The Forbidden Fruit!!

All missionaries in the Church are guided by a set of rules for their protection and effectiveness. Each mission may also have a few rules which are specific to it's particular features.
For instance, our missionaries are prohibited from riding in 'Ticos,' a product that I'm sure the Daewoo company of Korea would like to forget.

This is a Tico after colliding with a loose soccer ball.  Durability is not a strong point.

Likewise they are prohibited from climbing up Huaytapallana without a person approved by me, the weather has to be good, they have to stick together, and no one climbs on the glacier.

Food can likewise be problematic here.  For that reason, the missionaries are fed by pensionistas, who receive payment for providing (hopefully) sanitary meals. Missionaries are prohibited from drinking anything other than bottled water and drinks.  

And then there are specific foods that are verboten (that's Spanish, right?).

For instance, no one is to eat pork.  When one sees what the pigs feast on, the rule makes sense. There are not-infrequent deaths from trichinosis here, which is a parasite found in un-inspected pork.

Lettuce is also out.  After a bad night in an unheated bathroom at 14,400 feet, I personally will endorse that one.  Don't accept the salad at Kimbo's in Cerro de Pasco. Believe me.

Unfortunately, as ceviche is a trademark dish in Peru, and usually scrumptious, it contains raw fish, and so is on the list.  Darn.

OK, a really easy one to obey is the prohibition on eating tocosh, made by immersing potatoes in water for six to twelve months, then drying the rotten mess and putting it in soups, etc.  Ewwww!

The stench in the markets selling this stuff is enough to ensure compliance with THAT rule.

OK, finally the strawberry.  What?!  That luscious, red peak of fruit goodness?!

Yes, unfortunately, it's also a common place to pick up all sorts of microbes that ensure one's stay in the bathroom.  

However, when properly dealt with, by trained personnel,

and with adequate exposure to cleansing agents in the proper concentration and duration,

this otherwise deadly fruit can be made safe for human consumption.  That's lucky, as there is a specific strawberry season here, and they are cheap.  Paula has a family-famous recipe that is one of the tastiest desserts ever, and even looks good in the pictures.  The missionaries lucky enough to be invited that day thought they'd died and gone to dessert heaven.

We hope that your list of no-go's is not too long.

And don't eat the salad at Kimbo's.  I'm telling you.

Dave & Paula