Whenever you are going into the mission field or travelling outside of the country you always hear that the people are very hospitable and will love to cook for you. Samantha and I have found this to be very true. We have quickly learned a motto for going to other people’s homes…just eat, don’t ask, just eat it all. This can be quite the challenge sometimes. This past week we were invited to one of our student’s home. These students are Egyptian Muslim so this is their month to fast. However during their fast they can break it every day at 5:30, or at sundown. Samantha and I were invited to their home to join them in their one meal, and since they do not eat any other time in the day it was a very large meal.
I have grown up vegetarian and have only eaten small amounts of meat at a time. When all of the dishes were brought to the table I discovered that I would be eating A LOT of meat that meal. There were two kinds of beef pastry dishes, fried chicken, beef potatoes and who knows what other kind of meat in the all the dishes. My mother taught me well though and I took a good helping of everything and swallowed it with a smile. However it seemed that anytime I got even close to finishing, my plate was full again. Apparently it is an offensive to Egyptians for the guests to stop eating before they do, so we ate and ate. I felt like I had eaten a whole cow and half a chicken. Finally the family had eaten all they could so they sat and waited for us to finish our plates. We waddled into the living room and were soon served fruit salad. The food seemed to be a never ending process. They eventually drove us back home and each pothole we hit it seemed more and more questionable if I would be able to digest all that meat. After about four Pepto Pismo’s and a night’s sleep I survived!
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