Enjoying massive portions of pasta at least twice a day; not thinking twice about devouring a full loaf of bread in one sitting; and happy to eat bowls of cereal between meals, I have long considered myself to be the carb queen. Having spent a week in Ethiopia without seeing anything resembling a cake, a sweet or a biscuit, those illusions are now shattered. In fact, I'm not sure I could cope with this much pure carbohydrate in my diet. 'I just want a big juicy stake' I sometimes hear myself cry, but all we get is bread, pasta, potatoes and rice.
My first day at the camp I was greeted with a breakfast of bread (not of the sliced variety, just a big massive chunk of it) and a bowl of porridge. As my mother well knows, I hate porridge, but given that it was made with water rather than milk, I managed to force down half of it, just so that I didn't seem rude.
Lunch consisted of a massive bowl of spaghetti, which even I struggled with, and a small portion of tomato and onion sauce.
But the best bit was dinner - rice with potato. Yes just rice and potato! I'm by no means against double carbs. In fact I applaud it. But when all you have to add some taste to it is a small bit of butter that the potatoes have been cooked in and a tiny bit of carrot to give it some colour, even I'm going to struggle.
No wonder these people run so fast. Their muscles must be so loaded with glycogen that I'm surprised that they can sit still for two minutes.
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