Falafel to the rescue

I helped make falafel tonight! My host dad called me into the kitchen as he was preparing it - yes, my host dad cooks - and showed me how to do it. I came in after he had mixed the dough, but I got to form the balls and drop them into the oil and saw him prepare the hummus and baba ghanoush and tasted straight tahini and everything was wonderful. I hadn't cooked anything since before I left the US. The 23rd, in fact, making that chicken/rice/chili thing with Thomas... good times.

You see, I love kitchens. Lost of people love food - me included. Ice cream, fried chicken, chocolate chip cookies, mashed potatoes... these are comfort foods. Especially the cookies. But for me, the kitchen is also a comfort food. Yes, I like to bake cupcakes and brew tea while everyone else is watching football. It makes me feel good.

And yes, I've been known to clean other people's kitchens. It happens when I'm nervous - usually at social gatherings. I wipe down counters, organize the recycling, place things in the dishwasher, take thing sout of the dishwasher, make water soapy, make dishes soapy, make dishes unsoapy, make dishes dry, and on and on. It makes me feel good.

So, When Farah came over tonight... Let me explain. Farah is my peer language tutor (volunteering to spend time with me and pledging to speak no English). She is also Rasha's best friend. She is also energetic like a firecracker, like combustion, like the hot oil after dropping in a ball of falafel dough. And this did not work very well for me. I shrink when faced with newness and energy - I hold firecrackers at arm's length, I step away from the stove when the oil starts popping. It makes me uncomfortable, so I just sort of lie back and chill out.

This is the part where falafel plays the hero. A few minutes after Farah came, I was called into the kitchen. Host dad knew that I wanted to learn how to cook Arabic food, so he showed me the falafel, the hummus, the everything listed above. Most of what I did was watching, but I found it calming nonetheless. I was comfortable again, in the kitchen, around the food. I did not clean up, because I've found that I'm not allowed to (this whole maid business is completely new to me), but just being inside a kitchen with the sight/smell/sound of cooking was good.

The aftermath: falafel came out tasty. Hummus and baba ghanoush were both tasty and beautiful - the preparation is a little like art. And all of us talked and laughed over the meal. By the end, everything was great. Silly dancing and strawberry milk in juice box cartons, good things all around. In some sense, every moment since I walked through security at the RDU airport has been out of my comfort zone. But not matter where I am - where anyone is - there's always some measure of security to curl up in. No matter where you are, something can remind you of home.

So I love falafel, now on more than just a culinary level. Don't take it personally, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I'll be baking up a batch of you just as soon as I get home. But falafel has done me a favor tonight.