The Kindness Of Strangers

March 31, our 25th wedding anniversary. The first one, anyway. Yes, we have two wedding anniversaries. The first one was in Malaysia and the second one, on June 15 in Reno, Nevada. It is a long story, I shall tell you some day. Today, it is about the wonderful Ethiopian restaurant we went to the other night for the first of our anniversaries.

We kept reading such good reviews about it. We had to give it a try. Many years ago, we enjoyed Ethiopian food at the Blue Nile in Berkeley, California. Their honey wine...yum. Hubby and I are such homebodies. We rarely go out anymore. Hubby is a great cook. I cannot get myself to pay for food when I can get incredible food at home (grin). Besides which, my obsessive compulsive cleaning and hygiene thoughts kick in. I keep picturing what their kitchen looks like, whether the cook washed his hands after using the bathroom, whether the veggies were cleaned well before being made into salad.... Yes, I know -obsessive compulsive.

Yet, we drag ourselves out once in a while, just to get away from the rut of being couch potatoes. The first thing that struck us as we walked into the Queen of Sheba was the decor and ambiance. You get the whiff of incense, the many traditional Ethiopian crafts on the wall, floor, tabletops. The walls a warm orange/yellow color. The hand-printed table cloth. Ethiopian music playing. The owners, women with the biggest smiles. The food was fantastic. Ethiopian food is made of spicy vegetable and meat dishes. The best part is their spongy bread called injera. You use it to soak up the wonderful stews. Ethiopian food is often served family style, in a large platter and you eat with your fingers. Being of South Indian heritage, the eating with the fingers part was not a big deal for me. Hubby on the other hand, had some amusing challenges (smile). He did get better as the evening progressed.

We chatted with the owners a bit and they found out that it was a special occassion for us. The surprise of the evening. When the women came out wearing traditional garb, singing and dancing for us. The song - congratulating us and wishing us many more years together. A photo of the receipt, where they wrote in Ethiopian. A perfect evening. My only regret, "Where was my camera when I needed it?".

I also share this morning's photo of flowers in my garden.