“I can’t tell whether it’s jam or hot sauce,” Ming said.
“Oh my god,” I said. “That’s how you know you’re in Oregon.”
We were at our favorite breakfast restaurant; it’s vegetarian but not vegan, near the train station. Such a Eugene place for breakfast and lunch, busy on weekends and when the university students are coming or going, so their families are in town.
Eugene is a long way from Mexico. Eugene is a long way from my homeland. The breakfast restaurant has cloudy-clear plastic squeeze bottle condiment containers, unlabeled, on every table.
I love jam– I love fruity sweetness, although I need to avoid sugar these days. Also I love salsa / hot sauce, although raw onions are doom for my tummy, and cooked tomatoes are a no-no. My tummy can only handle a little spicy. My mouth wants it all.
I think of hot sauce as homogeneous, and salsa is usually chunky. Hot sauce is like Tapatio from a bottle, long lasting. Salsa is more fragile and homemade.
sad
Can you tell I’m sad, making these distinctions? Who cares. The fragile salsa is me. My heart is broken.
Yesterday I made a mistake and ate two burgers at a BBQ at my community.
“Are you going to get something to eat?” my good friend encouraged me after our hug.
“I can see if there’s anything I can eat,” I said, doubtful.
“There are vegan burgers over there!” another community member said.
I was excited by the plate of vegan burgers, so I took two, and that was my doom. Blithely, I thought the burgers were probably gluten free. I’ve been sick since about 30 minutes after eating the burgers.
I’m sorry, body. Next time I will resist. I take your needs seriously. You are my dear.
I haven’t puked, but I’ve felt a lot like I would. My sleep is interrupted.
I sang a song to a couple friends, texting them this song that I sing to a tree sometimes. An old apple tree at our friends’ farm.
questions for if you want to write a letter to your friend and don’t know what to say
What do you do when you can’t sleep?
Who do you sing to?
How is your tummy?
How far away is your homeland from where you are right now?
Do you have a favorite breakfast restaurant?
Have you lived in a university town and felt the influx of parents, influx of students, departures, and the hippie Christmas of so much left beside dumpsters as the students move out?
Is Oregon part of Aztlan?
What’s your favorite hot sauce?
