Vegetarianism abroad?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by K on October 26, 2010 at 8:30pm

I'm a vegetarian but applying to India where it hopefully isn't a big deal, but I think that if they ask for the information then they are going to place you with someone who is willing to accommodate you on that one request, you know? *fingers crossed*

The only thing I can tell you from experience is that eating vegetarian in Sicily (also Mediterrean and not THAT far away) wasn't that difficuly. Granted, I was already used to Italian food and pizza and pasta aren't really a stretch for me.

If you are actually a pescetarian I bet it'd be easy - lots of seafood.

Permalink Reply by Rockwell Schwartz on October 26, 2010 at 9:14pm

Hi! I went to Egypt this past summer which I think has a lot of foods in common with Turkey. I'm a vegan and had shockingly little difficulty maintaining my diet both when eating out and when eating with my host family.
Some things that definitely help:
-Researching common foods of the country before going so you can identify veg and non-veg options when they're presented to you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_cuisine
-Learning the words for different types of meat before going (Just like in some parts of the U.S. where people just don't know what a vegetarian is, you'll find people abroad who don't recognize the word for vegetarian in their language. That makes it good to be able to say specific phrases like "Does this contain chicken?" A phrase book or Google search can help with this!)
-If you are able to communicate with your host family before going, it's good to clarify what you can and can't eat. My host family spoke a lot of English, so I was able to give some examples of foods I eat in the U.S. to help them figure out what I may eat when staying with them. This doesn't really work if they don't speak English, but maybe you can figure something out!
-Like what Kayla said, they know when deciding to host you that you have a different diet. Although they probably will be meat-eaters, they are willing to accommodate. You may have less variety in your meals than you do at home, but chances are you'll find some favorites! You'll also get a lot of funny reactions when you tell people you're a vegetarian. I was referred to as a "vegetable" multiple times ;)

I hope that helps!

Permalink Reply by Tian Ki on October 26, 2010 at 10:35pm

I spent my summer in Shanghai with NSLI-Y (I know you're applying to Turkey but I thought I'd give you my two cents!) and there were several vegetarians in our group. There wasn't really a problem at all with anything, and the director of our program made sure that nothing they ate contained meat or meat products. There also wasn't any problem with the host family and their vegetarian diet. Good luck, hope this helps!

Permalink Reply by Caroline Stokes on October 27, 2010 at 7:10pm

I'm actually a vegan too in the states, but am willing to eat small quantities of dairy/eggs if I need to in Turkey. But if my stay (if I'm selected!) is like yours and I don't have to change my diet at all, that's so much the better!

Thanks for all your tips :D

(P.S. I'm trying to get this to appear as a comment to Rockwell's comment, but for some reason it keeps moving down here. Sorry for any confusion.)

Permalink Reply by Winona Holmes Robbins on November 13, 2010 at 1:27am

This is exactly what I'm doing.
I just applied for china and I'm vegan but said I would eat eggs and dairy

Lets just hope no meat!

Permalink Reply by Michelle (Administrator) on November 16, 2010 at 4:10pm

Great basic tips, Rockwell! That's funny that people used the word "vegetable" instead of "vegetarian." :)

Permalink Reply by Lauren Berry on October 26, 2010 at 11:17pm

Hello! I went to India, so my being a vegetarian wasn't a problem. But I can say that NSLI and AFS make sure that every student is well situated and accomidated, and so if that is a concern, they will most definitely take care of it. Not only do they ask you about diet on the application, but on host family placement and health forms too, so they do a good job of keeping things in check. You should be totally fine! :)

Permalink Reply by Caroline Stokes on October 27, 2010 at 7:06pm

Okay, thanks so much for the reassurance everyone! Glad to know that my vegetarianism won't impact my travels (or be seen as a limiting factor by the people doing the selecting for NSLI-Y). You've all been so much help :)

But if anyone else has any input, please share it!

Permalink Reply by Azeezat Adeleke on October 27, 2010 at 10:12pm

Hello there! I went to Turkey last summer with NSLI-Y (best summer of my life, by far). A LOT of the meals are very vegetarian friendly; Turkish cuisine relies heavily upon vegetables, bread, yogurt, rice, etc. A large amount of our meals were meatless. Meat dishes are common, but meat tends to be more expensive, so your family may not it as often as Americans. You'll definitely be able to get by as a vegetarian. In fact, one of the other girls on the trip was a vegan, and she was just fine. Your host family will know about your preferences before hand, and they should be be very understanding about them.

I'd be happy to entertain any other questions you have about Turkey. :)

Permalink Reply by Joanna Mills on November 9, 2010 at 10:15pm

Hey Caroline!

I was a part of the South Korean program and I would be lying if I said being a vegetarian abroad was easy. While there are, of course, many delicious vegetarian and even vegan options in the Korean diet, the culture itself is very much centered around eating a healthy portion of grilled beef whenever a guest is present, and when the summer days come around, all Koreans are all about some chicken and ginseng soup. I had several issues with trying to get my point across that I couldn't eat meat and ended up eating some out of fear of being disrespectful and thus had a very unhappy stomach for the first few months. This happened a few times, and afterwards I learned how to be sneaky about avoiding meat and just had extra portions of other dishes.
I would suggest that you, of course, state your eating habits firmly from the beginning...But do be understanding of the culture you are about to step into. I know, for instance, that my host families were very uncomfortable with my eating habits, and said so multiple times (my host mother, right before I left Korea, said I should return and visit with them once I've started eating meat again). From a Korean standpoint, they couldn't understand how I lived--and how I was an athlete to boot! Regardless, you will, undoubtably, survive. Your host family will begin to love you and then they'll support you in any way they can. One of my host mothers even went so far as to order vegan "meat substitutes" online from G-Market (the Korean Amazon), all of which were sooooooo good.

Anyways. Life goes on. Vegetarianism and Vegansim are completely do-able.

Permalink Reply by Sahar Khalid on November 12, 2010 at 2:47pm

hi! i was a part of one of the exchange programs to U.S.A and i belong to pakistan. Being a Muslim I had problems because of the concept of Halal in Islam, therefore i had to skip all sorts of meat and live on vegetables and other meat substitutes. It was difficult but not impossible to live on vegetables entirely. But your case is completely different. You just have to compromise on pork otherwise you can have all types of meat. Turkey is famous for their food and mostly includes meat in their dishes. I would suggest that you visit a Turkish resturant in your town or city so that you can have a sense of their taste and it might even help to overcome your curiousity regarding the food problem you might face during your program.
Best of luck! Have a meatful trip :)

Permalink Reply by Tom Offer-Westort on November 18, 2010 at 12:53pm

I was wondering the same thing at the beginning of the summer!

A Turkish friend of mine (who I met during our AFS year in the Netherlands) just got married this last June, and I was afraid that as a lacto-ovo vegetarian, it might be difficult. I was staying with his family, and I didn't want them to have to worry about my diet on top of all of the wedding planning that was happening. I was VERY fortunately surprised to find that a lot of Turkish food is vegetarian anyhow. But if you don't like feta cheese and olives, you might be in a bit of a bind.

If you can find a Mediterranean restaurant near you, go check it out! Get an idea of what things you might like. If you get placed, your host-family already knows you're a vegetarian and is willing to work with you. I second Rockwell's reply. Get an idea of what things you like!

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