I made a fantastic discovery tonight. It all happened because I believed there to be a Sun Devil volleyball game at 7 p.m. this evening. I was scheduled to work the game, planning on making dinner when I got home, but upon arrival realized the freakin game got pushed back to 8 p.m.....
My blood was boiling. I arrived so early and no one told me?! Determined to make something of my evening, I went wandering near the ASU campus in hopes of finding dinner. Even penny-pinching grad students need to eat, you know.
That's when I decided to stop in at a Middle Eastern restaurant and grocery I walk past almost every time I'm on campus. When I lived in France, I used to LOVE North African pastries and Middle Eastern cuisine. Understatement.
Anyways, I sat down, ordered the Falafel Deluxe Pita -- hummus, tabbouleh, falafel and tons of fresh mint with a large side salad -- and a bottle of guava juice before the waiter started chatting me up. I never know what language I'm thinking or speaking in anymore... it doesn't help that I'm about to start taking German next semester either.
He asked me where I come from originally and then what I was doing in Arizona... when it came up that I'm a French TA on campus. He FLIPPED OUT and immediately began speaking to me in French. It came up that he's from Morocco, I shared that I had lots of family in Morocco and we chatted on and on in French for a bit.
Long story short, he told me I had to come back and the next time I was not to speak to him in any English whatsoever. We're only going to converse en français from here on out... I also noticed my bill was much less than it should have been, by the way. In all, a fabulous outcome from what seemed to be a bleak-looking evening. It literally changed my entire mood around. And I will be back. The food was incredible! I could eat Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food every day of my life.
