Do you realize?

I have never been an social traveler. I know is a pleasant experience to meet the local people, but for me the usual idea is to enjoy the place rather than their habitants. On the other hand, I enjoy a lot eating; and more than eating, i enjoy the experience of finding something new, a new flavor, a new texture. The thrill and excitement of discovering something new, like and old explorer, makes an instant snap in my brain, connecting the place and the taste in one memory.   My first experience outside my country was in Dominican Republic, where i was sent to work for nine months in 2007. The first experience was a little bit disappointing, since i founded the same dishes that i had in my country. How wrong i was that time!  Since my work was to evaluate their road infrastructure, i started from the eastern corner of the country, where the salty food matched perfectly with the desert landscape. Hey! they got it hard, but still managed to have a decent meal. specially the roasted goat, a dried meat with concentrated flavor.   While i was going south, i reached the more fertile regions where the abundance of food and fruits made a deep impact in my food memories. But even their difference in between, both had the same style that was characteristic of their culture. They take their time to live their life, and in the same way they eat.  For a person who had a rushed living style, the chance to cross a culture that take things slow, makes you think that they are laid back, but the truth is they take their meal time seriously. Starting from the cook whom takes his time to prepare the dishes starting in the morning, and the guest which honors the time of the cook and takes their time to enjoy the food. So taking your meal at mistime in 15 minutes and going back to work, like i did, was some how, disrespectful with their traditions.  Those 9 months had a lot of adventures in every town i went, but the best memory i had was, since that year, to take more time to enjoy every meal