Why thank you.

I’ve been saying the same thing the entire time

This is hibiscus sabdariffa

The picture you posted is of the wrong species, which I assume is why you were confused.

The calyx is red (and the petals are yellow/white) on hibiscus sabdariffa, which is the species they use commercially.

Suit yourself I guess, it’s a common misunderstanding.

You can also eat the petals, but the stuff you’ll find commercially are calices. I assume the petals are perhaps too fragile to process ? https://www.tyrantfarms.com/hibiscus-a-tasty-addition-to-your-edible-landscape-or-garden/#edible-parts-hibiscus-sabdariffa

Yup, those are calices, it’s the bottom part of the flower, that holds the petals together.

It’s actually made with the calyx rather than the petals, same as with hibiscus tea.

I miss trader Joe’s dried chili mango and candied hibiscus, their entire dried fruit section really.

In France there are plenty of people who ask for Dafalgan or neurofen but have no idea what paracetamol or ibuprofen are.

I like how you put that. The answer isn’t in the lesson, it’s in the practice.

We aren’t built to be satisfied. Our survival in a prehistorical context depended on our constant vigilance in the face of the ever-present risk of death from myriad dangers. That has required of us to evolve into fearful, violent creatures. Nothing forces us to act that way in a safer, less existentially precarious context, but there’s a lot of hard-wiring for us to fight against. I think so long as you’re willing to face that skittish, aggressive, hoarding nature and try to calm it down and perpetually remind it that it’s going to be ok, you’re on your way to some pretty solid contentment.

Of course that first requires that you’ve somehow magicked your way to a reliably full belly and roof over your head, which… well good luck

I’m franco-american, living in france, and I regularly get people telling me they’re sorry for insulting me for being american. It’s so ingrained in the culture here to shit on americans it’s something of a knee-jerk reaction. I get it, america’s the hegemon, we’re the big baddy, I just wish that didn’t spill over into a kind of xenophobia that people are so comfortable with they regularly catch themselves being openly insulting to people they call their friends.