Gourmet Eating (written 5.30.09)

After several days at a conference center in the middle of nowhere with all 18 of my colleagues from the environmental group, at which we gave our mid-service presentations and shared project ideas and successes, 8 of us headed off to Monte Cristi, a beach town on the north shore, to celebrate making it this far. One year down, one year to go! And since we’re all at the point where we’re well-integrated into our communities and actually able to get things done, it should be a busy second year.

Monte Cristi, a town not unlike other coastal spots in the DR, offered several hotel options, all equally infested with inordinate amounts of mosquitoes (even for the Caribbean), so we chose one near the launching spot for small boats that take groups of people to any one of the seven small islands off the coast that offer tranquility and excellent snorkeling, although apparently not in the murky water month of May. But not matter – we still had a great time with a whole island to just the 8 of us for a day!

The first evening in Monte Cristi, we all settled down to a few beers and a fish dinner, an excellent break from the norm of green banana moosh, which we saved for breakfast the following morning. As we were finishing off the fish, one of our friends popped out a fish eye and promptly spooned it into his mouth, explaining to our horror that he always savors this part of a fish dinner. Not to be outdone, to try something new, and to impress my friends, I popped one in my mouth as well. To a chorus of “oohh!”s, it popped right back out into my spoon. Reflexes. Determined, I summoned up all my courage from the depths of my stomach and popped it back in. It wasn’t the taste so much as the mucus-like texture that was insurmountable. A few chews and it was done for, wash it down with a sip of beer, try not to think to hard about what I just did to prevent bringing it back up. Whereas my friend’s fish eye had had a hard pupil-pit that he spat out, mine was pure mucus through and through. Is that better or worse? Who knows. I wish I could say it was an important cultural experience, but the Dominican waitress was quick to regard me with disgust. But my friends all think I’m totally cool, and isn’t that the most important thing in life?