty in those moments we aren?t able to avoid.?

One of our biggest complaints is that our host families stuff us full of rice and potatoes, usually deep fried in vegetable oil in one way or another.? When Nate and I first arrived at site, we mostly cooked for ourselves and occasionally got our host family to try our veggies a la huancaina or fruit and granola salads.? Eating mass quantities of papa rellena was not on the top of our list, and we stood strong for a long time.?

Around five months in to site, Nate had to go to Lima for a meeting, and I would be left alone in site for the first time ever (I know!? I shouldn?t whine!? You guys are always alone!).? Suddenly our stand against rice and potatoes felt a little weaker without my better half.? In my vulnerable state, I gave in to my host family on the very first night alone.?

They were planning on making humitas, so I wanted to solidify my humita-making skills and spend the evening with my host family.? Humita creation went well, and my host mom complimented me for the first time ever, congratulating my fine humas and generous use of cheese filling.? Any volunteer knows that it?s a big moment when your host family accepts you for the first time as being able to do a Peruvian task well.?

High off of the compliment, I thought I?d spend some more time with my host mom and maybe make a little treat for everyone while we were waiting for the humas to boil.? I decided to make onion rings, so I whipped them together, and my family went wild for them.? Just in time, my host aunt and cousin came over and delighted in the onion rings as well.? The next thing I knew, we were deep frying everything in the house:? cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes.? Things got extreme when we realized we had leftover cheese filling from the humitas.? We rolled it into little balls, and we breaded and deep-fried those, too.?

At the end of the night, I was more comfortable with my host family than I ever thought I would be.? I can?t exactly say the same about my physical body, because I literally had severe chest pains.? I almost had a Josh Higgins-site-visit-heart-attack episode.? But more importantly, it was the first time I felt like participating in something undesirable didn?t just serve to make myself feel like a better volunteer or get my host family to like me or avoid offending anyone.? Sure, I don?t really like eating tons of deep-fried food, but that night I did.? Although I?ve never deep fried us out of house and home again, the connection I made with my host family that evening was a turning point in developing the relationship we have today.? I guess we never know when those unavoidable events will turn into something we may not want to avoid in the future.? I can?t say I jump in the deep end a lot, but when I do, it usually ends well (besides minor side effects like life-threatening heartburn).? ?

Note:? To bread vegetables before deep-frying, dip in your pancake batter recipe of choice.? The batter should be fairly thick, so you may need to add a little flour.? Fry in 1-2 inches of oil in any of your host mom?s frying pans.? ??

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