Hedonism or Self Ruination? by Gelila

Hedonism or Self Ruination? by Gelila - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

About 6 months ago, I was walking home from school, munching on my bag of chips. Right when I was about to make a turn, a man dressed in torn, dirty clothes, with long greasy hair, about 50 years old, suddenly was in front of me. He was carrying a baseball bat. He told me to give him all the money I had and I passed him what little change I had gotten from buying my chips. When he realized I was telling the truth when I said I had no more money, he demanded I give him my bag of chips. Of course, I told him to get lost. The man broke my leg. The moral of the story I just made up? I love food.
I love food so much that I eat whatever I want and most importantly, whenever I want. The terms breakfast, lunch and dinner are nonexistent in my vocabulary. I eat when I feel like eating, which is basically all the time. I also don’t put a lot of thought in to what I eat, exactly like how I think it’s supposed to be.
I don’t have a favorite food. I love all kinds of food except sheep’s meat (it’s dish is often made in Ethiopia). I might not have a favorite food, but I do have what I call obsessions. They are foods that I fixate on. However, the infatuation is temporary. It will stop when I have consumed the food so much that it’s out of my system.
These days, my fixation is chocolate (be still my beating heart). I could have Nutella all day every day and still wouldn’t get tired of it. But I probably will be singing a different tune next month.
My spirit determines the food that I am going to eat. My obsessions, however, are constants. No mood of mine can change them, only time can. If am tired, I’ll have a lot of everything. If I am really happy or sad, something unhealthy does it for me.
I take quite a lot of time when I eat. I’ve never been one to get easily sated. And trust me, my bites are as big as my hand. I just eat a lot.
When I was in Ethiopia, I mostly ate Ethiopian foods. Miser is among my favorite Ethiopian dishes. It literally cuddles with my taste buds. It’s a sauce made from lentils and eaten with Injera (Ethiopian bread). After putting some Injera on a plate and adding miser on top of it, tear a piece of Injera, scoop a bit of miser with it and score. Heaven, I tell you.
I now consume more or less of the same exact foods I used to eat in Ethiopia. For instance, I still eat miser, but not as much as I am eating processed foods. That explains why I’ve gained quite a lot since I came to the states. Ethiopian eatables are more organic and healthier. Also, since they’re eaten using hands, I am more aware of how much I consume when I am eating Ethiopian foods, according to Dr. Oz.
This clearly is a very unhealthy life style. But it works for me. I am who I am because of the foods I eat. Besides, I believe the good outweighs the bad. If you find me in a really bubbly happy mood, blame it on the raspberry muffin I just stuffed my face with.