Food

Have you ever seen the Mickey Mouse short where Mickey is a tailor that kills "seven in one blow?" The townspeople overhear his joyous exclamation of killing seven flies in one blow and think he killed seven giants in one blow. Big misconception.

Anyway, they send Mickey the tailor to take care of the giant that is terrorizing their small town. As all good cartoons go, he successfully defeats the giant, gets the girl, and even runs a carnival celebrating the event powered by the snores of the captured man.

Growing up, I loved this cartoon. It had come on at the beginning of something that we had taped off of television and we watched it fairly frequently. The giant is portrayed as a bit stupid and he only makes one word sentences. In one instance he picks up a cart load of pumpkins and his sole exclamation is "Food" as he gulps them down in one swallow. This is better if you can hear his deep voice slowly making the exclamation.

For some reason, when expats visit the States, we become like that giant. All we can think is "Food." I guess maybe it is because it is so familiar and so much of American social structure takes place with food in the setting.

So, here were my "Food" moments of the trip:

• Chick-fil-a - twice.
• Sonic slush - yummy!
• Mexican food - that didn't taste like sugar and was absolutely wonderful - also twice.
• Taco Bell - twice - I think Taco Bell could be it's own food group
• Mom's homemade pimento cheese made with Velveeta. How can you not love processed cheese food?
• Grannie's chicken and dumplins - Mmmmmm.
• Dairy Queen Oreo blizzard - I love those things.
• Panera Bread - I really miss a good soup and sandwich shop.

And that's only a smattering of the wonderful ways that I clogged my arteries for the week. But as my mom says, I was on vacation - and you can eat anything you want on vacation. Now that it's over, I've stocked up on fresh fruits and veg so that I can detox from all of the richness. But it sure was fun while it lasted!