BTBF Reflections: This week's "aha" moment

  

   

    It's 12:15 AM, and as I write this, I am slurping down a steaming cup of SHIN NOODLES. I know I should not eat this late at night. Matter fact, after my earlier stomach pain, I should not be having something this spicy. However, as I am wrapped in my blanket, watching a K-drama my sister recommended, I don't care. 

    Since coming to Syracuse, I've been having a hard time adjusting to the food. There were days I didn't even bother going to the dining hall and other days were I went and still didn't eat. I felt guilty wasting food, but simply couldn't finish my plate. To make matters worse, I was home sick. I knew I was going to get home sick fast, but that doesn't make the homesickness any lighter. It doesn't help that there is such a lack of Nigerian food here. There aren't anyways to replicate my cultural food, either (imagine warm up jollof rice or warm up eba and egusi stew). The happiest I felt at the dining hall was when I found friend plantain. A couple of days ago, I went to the supermarket on Marshall Street. It felt just like the corner store down the street from my home in Boston. More importantly, they had the ramen I eat back home. Since then, every time that I'm home sick, I reach for a cup of ramen. Or, at the very least I think about eating a cup (sometimes I'm not hungry or I have plans to eat with a friend later). A similar trend has happened with getting bubble tea from Marshall Street and making over sweetened lattes at the dining hall. 

    I am not a nutritionist nor a psychiatrist. There are probably deeper meanings behind comfort foods and the rate at which one eats junk food. But, my "aha" moment this week -which feels more like a gentle reminder- is that food can contribute to mental health as well as physical health. It's the same way someone that works out constantly has rest days. Or, the reason why the weekend exists. I'm not going to start having ramen every single night. But, having ramen right now is me listening to my body. It's acknowledging the stress and strain that I have experienced with the change of environment (Boston to Syracuse), and soothing the aches that come with it.