On Mondays I go to Home Plus, the biggest grocery store closest to our apartment. First I go through the fresh produce and make my way through some frozen goods. Along the way there are usually to or three women giving out samples of mondu. Mondu is basically a dumpling with noodles and ground pork on the inside. BreeAnn and I commonly have them as a side and I’m always sure to get my mondu samples.
As I approached the first mondu lady I took a toothpick and picked up a half of mondu. Typically this is where I throw the toothpick away and start my trek to the next mondu lady. But this time the mondu lady picked up another half and gestured for me to eat it. As I reached for the mondu I noticed the placement of her hands. They were about a foot away from the hand I was reaching with but probably about 6 inches away from my mouth. Seeing the glimmer in her eye and knowing that she would be thoroughly disappointed if I grabbed it out of her gloved hand, I decided to go for it. I opened wide and ate that mondu. A smile appeared on her face and I thanked her. And I thought, “It’s a good thing I’ve been here for almost a year, because I’m not sure how I would have reacted eleven months ago” and “How would some react if the pizza lady at Hy-Vee tried to pull that?”
travel light 