Today I spent the day making vegan veggie pot pie but in a big pan to last us through lunch, dinner and lunch tomorrow. Our neighbor Alex dropped by and had some. We were introduced to him the first day we arrived in the village. He heard we were coming and wanted to practice his English with us. He speaks some English and wants to visit the US after he saves up some money which may take about 5 years for him. He is about our age. He and James spent some time together while the children and I were away. They like to trade movies. We looked at pictures and James and he talked about internet connections. He was asking about American culture like drive through fast food and family dinners. We talked about bedroom communities and the decline of family dinners in the US. He could not fathom that. James described what a tv dinner was. That was funny. When Alex first arrived we invited him to stay for lunch. He was clear that he was not a vegetarian and while there may be a few he just isn’t one. But he wanted to eat with us anyway. He loved the pot pie and wanted a recipe so his mom could make it for him. After he ate he asked why more people in Romania aren’t vegetarians. This of course led into a discussion of comparisons of food politics here and in the US. All produce is organic here and no one pays extra. Everything is fresh even the meat. No hormones and people know exactly where there food originates. In fact, we were invited by Csaba to his parents for the pig slaughter where they slaughter the pig for the Christmas dinner. They do it several weeks early to allow the meat to cure. We had to decline but were honored to have been invited. Point being that those here are deeply connected to their food and land in a way that most Americans, myself included, are not.
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