Sugar.

Saturday afternoon I mixed up a big jug of Tang for our fourth grade boys that take over the living room most days of the week. I also had a double batch of peanut butter cookies for them to try. Nice, right? Beside the fact that one requested I make sandwiches for them (not pb&j, but tuna or chicken would be fine) they all noted that I did not add any additional sugar to the Tang. I made strong Tang, so thick it looked like neon orange milk. I remember how I liked my powdered drinks in fourth grade, and I tried to make these boys realize how hip I am to the nine year old taste bud.  However, they were disappointed that there was not a sweet sludge of extra sugar granules at the end of each glass. I guess I just don't understand Arab taste, and I am not blind to health.

Tang made in Bahrain

In a discussion with Nora's Pediatrician about breastfeeding he advised that, "You should take your supplements, because they will not make you fat." and "To boost your milk supply you need to drink a lot of liquids, like juice. But do not add any sugar to your orange juice." At the time I tried to tell myself that people do not add sugar to orange juice, he must have meant that I look for juices with no sugar added, and not to drink Tang.  Later that week when I was visiting downstairs, the woman was getting fed up with me because I would not take any sugar in my tea. "You need sugar to make your milk, you need extra, extra sugar!" she said as she added spoon after spoon into my drink. I didn't say much, smiled and drank my Ceylon and mint syrup.

I observed more, and began to think that maybe these people would add sugar to their orange juice. Michael has come home telling me horrific stories of men adding 13 sugar cubes to small cups of tea. When he confronted the Phys. Ed. teacher at his school about his sugar use, he said, "Who tells you sugar is bad?! It can not make you fat! Who tells you this?"

I finally saw it the other night. We were taken out for dinner by a family who's boy Mike had taught. The mother sat across from me. She was a short, round woman with a bright face and a gaudy taste in jewelry. She ordered no food, but she did request a single glass of orange juice and a glass of ice. I watched all night as she opened sugar packets and dumped five or six over the ice. Then she would pour about an inch of juice over it, stir it with the end of her knife, and sip it like a cocktail. Repeat. The juice lasted the whole meal this way, and probably had twenty five to thirty sugar packets mixed in. At the end of the evening we ordered coffee. She ordered cappuccinos for me and herself, and mentioned to the waiter, "Extra sweet for the ladies, please!" Thank god it came unsweetened with an extra row of sugar packets on the side. I stopped watching her sugar, I didn't want to understand how much "extra sweet" was to her.

As for the boys, I refuse to add extra sugar to the Tang. It is the first ingredient, and I already added extra mix to the water. Also, I think it will be apples and bananas for snack the rest of the week. I can't wait to see what the reaction is when I start throwing veggies in there for them. "Teacher, what is this?"