I was in a foreign land, India i think, with a guy, he looked Indian. He took me to meet his family. They greeted me with cheers, much celebration, i felt very welcome. I was invited to eat with them. We went to a flat open area and sat on the hard earth, on a large round mat, which had a second slightly smaller round rug on top of it. Several dishes were laid out, two types of bread, a few different sauces, with vegetables mixed in, and one with rice on top of some sauce. He showed me how they ate their food, first tearing off a piece of bread, like nan bread, the dipping it in a brown sauce, which he said was the hottest sauce, then scooping up some veggies and some more sauce, then another piece of a different bread, and finally another sauce, he ate them from his fingers.
I proceeded to collect my own food, following his instruction. It was difficult. I made a bit of a mess, spilling sauce on the rug, and dropping cucumber everywhere. It was like no mater how i tried to control the food, it always found a way to spill some sauce on the rug. Nobody seemed to mind tho. I managed to clumsily get a few bites into my mouth, enjoying the flavours and the colours.
We continued to eat, he and i. Most of the family had finished already, and were doing stuff nearby.
When the food was almost done, he moved the mat and rug over towards what had become a wall. I was now in a living room of a house. I had a piece of nan bread still in my hand, which i munched on, not really feeling that i'd eaten enough, and very aware of how much sauce was all over my hands.
As he moved the mat and rug over, i helped move a few of the dishes, as best i could, but i still seemed to only be capable of making a mess of it. One strangely shaped jug was proving the be a real problem. It seemed it had holes on every surface. I couldn't work out how it was supposed to sit without spilling any sauce. Then as i inspected it further, i saw that it was in the shape of an elephant, but it was in three parts that had come apart from each other, and needed to be clicked back into place to make it a useable jug. I did this, and sat it on it's feet, embarrassed about the puddle of sauce i'd left on the rug. My host didn't mind at all. He proceeded to sweep the floor, and pick up and mess.
I went and sat on a small dark wooden chair, which was very ornately carved. Just then, some family friends were brought thru from another room, to be introduced to me.
One woman and her child came first. The child was strange looking, and didn't seem interested in me. I said hello, and tried to communicate, but no joy. Another woman and her child came thru. This child was cute, a little girl. She had big blue eyes and rich shiny hair, which was at the same time, golden, copper and brown to look at. She smiled and spoke to me, and i ruffled her hair with my now clean hand (i think i'd been licking the sauce off my fingers the whole time).
Both women and children were obviously not Indian, like the rest of the people. They were caucasian, but had very dark skin, like they'd lived in a hot country for all of their lives.
The second child's Mother also spoke to me, tho i have no recollection of what either she or her Daughter said to me. They were Americans, i could tell from their accent.