Yummy Produce

My MIL is part of a bi-weekly produce co-op thing (how's that for specific...) and we are starting to really get into trying out new fruits/veggies.  The organization has several drop locations set up around our area, one of which is at her church.  You can either go early enough to help sort the foods, or just come between 7:00-8:00 to pick up your bag.  She usually takes Emilia with her and E has a blast.  She loves helping Grammy pick up our "produce".  (Am I the only one who thinks it is adorable for a 3 year old to call it produce??) 

The part we weren't completely sure about at first was the randomness and uncertainty of what we would receive.  For the most part, it has been good stuff that we know we like and will use before it goes bad.  This week had a couple odd items, including something we had never tried before.  Enter, the mango.

Jason has been trying to inform me about what fruits, veggies, and foods in general are available on Saipan.  It turns out, mangoes are Super abundant on Saipan, which means we need to learn to love them!  Any food items we can purchase locally, as opposed to foods shipped from the mainland to the grocery store, will *hopefully save us some money. 

We all braved our first mango experience and the results were surprising...it was very tasty!  It reminded us of the consistency of a peach, but a little more tangy.  I let Jason cut into that bad boy and the seed is stinkin' huge!  He cut it into 4 sections, removing the seed, and we just cut or spooned the fruit out of the tough skin.  Jason, Treasa and I liked it quite a bit.  Emilia took one tinsy bite and said she didn't like it.  This is pretty typical of my picky-eater.  Her first response, more times than not, is not to like something.  We will try it again another day and see if the response is the same.

It was fun to test something out together, including Jason's mom in a little bit of pre-Saipan experimenting.  I am also glad to know I like them enough to eat them semi-regularly once on Saipan.  I'm MOST excited about lots of watermelon (yum!!) on island, but am glad to have other options as well. 

Even though this may seem totally insignificant in the grand scheme of things, for the moment, my heart was at ease.  There are many, Many things I am still anxious about concerning our move to Saipan and I feel relieved to mark this thought/worry (no matter how small) off my mental list.  It also made me feel a little more connected to Saipan, in some weird way.  Each time I make a new connection with a person on Saipan, try something we will eat regularly while on Saipan, check the weather and humidity, I feel closer to my little island.  Am I looking forward to the 84 degree day that feels like 92 due to humidity?  Not exactly.  But God is preparing my heart, little by little, for the biggest life change we have encountered thus far.