Submitted by Hope Vega on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Hawaii sponsored by the Department of Health and Nutrition…
When you hear “study abroad”, you typically think of international travel to places like Europe, South America, and even Africa. However, as a Junior Dietetics major, I decided that my first UD study abroad program would be a domestic one to the beautiful islands of Hawaii. I spent my first week on the smaller island of Oahu in the neighborhood of Waikiki, Honolulu. The first thing I noticed about Waikiki is that it is a huge city that is very built up and commercialized. However, within this busy city, I was able to enjoy the beauty of Hawaii’s beaches and the delicious taste of Hawaii’s multicultural foods.
For the Transcultural Foods and Cuisine course I am taking this winter, I am required to try at least 15 different foods and write up sensory evaluations for each of these foods. So far, I have really enjoyed this assignment because my taste palette has been opened up to Thai, Hawaiian, Portuguese and even Korean foods. My favorite food so far is a Portuguese dessert called Malassadas, which are Portuguese donuts covered in sugar. Between trying all these foods and going on walking tours of some of the island’s popular museums like The Bishop Museum, I have also learned that the reason Hawaii has such a multicultural population is because 34 different ethnic groups migrated to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations during the 19th century. Of these 34 different ethnic groups, I found that the 8 which left the greatest influence on food are Native Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Okinawan, Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Korean, and Filipino. However, because I was able to tour both Kuakini Health System and Queens Medical Center, I have also learned that dietitians struggle to satisfy patients who eat diets of these 8 ethnic groups because these foods tend to be high in salt and fat. Overall, I’ve learned something new every single day of this program, made new friends, and have been inspired to continue to reach my goal of becoming a Registered Dietitian. Now, I am off to Hilo and I can’t wait for what’s in store.