Eating Out(side)

Last night I visited a dining establishment quite different from anything I've encountered in Canada. The "restaurant" was located right beside the street, and two long mats rolled out on the ground provided seating. We sat on the mats around short tables lined up end-to-end. When we first arrived, we stopped by a cart displaying the food options: rice cooked in coconut milk & wrapped in a banana leaf, chicken legs & wings, whole fish, eel, and small patties made of soybeans & I don't know what else. The food was all pre-cooked, but once we placed our orders, the vendor heated it up over a small bucket of glowing coals. While she cooked the food, we patrons sat on the mats around the tables drinking freshly blended fruit juice (I had guava) and visiting.

This is a different night, at the same restaurant.

I went with my roommates and some of their friends--both Westerners & nationals. It's such a privilege to have moved in with people who already have a network of friends established!

Anyway, the food was very good. I had rice, fish, and one of the soybean patties. The fish was especially good. I ate it with my fingers, since I don't have the kind of skills it takes to skin & debone a fish with a spoon (which was the only cutlery provided). Some of the others ate their rice with their fingers, but I don't have the kind of skills it takes to do that, either.  :)