SCHOOL LUNCH

Equal parts walking and eating - Yago and I both agreed that this is a good equation for exploring a new town, especially with the addition of afternoon beers. There’s plenty of delicious street food to be discovered in China, but sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time. It was mid-day in Dali when we found ourselves on a narrow street that ran alongside a school. Little did we know that the lane doubled as the school’s cafeteria, and before we knew it we were wading through a sea of blue uniforms, smack dab in the middle of the lunch-hour rush. Opposite the school were a bunch of little food shops, all with humongous baskets of steamed rice and tasty looking buffets. Small food carts serving more specific dishes parked along the opposing sidewalk, and a handful of vendors rolled up on tricycles to cater a modest spread on three wheels. Yago and I walked along rubbernecking and drooling the whole way, and for some reason let ourselves stroll through without stopping. But fifteen minutes later, after we’d realized what we’d missed, we came running back to join the daily feast. By the time we'd returned, the frenzy had dwindled, and most of the buffets had been reduced to scraps. Luckily we came across a soup spot towards the end of the lane that was still open for business and looked especially delicious. For a small set price we picked our own fresh ingredients, put them into a little basket, and handed them over to be dipped into a vat of tasty broth. A few minutes later it was all cooked up and transferred into a little paper bowl, and after the addition of a few condiments our lunch was served! It reminded me of when I taught English in Thailand, and how much I enjoyed the food in my school’s cafeteria. I used to get this amazing noodle soup at least three times a week, it had a dark reddish-brown broth, and every day I ate it I’d enter my afternoon classes with an additional brownish splatter on the front of my dress shirt. I would usually splurge on an ice cream bar after my noodle soup, and it would bring my lunch total to about one dollar. But a school lunch open to the public! I should find more of these when I travel. If I had stayed in Dali for a while, I would have gone to that street everyday around noon - what a fun, delicious, and cheap way to eat!