I had to drive 3 hours to get to the dentist. It was time to go to the big city. I decided that while i was there i would do something i hadn’t done in years, visit my old favorite asian market. Family members convinced me i ought to try the new markets they had built, so i did, but ultimately they just weren’t what i grew up with and lived near as an adult for years. So, i went back to my favorite haunt and found all the foods i had been missing and craving. Longan, durian, sapota, japanese eggplant, persimmons, lotus root, imported peanuts, mung beans, purple sweet potato noodles, dal, and huge bulk bags of brown rice and red beans. I was in heaven. Family made me gluten free muffins and cookies (delicious) and i got to eat take out from my favorite restaurant, which was the best tasting food ever, firstly because the soup of the day was vegan borscht, and secondly because i hadn’t eaten in 14 hours. I was so busy trying to get everything i needed to do done in the city before i had to drive back, crossing town again and again because a matter at the post office across town had to be handled before an item went any further in the shipping process and the post office doesnt have someone to answer the phone anymore, so even though the dentist was right by the market i had to go to the dentist on one side of the city, the post office on the other side of the city, then drive back to the first side of the city for the market…i could not believe people drove in such awful impossible traffic on a regular basis. I could not believe people could stand to do that day after day, to live there. I wanted to pull all my hair out. I willed myself from here to there to there just trying to get everything done and didnt get to visit family until 7 pm though i set out at 7 am. I was so busy driving there was no time to stop and eat. So at 7 pm that food was the best tasting i’d ever eaten, and when i had a cooler full of exotic fruit and muffins and a box full of dry goods headed back to my town, i knew the hunger had been worth it because i was about to stuff my hill country pantry and fridge with items they had never seen before, and probably wouldnt for many years. I could not wait to get into that durian or crisp up some sliced lotus root.