Last night, I dreamed mostly in Spanish. No big deal for some folks, but I don’t speak a lick of Spanish. I can follow a little, but that’s about it. However, in the past few weeks, I’ve had to get comfortable working with an interpreter or using a telephone interpreter service to communicate with patients who don’t speak English.

I’m starting to remember little things, but let’s not kid ourselves—I couldn’t go to Madrid and expect to get by asking people on the street if they can tell me what a carbohydrate is or whether protein raises their blood sugar or what time to take which insulin. “Show me how to get the air out of the needle” would only get me into trouble.

Educating patients on carbohydrate counting and giving examples of healthy meals has also put me in touch with the fact that what a healthy meal looks like varies across cultures. A recent article in Today’s Dietitian looked at the best breakfast options from around the globe, sizing up typical morning meals from countries such as Turkey, Israel, Costa Rica, China, Vietnam, and Venezuela. The article also includes recipes for arepas and queso blanco.

Those of you who’ve been following me a while know I’m a big fan of oatmeal for breakfast, though the summer months find me craving smoothies and yogurt bowls in the morning. It may be cold as balls in NYC today, but the warmer temps are coming…

What’s your favorite healthy breakfast?