Cooking with Cockroaches

I told you this post was coming. It is true, there are cockroaches here in Nepal. They happily reside in the kitchen where I am currently staying. AH! I know, it terrified me too. However, just like many other things, I told myself, "It's all part of the adventure." 

The critters and I have reached an understanding. They stay hidden during the day so I can peacefully eat my breakfast and lunch. Then, around 6pm, they are allowed to have free roam of the kitchen. I usually eat out for dinner, so we don't cross paths. We had a few rough days until we came to this compromise, they liked to crawl around the counter tops by my food and traverse the silverware drawer, but now we happily coexist. Anything is possible. 

You think I am kidding? I am dead serious. My tolerance for bugs and general uncleanliness and being uncomfortable, has all greatly increased. I've mentioned in other posts about the pollution and different concepts of "clean" between myself and Nepalis. Granted, some may say I border on "clean/neat freak," but I just really value a clean dishtowel and NOT seeing visible dirt on the water dispenser that I get my drinking water from everyday. Does that make me crazy? 

Let me prove my point further - Littering is not a crime, it is the norm. There is trash EVERYWHERE! There is no garbage disposal service. So when you garbage guys come by and pick up your trash this week, wave at them, give them a smile, leave cookies for them. If they weren't doing there job, the trash would fill the streets and the rivers in no time at all, like it has here. Then there is the decreased frequency of showering, see previous post. As another example, I went to Saleways (think of it like a MUCH smaller version of Safeway). I was looking for bleach or iodine, something to help sterilize my produce so I could eat more vegetables. I should mention that up until now, I have not had lettuce or apples, nothing without an outer skin. Which has severely limited my options to bananas, oranges, and...well that's about it. I did use my Wet Ones wipe to wipe down an apple last week before eating it, and I haven't gotten sick yet, so I think that worked. Anyway, I was craving something green, so I asked the clerks for bleach or iodine and they looked at me like I was crazy. "Bleach?" They had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. I tried to explain that I wanted something to clean my vegetables with and they still just looked at me like I had blinked a third eyelid. Mission aborted. Guess I'll have to wait another couple months before I get that salad.