Thai One On

On our last day of the full conference/convention, the hotel staff treated us to a very special afternoon breaktime. Truely spectacular.

There were two aspects of the break I must address: dancing and eating. Both were more FUN than you might imagine late in the day of a long conference.

First, there was a special traditional Thai dance procession that involved a single woman in a costume that looks a bit like a peacock (to me) and more than a dozen women in traditional Thai costumes with those long metalic fingers -- graceful! They were eventually followed by tall banners and a parade of special foods which were set up at many stations around the large lobby area and we talked and laughed and ate and ate.

Before the dancing was over a number of folk joined the line of dancers. It was interesting to watch how people from some cultures seem more willing and ready to engage in such fun than others who are more...conservative? Self-conscious? Uncoordinated? Maybe all of the above?

The foods included a number of types of Asian fruit that were quite nice. One of the ones that I think looks the coolest we called "hairy eyeballs" -- in part becasue of how they served them here. I've actually had this delicious fruit in Indonesia and Panama and Costa Rica. Maybe I even blogged about it before. Yes, a couple of weeks ago when I was talking about the market.

Anyhow, another of the treats was a flour (deepfried, probably) cup filled with corn, coconut, honey, and black sesame seeds. This one was delicious. I hesitatantly admit that I went back for one of these a second and third time.

What a wonderful memory-maker this afternoon break turned out to be -- a time of gracious hospitality, delicious foods, laugheter, dancing, friends and a mixture of cultures that makes everything more interesting. I loved it.