My kingdom for a lime

Shanthi and I are fortunate that we live in a developing country that is so...developed. Housing is more than adequate, we have reasonably reliable electrical power, running cold and hot water, and even DSL high speed internet, something my parents in Vermont don't even have available to them. We can go to grocery stores and purchase marmite, branston pickle, tasy breads and cheeses, 2% milk, various honey varieties, bulgarian yogurt, sugary iced coffee drinks, ginger beer, shortbread biscuits. fresh apples, oranges, spinach, potatoes, herbs of all types, dried pasta, fresh pasta, ice cream, phyllo dough...blueberries have even made an appearance on local grocery shelves once in a while, as well as what is perhaps for me the loudest flag proclaiming "Here thar be ex-pats": cranberry juice.

But we can't buy limes. Because, like bombay sapphire gin, maple syrup, fresh tofu, fresh curry leaves, tempeh, masaca (lime-treated corn meal used to make tortillas and such) and high quality loose-leaf tea, limes have not made it to groceries in this corner of the planet. We have no idea why that is. We can buy lime cordial. We can buy citrus that looks exactly like a lime, judged by color, size and shape, which turns out to be a green lemon. We can buy sprite, a soft drink famous for its "limon flavor". There's something to be said about the marketing of food products that mimic flavors of foods that are simply non-existant in the place where one is marketing the flavored product. I guess it works...I've never seen a kola nut...have you?

One of the interesting challenges of living abroad is the re-creation of foods from back home with the limited availability of certain ingredients. For Shanthi and I, who absolutely love limes, this has been trying at times. However, we've accommodated...we've gotten used to lemons where we'd prefer limes. We've used generic white cheddar instead of parmesan or mozzarella.

In some ways the limited resources we encounter here in Botswana contribute to the reduction of stress in our everyday lives. Somehow when you have slightly fewer choices, fewer varieties of clay to sculpt with, decisions are simpler and creativity gathers bounds. I wonder if we'll eventually forget what we're missing...