One of the main lessons I am taking out from this study abroad program is learning how to cook for myself and others. Learning how to cater my own nutrition needs as well as others’ food preferences and restrictions. You might ask, where am I going with this story? Well , I learned how to cook tofu, and that has happened to serve me well so far- especially in the most recent occassion of a potluck.
Food bonding is always a good way to connect to people, get to talk to them over small bites of yummy dishes, while also trying new things out and testing each other skills. My friend, Pine, invited us over to her house for potluck/dinner. We were around 20 of us, and we had all come from different groups, meanign that not all of us had a clear idea of who is who, and where we come from. But that didn’t last for much longer. We all brought either cooked, or ready to be cooked food, and started bonding with each other while setting the dinner table ready, and making sure we got each other’s names correctly. We ended up playing card and board games and we went from dinner, to until 11pm of us all playing and chatting with each other. So, I highly would suggest organizing potlucks with your friends from your semester abroad programs, as you get to tour other neighborhoods, apartments and might end up meeting new people like I did.
Just like Aland D. Wolfelt once said “Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.” Now that is Ramadan, my friends and I are planning to organize more potlucks, and organize a picnic day out with all of the AIT staff once the weather gets better. The good thing about Budapest is that is has a lot of parks that give us enough space for picnics and games outside. My favorite park is and will always be City Park.
The last picture is my favorite picture taken from a bench at City Park. And there is the chicken dish I prepared for the Potluck -forgot to take a picture of the tofu one 🙁 sorry