Hehee I love the humor that shines through in your post, you really got me laughing AND informed at the same time! Do you not like yoghurt at all? Not even the flavoured kind ( some of the calcium fortified ones made for kids are completely smooth if thats a concern), not even frozen yoghurt?

You mentioned how accessible fresh juices are and your so right, herbal teas are also a huge passion in kuwait. I know that peppermint tea relieves gassiness. Also apples, carrots, and a chunk of fresh ginger all juiced together is a wonderful blend that relieves gassiness, diarrhoea, and boosts the immune system too. I love ginger powder in soup as well, maybe you could add some with a little lime juice to give your chicken broth a bit of an asian twist?

Also specific to kuwait, many of the little local restaurants (even co-op ones) sell very cheap fresh lentil soup, chickpeas with lovely broth (you could probably ask for a cup of the broth without the whole peas), very healthy veggie stew (called aash) and another made with oatmeal and beef stock (called yareesh). Also very accessible are the mediterranian hummus variations that are sold all over the place. These are all very healthy, very cheap, and very easy to get your hands on and they will definitely be a part of my first weeks post surgery. Hope this helps!

I am definitely looking forward to being able to have hummus. I love the suggestions you made for finding things to eat!

As far as yogurt is concerned, I HATED it in America. It always left a funky aftertaste in my mouth. When I got here, however, I was forced to eat it, in a manner of speaking. My parents raised me that when you are eating at someone's house you have to try a little bit of everything, otherwise you will insult the host. At my first diwaniya experience, my, oh my! They just kept piling food on my plate. It was good food, mind you. But I got full pretty quickly.

"Would you like some chicken?"

"Yes, thank you."

And they put half a roast chicken on my plate!

Long story short, I had to eat the yogurt. Yogurt here is MUCH better than yogurt in America, but I'm still not a huge fan. My undoing is sour cream. I LOVE sour cream. Unfortunately for pre-banded me but fortunate for banded me, the sour cream here tastes completely different and is not anywhere near as good in America. Thus, I should be able to resist. Maybe.

This awesome! So funny! Thanks for the giggle. Humor helps for sure!

I was banded on /jan 3 and let me say I have been having a rough day with the band and needed the laugh!!! (it hurt to laugh) but netherless I loved it. Thank you

Thanks for the comments, guys!

Shay, I'm sorry you've been having a rough day. Hopefully things resolve soon. My main issues have been sore incision sites and gas. My mom says to hold a pillow to your torso when trying to get up, as this sort of holds everything together and puts less stress on those sore areas (and it really works) and my friend C says the best remedy for the gas is to get up and walk, walk, walk (this really works, too). I don't know if either of these are issues for you, but maybe this helps. Feel better!

G is also for Good.Good thing I am reading this BEFORE surgery because the amount of laughter this post caused surely would have me in "stitches" or ripping them. LOL!!