Frustrated Glutonian in South Africa

I am soooooo frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why????????

Gluten...... that’s why. It’s everywhere, all around me, it’s at every corner, at every turn.
I can’t seem to run far enough. I’m tired of been always hungry and of salads and almost bland boring foods (since most sauces or condiments have some sort of gluten). Every time i pick a morsel of food have to think twice about putting it in my mouth(sigh).

Being a celiac/gluten intolerant in South Africa feels like the worst thing that could happen. Where do you start. My most import question- what is there to eat? Life without bread is a constant struggle an inner turmoil. The bread dreams, my nightmares. Bagguettes, brioches, ciabatta, panini, kitka, hot steaming just baked sourdough bread, rotis, garlic roghni naan, cheesy parathas, focaccias, scones dressed in strawberry jams and a dollop of cream, pancakes drenched in maple syrup and a blob of butter, gooey pizza, chocolate glazed doughnuts, cinnamon glazed chelsea buns, hot cross buns, red velvets and my favorite CHOCOLATE CAKE layered with chocolate whipped cream and smothered in dark decadent chocolate ganache all doing a grand food dance to Be My Guest from Beauty and the Beast and in the end, the finale, a sign lights up, it says ‘Eat Us’. I wake up in a sweat. 

Eating out is other frustrating adventure in South Africa. I feel like i should be doing power point presentation and a slid show on gluten in very restaurant, bistro and bakery. People’s faces when I tell them a can’t wheat/bread....confused. Kindly they offer me pasta or something with ryebread. And that’s when i do my now well rehearsed sermon on what is gluten and why i can’t eat it. For me it’s not just being a celiac it’s my Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Every time i eat gluten i get a fit the next day and for the next few days i feel like a truck drove over me then reversed and drove over me again, just in case.

The hardest part comes from family and friends, who for some reason just can’t grasp why I can’t eat gluten. Most think you on some kind of weird diet. And there’s the, just eat it, nothing will happen it’s all in your head.... hmmmmm.Then there’s, eat a little every day your body will adjust to it(but it’s not an allergy).

In all my frustration I have to remember before I was a celiac, I had no foggiest idea what gluten was. I had to educate myself. So I really shouldn’t be presumptuous in thinking everyones ignorant. Like most thing not understood in life education is important.(a note to myself and all other Celiacs in South Africa).

SD