Today was a rough day because of the presentation I had to give and all the studying I have to do for Thursday. While the presentation went well (I got an email after from her saying I did a good job!) and the studying has been coming along well too, I will just ignore discussing these facets of my day in this post.
Usual start to my day: toast, 7:30 wake-up, skipped a shower, walked to school. I got chided by some of the people on my program who get to take cold showers every other day for passing up the chance to take my daily hot shower! Arabic in the morning, lunch at the center, and then Lla Mary Jean's class in the afternoon. I got caught up on Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother during study breaks in the riad and at home. I skyped with Maddie for an hour but didn't really communicate much with America otherwise.
This post has been curt because I'm struggling. For weeks now, I have been falling into a downward spiral, a black hole, a dark chasm… addiction. I have become addicted to red tubes of Pringles since I got here, eating a small one for 10 dh every afternoon on the walk home. There are three Pringles dealers I usually go to: the food stand at school where they only sell the Red and Green small tubes for 10 dh, the Australian women on the walk home who also sells the Paprika variety but ups the price to 12 dh (I like to justify paying the higher price as paying for service in English), and, lastly, the grocer just outside the Riad who, if I can hold out for that long, sells a full tube for 22 dh and even has multi-grain sour-cream and onions Pringles. While I have stuck to consuming only the Red Pringles, I have since recategorized them as "gateway potato chips" because I have also developed a craving for the Cheddar Cheese flavor, one that I haven't been able to find. I have also seen other flavors such as a mysterious purple tube of unknown taste sensations and a Jalapeño flavor, but I don't think I have fallen far enough to try to eat those.
I didn't realize I had a Pringle problem until yesterday when it dawned on me while making a duck bill with two chips. I realized that I had used the phrase "Once you pop, the fun don't stop" 6 times this week, which is six times more than you are allowed to say it in your whole life. I also realized my addiction developed as a coping mechanism with a tajine chicken diet and the lack of chicken tenders in my life. I've begun working with my host grandmother to help me overcome my problem, as she used to be addicted to raw artichoke. This explains why she never eats it when we have it for lunch, which I had attributed to her being an old wise women who had realized decades ago that artichoke is not meant to be eaten raw.
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| Never Again, Mr. Pringles |
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