Mondongo

Tasty nibbles of cow innards mixed with fresh cilantro, bananas, avocado, and other stewed veggies are slowly cooked into this traditional Antioquian dish--accompanied by a warm arepa of course. When my friends asked me what kind of meal I wanted to have for my birthday dinner, I requested the most typical dish seeing as I still have much gastronomic exploring to accomplish before I can call myself a paisa. As excited as I was to discover which of the four bovine stomachs I would be trying, I made the unfortunate mistake of eating an absolutely humongous lunch and so could only finish a medium-sized bowl of mondongo. Nonetheless, the jar of sangria complemented the meal spectacularly and completed what I think was a very typical Colombian birthday surrounded by good company.

It seems like I have spent an extraordinary number of birthdays away from home and family, yet always find a wonderful bunch of people to help me celebrate. This year I woke up to my favorite flower, heliconia, displayed in vases all over the apartment and provided by my roommate and dear friend David. He just so happened to remember a side comment I made about the roadside stands selling the flowers during my first day here, pleasantly surprising me with their color and feminine shape around the otherwise uncluttered rooms. Later on in the morning while at the university, my family of public health researchers ditched their work to take me out shopping, treated me to a wonderful lunch, and then sang happy birthday in beautifully accented English while I ate ice cream and chocolate. Dinner at Mondongo's (the most famous restaurant specializing in the dish), a long walk through the neighborhood lit by a full moon, and then a late-night bout of frisbee and guaros in the park accompanied a spectacular first day of my twenty-third year.