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A Post of objectivity:
Since the previous post paints me as a blackmailer and tyrant, read on to discover the truth.
Girls with purses often become the bearers of large amounts of stuff that guys can’t fit in their pockets. One day, being the good friend that I am, I graciously agreed to keep Jeff’s camera in my purse. However, he forgot to retrieve the camera from my purse so I found myself in possession of a very valuable object. I was thinking, hey, I’ll do him a favor and take some pictures of fun things that I see around Vientiane. After all, he’s new to Laos and is going to want some awesome pictures for his website or his blog…(several of which are posted on this blog and the google pics website).
However, when he later called and asked what ransom I was going to demand for his camera (me? Ask for ransom? The thought had never crossed my mind before…) I thought, hey, why not seize this perfect opportunity to help Jeff get outside of his comfort zone and really experience Lao culture.
Guaranteed at some point when living in Laos you are going to be invited to someone’s house for a meal. Eating together is one of the foundations of Lao culture. So I decided to do Jeff a favor and break down his fear of strange foods so that if he was ever faced with the opportunity to eat keuang nai (anything inside of an animal—heart, liver, intestines, stomach lining) or zheo pilo (a sauce made with poop from the cows intestine) he wouldn’t balk. (And keep in mind, I have eaten all of the above mentioned foods before). Thus I told him all he had to do was eat anything of my choice from the night market outside of his villa.
After a considerable amount of time was spent settling the terms for the transfer (He forced me to agree to give him 3 choices of food at the market AND the categories for those 3 choices: sauce, animal part, or beverage) he finally agreed to let me help him become more culturally aware and adjusted, and I returned the camera.
Having done my part of returning the camera, it was only natural to expect him to do his part and eat whatever I chose. So, the time came to go to the night market and I began my search for the perfect food to really whet his appetite for life in Laos. Because I actually want him to survive his year in Laos and not send him running back to the states, I chose 3 foods that were definitely on the tame side of the new foods scale: barbecued liver, unhatched chicken, or barbecued chicken part. (granted, I didn’t know what the chicken part was, but barbecuing anything makes it less scary).
He chose the liver, and not only did I say he only had to take 2 bites, but I also agreed to eat a bite myself after he tried it. Not only did I eat it, but Amy, Russell, and Bethany also ate a bite when he had honored his word with the obligatory 2 bites. And the rest of us all agreed: Who wouldn’t want to finish an average meal with a delicious bite of barbecued liver?
(p.s. the next night he voluntarily ate unhatched chicken. Did my plan not work?)
...Reporting Truth, By Heather H
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