Got Rice?

Ron purchasing a deep fried owl from a local street vendor in Tamale, Ghana

Photo by: Bruce Buursma- International Aid
Current Location: Midland, Michigan, USA / 43°37′25.0″N 84°13′45.7″W

It has only been two weeks since my return from Africa and already I'm itching to go back in the field. Hurdling across oceans, from one wild destination to the next, one village to another. I'm starting to think 'motion' is what keeps me alive. That...and the rice.

I blame it on all the rice I eat. Every where I go I find rice. From India to Japan, Honduras to Cambodia, rice is the staple of the human diet. There's rice cakes, rice balls, rice cereal, rice soup, rice pudding, rice wine and even rice-cream and rice-sickles. Shit. I don't think I've ever been to a country that doesn't have rice. And if I were to ever land in such a sordid and inhumane environment, I think I'd die and go to hell (heck I'd already be there)!

One question I constantly get is "do you eat what the locals eat?...Like all that gross stuff?" Heck yeah! As long as there's rice with it, I'll eat it! Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the food I encounter is far from bizarre. It's delicious!

My favorite as of late: Deep fried fowl with a splash of African dirt (for crunchiness). With rice, of course.

Bon Appétit!