Eating, Eating, and More Eating

I skipped dinner the day I was coming home to San Antonio to prepare myself for what was going to be the most satisfying meal of the semester. This was the first time I was going home since coming to Emory. All I could think about was food that my mother promised she was going to make for me because it was one of my favorite dishes and I had not eaten it for almost three months. On the plane home, all I could think about was Chicken 65, especially because I was so hungry. The salted peanuts tasted bland and the Kit Kat tasted less chocolaty. Nothing was going to taste as good until I had a bite of my favorite chicken curry dish. By the time we landed in San Antonio, my stomach no longer had any courtesy towards the people sitting around me, as it was as loud and annoying as the babies crying on the plane.

Then I saw my mom pull up to the airport, gave her a huge hug, and told her I was ready to go home and eat. I called my dad and my cousin, who is practically my younger brother, to tell them to meet us at the house. My cousin replied saying that he was already waiting at the house. My dad on the other hand was in a meeting and was not going to be home for another hour! My stomach and I could not have received this information at a worse time, but I was going to wait to have my first meal at home with my whole family, so we killed time waiting for him. When the garage door opened, we all ran downstairs and were ready to dig in; however, he was on the phone. He said he could not end the call, because it was very important and again I hear my stomach grumble. So, my cousin and I assume our positions in front of the television once again to keep our minds off of the amazing aroma creeping upstairs from the kitchen.

We finally hear my dad put the phone down, and we stumble down the stairs to get to the table. My mom gets the food on the table and I now have the chicken 65 on my plate. Then I realize that I am back home with my family about to have dinner like I had never left. It was a great feeling because we start talking about everything, laughing and cracking jokes, and it had hit me how much I really missed my family and my home. I tore a piece of my roti, which is similar to a tortilla, dipped it in the curry with a piece of chicken, and it was exactly how I remembered it. It was that perfect combination of spiciness and flavor that my stomach thanked me for.

We continued to talk about my first semester at Emory and while we were talking, I had eaten the most I have ever eaten in one sitting. For a normal meal, I eat 3 roti’s. For this long-awaited dinner I ate 5 roti’s and a plate of noodles. Surprisingly, I felt I could eat even more, but I had to stop myself knowing that I was still going to be home for another four days. It was a great feeling to be around my family once again, and it truly did feel like I had never left, but I realized that I had taken that feeling for granted. I had a great rest of the night and loved seeing the rest of my family the next day.