I tried to blog a bunch of times yesterday but the internet gods were against me and I kept losing it so I'll try again today. Today was the last full day of my trip and it was mostly a travel day. We drove to the capital city with a stop in the holiest city in the country along the way. We also stopped for some "Kentucky Chicken" where my chicken strips took over 1/2 hour to make - apparently in this country fast food is slower than most restaurants. While it was pretty good, I think the Colonel might be turning over in his grave if he were to taste the knock-offs served here. While the food here has been pretty good, I'm starting to think I may turn into a chicken if I don't get something different to eat soon. I have eaten chicken at least once a day for the past two weeks. The food in the first country was much better than it is here so I'm getting nostalgic for the chicken of yore. Unfortunately, the real meat staple here is either lamb or the ubiquitous unidentified "meat" neither of which I can do - Especially since on the side of the road the other day I saw what looked like a serta mattress commercial gone very wrong, a very large basket of sheep heads for sale. Apparently they are a delicacy but one that I definitely passed on.
Yesterday I saw some more of the bridges that that city was famous for. Unfortunately, they turned off the river for the summer so they sort of looked a little ridiculous over dry riverbeds. Especially since it seems like some people didn't get the memo. There are paddleboats just sitting in the dry dusty riverbed along with signs up and down the banks that say "please don't swim in the river" Umm, I don't think that will be a problem. I didn't see a Flock of Seagulls though.
In a way I also came full circle on this trip yesterday because my afternoon was focused on genocide, something that was the main focus of the first country I visited. I spent the afternoon visiting a neighborhood and a church that belongs to a group of people who escaped a genocide in their own country and came here to start over. I visited a museum which had pictures and artifacts from that genocide as well as a replica of the memorial that was built to the victims of that genocide in their home country. It was an interesting place. Within the quarter the residents were able to follow their own rules, customs and religion but outside of that quarter they were subject to the codes of the country and could not intermarry with "natives" (under penalty of death). Apparently, because of these rules, this neighborhood is where all the good black markets are found but I didn't check that part out! It was interesting and a little bit sad to see that these people are survivors who started over and have built lives and families and generations here but at the same time, they are, in many ways cut off from the rest of society.
Finally, last night I had the chance to sit in a rooftop coffeehouse and enjoy views of the city and have some ice cream. Unfortunately, my ice cream may have caused an international incident but it was pretty funny. They had two flavors of ice cream, chocolate and their "special" flavor saffron. Of course I ordered chocolate and 1/2 hour later (are we noticing a pattern of less than speedy service?) they came over with bowls of saffron ice cream for my guide and I and said they were out of chocolate. My guide told me to try it while the waiter was there and if I didn't like it she would send it back. Well, I figured I would be polite and try it and say it was fine and eat a few bites even if I didn't like it and then just say I was full. Well, I put a spoon of this in my mouth and it was the absolute worst thing I have ever tasted. It was like sucking a lemon when it's so bad you can't control your facial expression it was just that horrendously awful. So the waiter took mine back no problem and my guide ate some of hers even though she didn't like it to be polite. Meanwhile, the table next to us had ordered chocolate ice cream as well and were also told they were out. Next thing I know, the waiter comes over to me with this huge bowl of chocolate ice cream. He had gone all the way down to the garden restaurant to get me ice cream from there. Well, the people at the next table went nuts. Yelling and screaming at the waiters, managers were coming over, people were staring. Meanwhile I'm just eating my chocolate ice cream thinking I'd better finish every drop of this huge bowl if it kills me! This fight lasted for like 10 minutes. Of course none of it was in English but some things don't need translation. It escalated when the waiter came back with a second bowl of chocolate ice cream for my guide who very obviously didn't like her saffron ice cream either. Eventually they went and got some chocolate ice cream for these people and gave it to them for free but they were still yelling on the way out the door. It was a bizarre evening to say the least but hey - I got some pretty good ice cream out of the deal!
In a few minutes I'll head out to the airport for the long flight home. This will likely be my last mystery blog unless I miss my connection and have a longer layover than I anticipate. When I get home I will reveal where I've been and share some pictures. I haven't seen all of the comments on facebook and the blog since I've been in a social media blackout but my sister has been sending me some. I believe that there might have been a correct guess or two along the way so I'll also share who will be receiving very exciting prizes for their correct answers!
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