I've definitely had a full day today, surprisingly. My friend was acting in a play this afternoon which included all-you-can-eat dining at the 7th annual Soul Fool Festival. I had no preconceptions before going into the church (the play was held in a church) and didn't know what to expect for the food. Frankly, for a small-town, non-religious girl, it was a bit of a culture shock. The people were all really nice, though. They play was funny, especially the one woman who stole the show with her dry, witty comments. She had a great sense of timing.
All of the food was fabulous and included a number of ingredients which I had never had before including rabbit (yes, Thumper bit the dust) and cow (?) small intestines which I also had later in the night. The first time I had no idea what the intestine dish was until I was told the second time that I had had it earlier in the day. (Does that make sense? It is way past my bedtime so I am worried that it might not.)
I had gotten there sometime around 1.30 and the play ended around 5.45-6. A couple of my friend's friends also came so we all went out for coffee to waste the time until 7.30 when we all were going to dinner at an authentic Chinese place. It was fun to sit around and talk there (at the coffee place).
The Chinese place was a lot of fun. There were 10 of us total. The food was cooked in the middle of the table in front of us. One cauldron-like pot had the spicy liquid and the other was mild. I started out with the spicy but then went for the mild. The food ranged from fish dumplings to shrimp with the creepy heads still attached (:P) to lamb and beef to more small intenstines to tofu to leafy vegetables. I've never had food prepared like that and it was so much fun! The variety was amazing to me. The camraderie around the table with everyone reaching over and around each other for the food was cool. You make a connection with a stranger when you share food like that.
Right now, though, I am very happy that I switched to the mild sauce. I have a tendency to get migranes which can be affected by the foods that I eat. Slight headache but I think it could have been worse if I had continued with the hot stuff.
I was definitely the first one to stop eating. Still full from lunch much less the wonderful variety of Chinese foods. American Chinese food had nothing on this stuff! I really liked learning about the food from the people there. All of this stuff I never knew.
After every single food item (including the seconds or was that thirds? brought from the kitchen) was consumed, we did kareoke. Haven't done that since a pub in England. It was a lot of fun sitting around, talking with everyone and looking through the song books.
I hope I made a good impression on the people there. I can be horribly shy around people I haven't met before. Guess it is a good thing to be working with the public. It is making me come out of my shell.
The people there at dinner kept assuming my friend was my boyfriend. Hmmmm. FOM or PFOM, anyone?
OK, after all of that rambling babbling, I am going to go to bed!
P.S. I knit all the way through the play. Am working on the PS socks which are featuring an afterthought heel. It is a simple stockinette stitch to show off the pattern so it is a really fast knit. I am beyond where the waste yarn for the heel is place and am off and running. W00t.
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