If it's going to happen....

Who knew that corn could be SO big?!?!  That's what I thought to myself when I saw the cafeteria worker pile up some large yellow things with a red, oily sauce on my plate.  I had asked my friend earlier, "Are those shrimp?" (in Spanish of course) and I got a big laugh in return.  "No!  Es maiz!(corn)".  On top of the corn went some yuca (potato like food) and then some super tough, greasy and salty pork.  This pork was not to be cut - it was to be torn with the teeth and chewed...for a while.  I went ahead and tried the food, as I only have one option in the cafe each day and I didn't bring my peanut butter sandwich today.  I decided that the corn was a good thing to focus on, so I proceeded to eat multiple kernels (each about 1 inch in diameter).  I noticed my friend to my right.  She was cutting off the ends of each kernel before eating them, leaving the small gray colored tips on her plate.  I then became curious.  "So, what are you doing?" I asked.  Then, my friend, who knows that I am the girl from the U.S. who asks everyday about what the food is in order to assess it fully before eating it, tells me that those parts of the kernels give her diarrhea....
Yep.

Tonight I planned to go with two other girls from North Carolina to a Korean restaurant that we were told was the best in La Paz.  We made our way to the center of the city and found ourselves speaking Spanish to a Bolivian waitress about Korean barbecue while sitting next to Chinese businessmen.  We first had appetizers of sesame flavored spinach-like leaves, green beans, and spicy cabbage.  Then I shared the barbecue (which cooked on an electric skillet like thing in front of us) with my friends.  It actually was great.  I took a big piece of lettuce (that appeared recently washed, though this is a big risk for me right now) and packed it full of sticky white rice, added some sauce, then piled on the beef and bell peppers.  I wrapped it all up and ate it, with a smile on my face!  It was good!  I basked in the goodness of lettuce at that moment, hoping that it wouldn't come back to bite me.

I've made it thus far without digestive problems thanks to my careful choosing of foods, I think.  Last week I slowly branched out to trying any safe-appearing foods for lunch at the hospital.  However....

If it's going to happen, it will happen in the next 24 hours.