I ate way too much food

This past week has been rough on me.

I haven’t written in quite some time.  I rationalized it as, I had nothing to write about.  I’ve been bored at work, feeling like I’m doing the same thing every day.  It was my birthday on the 24^th.  It was a lonely birthday, I received plenty of nice messages, but that’s not the same as being with friends and family.

Today was as singular of a day as any since my arrival in India.  It started boring enough.  Slept in, watched season 3 of Entourage, and ate food.  This evening however, I went in to the city to me a friend of mine from work.  We walked around the main area of the city.  We walked through a giant mall, which was taller than it was wide.  After walking for a long while, and insisting that I be starving before going to dinner, we finally made our way to a restaurant in the heart of the city.  The restaurant seemed spacious and neat, though it was by no means pristine.  Once seated, we received our menus, which had about 40 different kinds of chicken, including full birds for less than 3 dollars.  In addition to chicken were prawns, fish, mutton, bread, veggies and more. 

We ordered a full chicken, bread, prawns, chicken tikka, and peppered mutton.

No one may think that to be a quite normal dinner…let me explain what peppered mutton is exactly.  Peppered mutton is sheep brains.  The consistency…weird, the taste…what taste?

                             

So, I tried a piece for the first and last time.  It wasn’t that it was bad…it just wasn’t very good.   After dinner, we walked a bit more, until getting an auto and heading back to his home.  He showed me pictures of his 7-month-old son, a very cute baby boy.  While at his home we hung out and chatted.  He is a rather talkative guy, but then again, so is anyone who has a lot to say.  He told me about his family, his life growing up.  He told me about how he always wanted to learn English, and that he really valued having an American as a friend.  He told me about his contributions to his communities.  I most enjoyed though, the conversation we had about religion.  My friend is a Muslim Indian.  He talked about how he doesn’t understand how radicals rationalize their position and what values he takes out of the Koran.  He also asked me what, in my opinion, is the root of America’s power. 

It was one of the most interesting conversations that I’ve ever had, and it really opened my eyes to how ignorant some Americans really are about Muslims.

I wish I could detail more on the subject, but I don’t think I would do it justice

Today’s lesson, ignorance is not bliss…it’s ignorant.

You’re welcome,

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