-^-for posterity-^-

last night was going to be fairly quiet. we (me and jack, as always) simply wanted to head out and get a bite to eat.

on our way over to the restaurant, jack saw some people he knew. they worked in the information technology department and one of them had recently returned from a trip to the states. jack thought he knew where they were going so we followed.

we met them in a restaurant that looked like someone’s home. there was no sign outside and children and dogs were everywhere. we sat under the warm night sky eating and enjoying each other’s company. geckos covered every wall and my feet were a buffet for the mosquitoes. we were right next to the bathroom. two pieces of tin propped up around a hole in the ground.

the man jack recognized was mr. nam. he just came back from a few months of studying in boston. he had quite a straight smile and nice teeth.

mr. nam ordered the food: frog and corn. i had never eaten frog but was willing to give it a try. it’s very boney but the meat has a way of falling apart in your mouth. the corn was good though. we ate and talked. i couldn’t stop thinking about how wonderful my life was here. i really kept wanting to smile.

the first course ended and the next one was brought to the table. it was a pot full of snake meat. snake meat and vegetables. i have never eaten snake either and had no idea what to expect. it was as thick as a broom handle and cut into half inch cylinders. when you eat this type of snake you eat it with the skin on. the skin is mostly black with light white freckles. it was slippery between chopsticks and seemed to wiggle in your mouth. you had to chew around the spinal cord which presented a number of problems. i couldn’t quite pick the bones as clean as everyone else but gave it my best effort. the skin was too thick and felt rubbery and bumpy in your mouth. the flavor is very similar to what earth must taste like. they kept feeding me more and more and by the end i must have eaten seven or eight rubbery links of snake.

we asked mr. nam what he thought of america. he said that it was very modern and that he ate at mcdonalds often. i asked him what he liked the least and he said, “