May Erin always be fat

In Nigeria, food is a luxury and health is not a right. Men like their women with meat on their bones. If the lifestyle did not demand so much physical labor and exercise, I think there would be a lot of very big people in Nigeria, because they love food! I love how they love their food! Many times I watched in amazement as our 7 year old boys would eat a portion of food three times what my stomach could handle. Because they are naturally a very active society: walking everywhere, carrying 30 lb buckets of water for long distances, playing soccer hours each day... they burn off all those calories and are really strong.

However, as they get older and have families, if the wife is a little (or a lot) overweight, to some tribes, it is a very good thing. To be overweight is to show that your husband is caring for you and is providing food for you. It is a luxury to have enough food that you are a little overweight. (I realize this may be a generalization, but this is what I have gathered from my years there.)

As a result, any time that a slender person should gain even a little weight, the Nigerians exclaim with glee and say 'Oh, you are so fat!', which, to a Nigerian, translates 'Oh, you are so healthy!'.
To an American woman, it translates as 'Oh, you are so fat!' :)

As a tall and usually pretty slender woman, my Nigerian colleagues and friends would notice if I gained a little or lost a little weight. I guess they felt that since I was slender, that I was not eating enough (which was sometimes true and also thanks to bouts of Giardia). And they also took it upon themselves to worry about me, since I don't have husband to do that.

During my 2006 furlough to Texas, let's just say I really enjoyed my chips and salsa. And was sick and pretty inactive for 3 months = some weight gain. Not fat by any means.... BUT, when I returned to Nigeria, OH how happy the kids, my colleagues and friends were! I cannot tell you how many times a DAY I heard "Oh, you are SO fat!", followed by hugs and laughter. I knew they were telling me they loved how I looked and were paying a compliment, indirectly, to the care my parents showed to me. :) My self esteem had to recover a bit, to be honest, but then I decided that it was a positive thing and sucked it up... and sucked it in.

All that brings me to last Sunday at The Moody Church. I sat down next to two lovely older ladies I have not seen in awhile. One of them remarked "You look like you are feeling better. How is your health these days?" The other one said "Yes, you look like you gained some weight."
Ok, now, how would YOU respond, ladies? I flashed back to all those hours I have spent in the gym the past few months, all those nutritious meals I have been eating, and then realize that, yes, I may have gained 5 pounds (of muscle, right?), but I FEEL great and am getting stronger and building my endurance.... so all that flashed in my mind in like 2 seconds... so I responded with laughter and said "Now, I am not sure how to respond to that. But I will say that in Nigeria, if a woman looks healthy, then people say she looks fat."

The dear old woman looked me in the eye and said with a straight face, "Well, then may Erin always be fat."

Amen.