So I started nibbling a carrot.
2 hours til lunch… am I going to last? Saved by a calendar invite: Jay Bu’s birthday cakes. Now, for those who don’t know our Jay, he is a strong advocate for all things Fairtrade. I felt certain there’d be some non-contraband food on offer. Sigh of relief at the sight of Dairy Milk; brief aside: since Cadbury’s has recently been taken over by Kraft, we’re asking the CEO, Irene Rosenfeld, to keep Cadbury’s Fairtrade. Fair friends of Facebook, join me in badgering the CEO of Kraft to keep Cadbury's Fairtrade.
So, I’ve been planning my meals for the last few days, as you know, but one serious omission dawned on me late last night. I had forgotten to plan my first lunch. All subsequent lunches this week are going to be loosely based on a soup-like mush of the dinner from the previous night. But Thursday night was pizza at church. Error. So, it was pretty fortunate that on my last day of financial frivolity, friend Jack and I had moseyed into town for a lunch-time Fairtrade Americano. Blessed with the gift of the gab, Jack charmingly struck up a conversation with the owner. He explained my daily budget and ethical principles, and would you adam and eve it, the owner only had some organic sausages and offered me a snackeroo the following day. So, down to the nearest café I went at lunch time, and exchanged my 100 pennies for a sausage bap and, special offer for the lady in the woolly hat, an americano. Meat – sourced locally and bread bap from Wombledom. Result. Happy tummy.
Concentration tends to come and go when your energy is low, and I felt like this all afternoon. A serious slump came at 3.30pm. Found ½ a banana and ate that. Then I remembered I’d pillaged a huge chunk of Jay’s birthday chocolate. And so I diligently focussed on that task for a while. Possibly better to eat slowly anyway. I feel sure there is some science based on this, but I can’t imagine it would be interesting.
Hot water helped me get through the rest of the day. Then, social event of the week: Friday pubbing. Entertainment on a shoestring is possible, but if you’re doing a socially exclusive activity such as abstaining from all normal food and drink, be advised: this will not make you the most popular person in the bar. So if this happens to you, what I suggest is that you get your friends to order tap water for you, so that you don’t have to.
So all this week I’ve been having t’riffic conversations with a massive array of people. From the spiritual to the practical, edifying and challenging in different ways. Miss Lakeside offered a very commendable recipe which I tried out later this evening: roast onion, and pasta. Quite tasty,oven roasted onion and clove of garlic, some organic pasta in a cheese sauce. The cheese sauce was basically just, ... melted cheese, so... not exactly Michelin star quality. But you’ve gotta allow me some artistic interpretation here. Carole (today’s photographer) and I had an enlightening discussion about how challenges; how we get to experience something a little beyond our comfort zone. This brought to mind all the times, when I’ve been reliant on myself, it's rare that I experience anything that challenges me. But there have also been times when I’ve had nothing; no money, no ability to speak the language. And so there's nothing for it but to rely on but the kindness of strangers. And that’s when I’ve had the chance to see overwhelming blessings. To receive signs of friendship from people I barely know or might never see again is altogether amazing.
I can’t quite find a word for that. But I think there should be a special one.
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