If Gordon Ramsey went to Cabo Verde

 This week was fun but nothing really exciting happened so let's take some time and do a little update on the food situation here in Cabo Verde. I think I've been here for long enough now to understand the staples. We really don't get fed by members a lot but when we do, this is what we're given (I'll be rating all of them on a scale of 1-5):

-Cachupa: basically just a stew/chili/I don't even know of corn, beans, tuna, and some other mystery items. Our district leader from CV made it for us and it was actually fire. 4.6/5 for this specific cahupa. I have yet to try another kind so when I do I'll lyk.

-Couscous (pronounced koosh koosh): imagine the densest bread you've ever had in your life and then take away all the flavor and that's what it is. They like to put it in a bowl and pour milk on it sometimes. 4/5 one of my favorites because it feels relatively safe for me to eat

-Bolo (cake): They make cakes a little bit different here but theyre sooooooooooo good. They don't put frosting on them so it's basically just sweet bread it reminds me of dense banana bread. We've been given cake a few times and yesterday we got an orange flavored one it was so good we ate it in one sitting. 5/5

-Chicken foot soup: I think this one speaks for itself. Imagine chicken noodle soup with puddles of oil sitting at the top and instead of chunks of chicken there's just tons of chicken feet in it. No I didn't eat the chicken feet I was too scared and getting a toenail in one of my bites of soup was enough for me. 1.4/5

- homemade ice cream: they like to make ice cream and put it in little plastic cups with a stick of wood and then freeze them and they're so delicious. Besides them melting in 5 seconds and me being scared of getting a sliver in my tongue, 5/5

Those are all of the specific foods we're given but in general, for meals here everybody always has some sort of meat (usually chicken or fish) and rice and beans. Always. 

Now let's talk about how they prepare the food.

We were at a friend's house last night and while we were there she was making dinner. Let me paint you a picture. At this moment shes making rice and veggies, its practically harmless. 

Now imagine the smallest counter space possible. Put pots and pans and food and everything you can think of on the counter top. There's no more space for anything so we're left with the little counter space that's right in front of the sink. There's one bowl on the counter and it's full of water. This bowl is used to wash hands, wash veggies, and to wash the knife shes cutting the veggies with. She then pulls out the raw meat (turkey I believe). She sets it right on that little counter space and just starts cutting. Occasionally cutting vegetables with the same knife and throwing them into a bowl on the stove. She drops the knife on the ground a few times, looks something up on her phone while her hands are covered in raw meat juice, takes a drink of her soda, washes her hands in the one bowl, and then pours the bowl water into the bowl with all the raw meat. Then it goes on the stove to be cooked. I was in complete shock the whole time. Everything I had learned in my 7th grade foods class was being thrown out the window. So honestly, it's not necessarily the food here that's scary, most of the time it's the way that it's prepared. 

If you're not interested in my food thoughts, here are some other things as well:

-We went through 3 boxes of cereal in 4 days. We're animals! (Sorry this was about food)

-Our Halloween party was a success!! A ton of people came and they went crazy over the free candy we bought. They also only wanted me to play Thriller by Michael Jackson, no other song was allowed.

- We did a service project with all the missionaries on our island on Saturday and I made the conclusion that every elder in my mission is the same just different fonts 

Last thought: this week I was thinking about the summer before the mission and I was just thinking about where my head was at during that time and honestly, it wasn't very good. I wasn't in the head space I should have been in and I let a lot of irrelevant things take priority in my life when they shouldn't have. Looking back, it's so clear to me that if I would have been better at centering my life on the Lord, I could have prioritized a lot of things that are much more important and fulfilling. I just have such a strong testimony that when you life is centered on Jesus Christ and His gospel, ALL things in your life fall into place. Work, friends, school, what to do with your time, physical and mental health, family, etc. Not that everything gets easier, but you're able to see everything with more clarity and you know what your purpose is. God wants us to be happy! If we turn to Him, I know He can help us find it!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!