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. 

"Fake" Mexican Food

Being from the South, where much of the Mexican culture has been integrated, I have developed very strong taste buds for Tex Mex food. Of course, if you want to get real Mexican food, San Antonio would be the place to come, but San Antonio is also a place where cheap tacos and quesadillas have become very popular. Although this may not be considered “real” Mexican food, I like it more than eating “real” enchiladas at a nice sit-down Mexican restaurant. Back home, my cousins and I would frequently make midnight Taco Cabana (typical Tex-Mex restaurant) runs for our taco cravings. This type of food is definitely something that I have missed since coming to Emory. Not only are there less Mexican restaurants in Atlanta, but also getting to them is an ordeal. During Halloween weekend though, I was finally able to satisfy my Tex-Mex craving that I have had for so long.

Two of my friends and I had waited until the week of Halloween to go the Spirit store and to pick out our costumes, so we asked a friend of mine to drive us to the store. When we got there, we realized that we should have had a few ideas in mind before coming because there were so many options. We went from idea to idea considering dressing up as power rangers, Super Smash Bros. characters, and even nuns, but we finally decided to buy super hero pajama onesies. Buying the costumes though was not nearly as fun as trying on the most outrageous costumes we could find. I am pretty sure we were having more fun Halloween costume shopping than most of the children there.

However, this outing did take a long time and the friend that took us was ready to go home. While on the car ride back though, we were talking about how hungry we were, so my friend who was driving said he would take us to eat, and what restaurant was in the same complex as the Halloween store? Chipotle. This came at perfect timing, because I was thinking to myself earlier that day that I really miss eating tacos and chips and salsa. As soon as he suggested Chipotle, we all imediately agreed and all of a sudden I felt even hungrier. I knew exactly what I wanted. I ordered three chicken tacos with lettuce, cheese, sour cream and hot sauce. This is my ideal taco and it tasted perfect. I realized how much I miss this “fake” Mexican food. The chicken was perfectly cooked and the hot sauce added a perfect amount of spiciness to the meal. The food and being with my best friends brought back so many memories of late night food runs and spending time with my cousins back home. Although I was experiencing this meal and Halloween with different people, I enjoyed it just as much. 

Simple is Best

I recently joined the Karma Bhangra team here at Emory, and I knew that it would be tough to learn all of the complex dances, but what I did underestimate was how physically tolling three, two hour practices a week would be on my feet. My feet are swollen and blistered and the last thing I want to do is walk more than I need to, which includes walking to Emory Village for food, especially when I have options near by; however, last week, a couple of my friends and I decided to celebrate my birthday by eating dinner at a place other than the DUC. This required me walking to Emory Village but because it was my birthday and they wanted to do something different to celebrate, I decided I would suck up the pain and make the journey.

            One of my friends is from Cleveland, Ohio, and when he found out that there was a Dave’s Cosmic Subs in the Village, which originated in Cleveland, he was more than excited. He praised it and tried to convince us to eat there the whole walk down, so we chose to reward his persistence by eating there. It is a sub place and in my mind, subs are just subs. They can only be so good because they are just sandwiches, but we decided to try it out anyway. This place is a relatively small place with plastic windows and only outdoor seating under a canopy. Luckily, it was nice weather, unlike the 95-degree weather we had at the beginning of the school year, so it was not a problem sitting outside.

            At this point, I am thinking about the birthday tradition that my friends and I exhibit back home. We usually take the birthday boy to a restaurant and pay for his meal, so I told Hersh and Jon about this tradition that I have back home. They caught on to my hint and offered to pay for my meal, which made it that much more tasty.

            I am also a fan of spicy food. I think it adds a lot of flavor to the sandwich, so I ordered the Dave’s Far Out Chicken, made with Dave’s famous sauce, jalapenos, chicken and other vegetables. We finally got our subs after about a 10 minute wait, and were starving, so we dug right in. The first thing I noticed though after opening the wrapper was the grease that was dripping off of the paper. I had to get a napkin immediately to clean up the mess. Then I took a bite out of the sandwich. Hersh, my friend from Cleveland, was watching me the whole time, because he wanted to know if I liked the food that he put his name on the line for. As soon as I finished the bite, I gave him that reassuring nod that he had made a good decision. The sandwich was amazing. It was better than any sub place that I have eaten at thus far. The chicken was made perfectly, but even better was the sauce and flavor that complemented the chicken. I cannot even tell you what the sauce tasted like, but the combination of the sauce, chicken and jalapenos was like nothing I have tasted before in a sub. I also got my dose of spiciness that I was looking for. I will admit that I had to drink a few cups of water during the meal, but it was an extremely tasty, spicy sub. Not only that, it was free!

            I thoroughly enjoyed the meal, and gave Hersh the kudos he deserved for picking the place. It was also really nice to be able to spend some quality time with my two best friends on my birthday. It was simple and informal, but that was exactly what I wanted for my birthday celebration. 

Dinner While Dancing

Last week, I spent any free time I had practicing for the Karma Bhangra dance team tryout. This was not something I thought I would be doing at Emory, but when I saw this dance team perform at the “Best in Show” during orientation week, it was something that I had to try.  A friend of mine and I went to the information session to learn the tryout routine, and we were surprised to see how many other people chose to do what we did. Before I came here, one of my friends, who has graduated, told me that the Karma Bhangra dance team was one of the best and very fun and entertaining to watch, but when I saw how many people had heard the same evident truth, I realized that this would not be an easy feat.

After meeting the members of the current Karma team, I knew this was a group that I wanted to be a part of, so many hours between the day of the information session and the tryout were spent practicing the tryout routine to, at least, make sure that I would not make a fool out of myself. The day of the tryout finally arrived, and after seeing that over 50 people had signed up to tryout for just seven spots, to say that I was intimidated is an understatement. 

As soon as the tryout was over, which lasted all of five minutes, the hoping begun. The next day though, the hard work had paid off. I got a call from the captain of the team with news that I made it onto the team and that our first practice would be the next Tuesday. When we arrived on Tuesday, we did not have practice; instead, they took us out to dinner for our first Karma Bhangra team bonding experience.

For dinner, they took us to a fairly nice restaurant called Brick Store Pub that served what would be classified as “American” food, which includes burgers, sandwiches, and other food of this sort. The restaurant itself was not a typical restaurant. It almost seemed like it was taken out of the Lord of the Rings. Even the door handle appeared as if a giant tree branch had been glued to the door. I was told that they were known for their Chicken Pot Pie, so I decided to try it out. I knew it was a good decision when the waitress looked at me with a smile and said it was one her favorite dishes. The dish looked very good when it came. The crust, on top, was perfectly cooked so that it was slightly brown and had a nice crumble when eaten. Under this well baked crust were pieces of juicy chicken breast, mushrooms, and a very tasty creamy sauce. All of these ingredients put together made for a bite that had a lot of taste and variety of flavor. Normally, I do not like mushrooms, but in this dish, it went very well with the rest of the Chicken Pot Pie.

Along with this being the first restaurant that I have been able to go to off campus, the atmosphere around me was what made this dinner so enjoyable. I was around people who I will be spending a lot of time around for the rest of the year and hopefully for the rest of my college years. The food was great, the service was good, and our first dinner together went very well.