being fat in ethiopia

So i tried sending an e-mail of what i had already typed up in my room yesterday but it doesn't work for whatever reason.  bummer b/c there was lots to say.  \i guess i'll try to post it again tomorrow.  i'm at the university now and i just finished teaching my first few lectures to the professors.  i think it went well.  i'm having fun teaching but i'm super bored in my down time.  i will have to try and hire someone to take me to a museum or something here.  i can't wait until this weekend when the Dean will take me to some rock churches, that should be really good.  So the reason behind my subject line is that last night this random anatomy professor showed up at my hotel and i was in my pajamas but didn't want to be rude so i invited him in.  after some small talk he then asked me, 'are you doing the exercise'?  i was like, what do you mean?  and he said, 'your body, it is too big, it is unhealthy for you.  is there something wrong with you that you are so big?'  at this point i'm likely beet read and terribly embarassed.  not only did i want to kick this guy to the curb but i wanted to teach him a lesson in manners.  now on his behalf yes, i'm aware that i'm too heavy and i'm sure to an Ethiopian i'm the size of a whale, but it was still unpleasant to here.  so then i told him that no, i'm not sick, that i just don't have good eating habits and have been very stressed and that by the time i get home and play with ezra after work that the last thing i want to do is go work out.  he then made sure to tell me that i was living a very unhealthy life style and said that the last vet that came here was very thin and that her assistant is a personal trainer and that it's too bad that i don't live closer to Alabama so that she could help to fix my body!  WOW... so now when i'm walking around campus not only do i think these people are all staring at me b/c i'm white and a woman but now i'm thinking ' ohh, here comes the big fat white lady!'  hahahaha geezzz... needless to say i'm even less excited to be here right now.  don't get me wrong the guy is very nice and i know it's just a cultural difference so i'm not blaming him, if anything i blame myself for letting myself gain so much weight BUT it's still not easy to hear from some person i'm known for all of 5 minutes.  A bit of good news is that last night i went to bed when it was dark and woke up this morning when it was light out!!! YEA!  so hopefully my clock will be reset some and i won't be so tired during the day anymore.  today at the hotel i saw someone eating a potato!  YEA, so tonight i'm going to see if i can just order a plain potatoe.  for breakfast i ate oatmeal with bottled water mixed in an old animal cookie bag, not heated or anything.  DISGUSTING but i'm desperate for food.  i'm going to try to send this before i type more. Becky Lee Burk bringinghomeezra.blogspot.com