So, a month has passed in this journey we call volunteering abroad.
Thoughts so far? Amazing, I love everything… Or do I?
In Belgium, in my city, I live in a tight-knit Turkish community. People know each other and people care, somewhat, deeply for one another. Now in Poland, besides my volunteering family, I don’t know anybody. This in itself isn’t much of an issue in the social sense, however my dietary restrictions makes this somewhat difficult. Solution to this? I turned vegetarian! Sort of — let me explain.
Are you ready to read something shocking about me, the author of this blog?
I’m Muslim.
Shocking news, I know. So, as I was saying previously. In Belgium, a country filled with different nationalities and cultures, it’s easy to find whatever you want. Whether it be clothing, food, drinks, psychics,.. you can find whatever you’re looking for.
Now my fashion sense is not inspired by religion or my Turkish culture whatsoever, but my dietary restrictions are.
For example, I can’t just walk into any supermarket and pick out the chicken or beef I want to eat and eat it. No, my meat has to be cut in a traditional manner. My meat has to be halal. You may or may not know what this means, but to give a brief explanation:
Halal food is that which adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran. The Islamic form of slaughtering animals or poultry, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe. Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood has to be drained from the carcass.
So, basically, I am a special guy who needs special meat.
In Belgium, as stated before, we have many cultures and religions. Finding halal meat has never been an issue for me, ever. But man, in Warsaw, this is a different story.
The nearest butcher that sells halal meat is 1 hour and 20 minutes away from me, man, wtf. They picked the most illogical place to open up shop, come closer to the center of the city, man, damn.
So, to go there, shop, come back I need well over three hours. You could say: “Yusuf, you legend, just buy a lot of meat and store it in the freezer.” Amazing idea, how have I never thought about this before!? Fool, I share an apartment with 5 other people. There is like no space in the freezer to put a months worth of meat in. So the solution to this problem is, I eat meat for a couple of days and then just switch to a vegetarian way of living. Very nice.
Is it a big deal? Honestly? YES, bro, I love chicken. I hate not being able to eat chicken every.single.day. I don’t know where I am going with this blog. I think I needed to vent a little bit.
So, to answer my own question. I do love everything about the culture, country, city and the volunteering experience even the Polish cuisine, just not my struggle for halal meat.
Tune in one of the next months. Maybe in my never ending frustration I will buy a personal freezer and put in my room filled with meat, so I have an “endless” supply of meat.
C u next month xoxo Gossip Girl