UN Dinner

                Wednesday night we were invited to dinner at the UN base in a neighboring town. The people I work with have a long standing relationship with the local UN contingent, which hails from Sri Lanka. I enjoyed so many aspects of the evening, but two in particular stood out to me. The first one was the food. Three days later and my mouth still waters when I think about it. Meat, bread, vegetables and sauce full of flavor and just spicy enough to tantalize my taste buds. Full disclosure: at one point in the evening I seriously considered asking if I could have the leftovers, but ultimately decided that might be tacky.

The second thing that stood out to me, and something I am learning to appreciate when I experience it here in Haiti as well, was the pride of these soldiers as they talked about their home country. It seems that while I often hear people talk about how much they would like to visit my country, and how great America is, rarely do I get to hear people from other cultures and countries talk about the things they love about their home. While I do think America has many great points, sometimes I fear the beauty of other cultures can get drowned out by the sheer pervasiveness of American culture. Listening to these men detail the things they love about their country, eagerly sharing pictures and brochures to illustrate their points was such a delight. They were also some pretty convincing salesmen, and I definitely hope to see their land one day!