This little piggy

I have figured out one way to cure homesickness -- eat a lot of American food. Since I have been missing the States I decided that eating some typically American food might make me feel better. In a twisted way, eating the food made me feel better about not being home because it made me feel so sick to my stomach.

Yesterday I ordered pancakes for breakfast. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of the first pancake. But by the second and third ones my stomach started to hurt after consuming so much sweetness, especially so early in the morning. (I have been to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) and think every item on the menu must equal three times the recommended daily amount of anything you should consume. Their portions are just ridiculous.) Of course I finished all of them just because I don't get pancakes very often, but by the end I kept thinking, "How do Americans consume this much sweetness in one sitting???"

And because we had been talking about it for awhile, Kyle and I went to Hector Chicken for dinner tonight. By no means is it Chic-Fil-A, but it is as close as you can get to it while still being an ocean away. It is now two and a half hours after we ate and my stomach still hurts! How did I used to eat a Chic-Fil-A number 1 value meal in one sitting? When I asked Kyle this, he pointed out that everyone usually feels a bit overly full and sick after eating most American things and yet we still go back again and again. (I don't think it is possible to leave a Mexican restaurant just pleasantly full and not stuffed to the gills and moaning just a little).

I didn't realize how my stomach has shrunk over here, but it must have gotten used to smaller/healthier portions without me realizing it. I haven't felt this full or sick after eating a meal in a very long time. Now I just hope I can remember that it is not normal to feel like this after eating -- and also remember what type of food it is that made me feel this way.