Dinner for Two

Suzie and I were invited to a Burmese family dinner. We had no idea what to expect or what to bring or what not to bring. Thankfully our tour guide told us no one brings flowers unless it’s for a girlfriend and even that is not very common. Scratch that idea! So, we brought drinks instead and a little desert. We sat at the table to find there were only two placesettings! Hmmmmm are we eating with the family?? I guess the family had already eaten, or so they said, and it was only the son that was going to join us. At least we had one family member joining us! The plates came out full of rice. Holy cow! How are Suzie and I going to eat all this rice?!? The food was delicious. We had red curry, sweet and sour soup with quail eggs, duck egg salad, and cauliflower. I noticed the boy only really used the broth from the soup and the red curry with rice. I don’t know if that was personal preference or he wanted to save the meat and veggies for the rest of his family. Throughout dinner, the family members came and went as if eating in the kitchen. I don’t know if this was a cultural difference or what, but I just let it happen. Half a plate of rice down and I couldn’t go any further. I wanted to, but I was stuffed to the rim! Desert was mini bananas which looked so good, but soooo bad because I was so full!

After dinner we played go fish with cards. I never realized how hard it is to explain a game to people who aren’t fluent in English. Though, the kids caught on quick so afterwards we played a dice game. Before we headed out, we got a family portrait which I hope to send them later. There address was very different from ours. It described where the house was in relation to a restaurant and included a phone number. We gave them our information and I would love to stay in contact with the family. They are such amazing people. I hugged the mother which I quickly found out was not a part of the culture but she embrace it, and shook the fathers hand. They seemed so appreciative for our presents which was exactly how we felt as well.

I hope we all get to have dinner again sometime soon!