Living to Eat, or Eating to Live

July 30th, 2007

     I was wondering why my Liberian family ate lunch at 3 pm and supper at 8 pm. “A little French flare” I thought, “not at all American.” In fact, by the time 11 am rolls around every day, my breakfast has already worn off. Then I discovered that my Liberian family frequently does not ever have breakfast. In fact, if money is running low, they just cook one meal a day, proportioning it into their individual bowls, to eat part at lunch and save the rest for supper! But I still couldn’t understand why my family waited until 3 o’clock every afternoon to eat their first meal?

   I found out the reason why. First of all, the outdoor African market does not sell the FRESH meat and produce before 10 o’clock in the morning, (And who wants the old stuff left over from the night before, when there is no refrigeration to keep it cold?) Plus, it takes 4 to 5 hours by the time one has walked to the market and back, stoked up the fires (sometimes using coal wet from all the rain), and then prepared all the food “from scratch” and “by hand”. Even water has to be hauled in a wheelbarrow and food must be bought daily, as we have neither electricity nor refrigeration. I tried cooking for a week and let me tell you, I was exhausted, not to mention sick from smoke and ash inhalation!

   My observations have brought me to this conclusion. Our Liberian family has a remarkably grateful attitude. It is amazing how the children express thankfulness for even one big bowl of rice and soup a day. I don’t hear complaining, even when they are hungry. The children eat to live, not live to eat. Of course, if I offer them extra food , they gladly accept it!