It’s 4:30 am and I’ve been awake for 45 minutes. I may have found the box with my jeans! I hate long pants but it will be cold here again. I’ve only worn long pants trekking in the jungles for “protection”. Ha! Near Gunung Leuser National Park in Northern Sumatra, trekking with Johan, I was outfitted with leech socks, sprayed insect repellent around the tops of them and around my waste, cinched up my waist belt on both pants and backpack and the little suckers still got under my clothing. The pants did keep my legs from getting too scratched up though. In the past 3 1/2 months, I’ve worn long pants about six times. On a couple occasions, I wore them in order to enter a Mosque or temple. In Bali, I carried my sarong in order to remain properly attired while wearing shorts.
Putzing around this morning, I had another first come to mind. This one was pretty amazing once the thought of it pounced upon me. This is the first time I’ve seen a refrigerated egg! Yes, in over three months, I never saw an egg in a refrigerator!
In the US, we are pretty paranoid about taking care of eggs. Really, we are freaky about storage, cooking, contamination, and freshness of our egg. Over there, I saw stacks of eggs transported on the backs of motor bikes. Square cartons capable of holding two dozen eggs, no tops, only a molded form for the eggs to sit in, piled one on top of another about 12 deep. Two such stacks, on on either side of the rear of a motor bike cruising down the road headed for their final destination. Hot and humid air surrounding them, direct sun bearing down on them until the stacks reach a market where they are taken off the bike and then put on the floor normally near the produce department.
Stacks and stacks of eggs everywhere in Indonesia and not once did I hear of any “egg” related illness? How can that be? In the US, we would have health inspectors shutting down every place that did that until proper storage could be arranged. Once the eggs reach a home, they are stored the same way: outside any refrigeration at room temperature. I don’t think they stay around very long. Maybe a couple days of eggs are purchased at one time.
So is the egg that dangerous? What makes it deadly here and ordinary there?