The last few weeks leading up to Kate and my departure from Maryland to Cambodia were filled with heartfelt goodbyes, well wishes and an outpouring of love from our friends and family. I think about our "last moments" with people from home often, thinking that somehow that last image I have of that person as I said goodbye has frozen them in time and will keep them just so for 27 months until we come back home.
One particularly fond farewell, that I think about often, was over dinner with one of my favorite fellow young married couples, for anonymity's sake and because its adorable, we will call them Mr. and Mrs. Guinea Pig. During this dinner, as is like to happen, the ladies discussed things like weddings (even though they were already married), blog fonts and...I don't know...probably purses or something. The menfolk, however, were deeply engrossed in far more interesting topics such as hockey, which season of Dexter is best, and of course, whether or not Cambodia would have an abundance of wild boar for Kate and I to eat regularly when we arrived.
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| A wild boar. Picture from Wikipedia.com |
Now, on this last discussion topic, you might say that things became heated, things were said, positions were established and a gentlemen's bet of sorts was set. I took the position, that, "no, Mr. Guinea Pig, there are no wild boar in Cambodia and far from it, we would never eat nor hear of anyone eating wild boar in the vicinity of Cambodia during our tenure as PCVs in Cambodia." Mr. Guinea Pig, as you might have guessed, took the opposing position. He described a fantastic world where white rice rains from the heavens (kind of true...), cats and dogs live together in harmony and yes, wild boar would become a virtual staple for us and that one simply had to step outside to find them scamping about in droves.
I take this moment to publicly admit defeat to Mr. Guinea Pig, as I am now aware of wild boar being spotted, caught and consumed not 12km from my very place of residence. This may be a far cry from the endemic of boar described to me, but I admit that the terms of this bet were clear and I have been bested.
Your reward of a full rack of wild boar ribs awaits you in Cambodia, Mr. Guinea Pig.
A generous ruling, sir. Especially given the boar-infested dystopia I described to you (having never been to or even read a book about the country myself).
ReplyDeleteI'll take my ribs medium, braised if you can manage it.
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ReplyDeleteI am sure I can work something out if it will get you and the Mrs. here...be prepared for it to be served with rice, however.
ReplyDeleteThis explains two things about last weekend: Dave mentioning the price of flights to Cambodia, and his sudden desire to eat barbecue ribs. :)
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