Dinner Invite!

We finally took our friend up on her invitation for dinner. First we had find the place. It was at the end of a little alley on a little backstreet full of little shops. The real China! We weren't sure which door was theirs and they weren't answering the phone so we asked a neighbor. No one seemed to recognize the name but they said because there are so many apartments, they don't know everyone. Then the elderly lady that we asked proceeded to bang on the window of the first floor apartment and ask them through the window if they knew our friend. Then they finally showed up, arms full from the market around the corner. We had to move our bikes to another complex so they would be safe and finally we started climbing the dimly lit narrow stairwell to their one room apartment where they have lived for over ten years. The bed and couch faced each other, with boxes and a cabinet . There is a little space in the back facing the squat toilet where her stove is. There is no sink, just a faucet about the squat hole. The mom washed the vegetables above the hole in a handmade straw colander. She washed them four times. I need to step it up! She is known as one of the best cooks in the area and she says its because she doesn't use a lot of seasonings, just lets the flavor of the fresh food stand on its own. Every dish she made was delicious and there were no stomach side effects. It was amazing that we sat for hours, conversing only in Chinese with no akward pauses. Two years ago, we would have sat across from them in silence, smiling. That's progress! After dinner, we walked back out into the Chinese ghetto, arm in arm with our friends like we belonged there. Amazing!




mandy