Feb 13th, 2011

This week was quite interesting. But one of the most memorable meals I have ever eaten occurred this week. So yesterday, we accepted an invitation to lunch at the home of the Landlord of the Thessaloniki chapel with President and Sister Charles. He is a very wealthy man and very Greek. So of course he wanted to show off the traditional foods of his homeland. He and his wife brought us to their dining table which upon first glance appeared to have the entire dinner already on it. We had fancy table clothes and two plates, the works. Then they began to explain what each of the 7 dishes were and where they come from. They had salads and special sauces to go on bread and all sorts of things. They even had octopus! So we begin and take a little of everything but they make sure we only use our small plate. This sent off warning bells in my head but not my companion's. He ate and ate and got quite full. I too ate but was only starting to feel full when the hostess got up and retrieved another bowl of special beans from the kitchen. She then put them on each of our plates. A few minutes later she went back and got another bowl of rice with mussels. (not my favorite) And filled each of our plates. At this stage we all moved from a pleasant meal to how much can my stomach hold. She then left and brought back another course. She could see we were starting to get full so decided that it was time to switch to the big plates. Then she brought out the stuffed eggplant. This would have been quite good but it had been cooling for quite some time now and that made it an awkward pudding like texture with an odd flavor. I enjoyed it but my companion was dying. Sister Charles tried to take it from him to save him, but instead they took it from her and gave her another half an eggplant. Keep in mind an eggplant is about size of the average water bottle. So half was quite a bit for her. And again while dining they brought out Greek meat balls. Oh were they good. I ate quite a few in a miraculous manner while everyone else groaned in pain. Then they decided to take mercy on us and bring out the desserts. The first was an orange cake. It was delicious. If I had had more room I would have loved it. But we were all so full that we had to decline the chocolate cake and the rice pudding. I have never been so full in my life. But it was a good growing experience. (literally) I think I gained a pants size or two. haha Just kidding. The moral of the story is sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.