Today we spent a good part of the day with two like-minded Indian friends from our city. They're newlyweds and a great deal of fun to be around. Since they were with us over the lunch hour we offered them dhal chawal, chutney and salad.
The fun thing is, they're both from the village and they eat with their right hands. I mean they literally eat with their hands. All our Indian friends swear that skipping the silverware (or cutlery, as they call it) makes every food taste better. So today J and I decided that we'd let our friends teach us the fine art of eating rice and soupy dhal using only fingers.
You should have seen the look on our kids' faces when we told them that they could mash up their rice, pinch it, and plop it in their mouths. G's eyes shone as she breathed, "This is gonna be SO FUN." And it was. Turns out, though, that eating with your right hand (and it can only be your right hand since the left is used for bathroom purposes here in South Asia) requires a little more finesse than you might imagine.
In the end, we all agreed that eating without silverware does make meals more fun, if a little messy at this stage. We feel ready for the village now. Next time I have the chance to go to K-town, I'll be able to join everyone else and eat like a pro--on the floor, with my right hand.
lol...imagine being at Gran's doing that..Puerto's, Buckhead....lolololol!!!!!!!
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