What Did I Just Eat?!?!

Gao Chali, for my first two months here, has been like my Chinese Dad! Last year, he gave Kim her Chinese family name: Gao. This year, he named both Emily and I: Gao Li and Gao Shan. We are all related! This Wednesday night, Charlie invited the three of us out to dinner. As he drove to the restaurant, we turned down back dirt roads and I wondered where the hell we could possibly be going. We ended up at a pretty restaurant (even though there was a large cage of about 10 chickens and 1 duck outside). I also fell in love with a little puppy that I played with and brought to our table after we had finished eating. He even fell asleep next to me!

Inside, Charlie ordered a ton of dishes! One of the fruits we ate could be anything...I still don't know what it is called but its texture was almost a blend of cucumber and apple. A different plate had tofu cooked with light breading - delicious! Another dish had a pile of vegetables and shrimp. When I say shrimp I mean very miniscule shrimp with feelers and eyes still attached. I had to try them, of course, and surprisingly liked the taste! I ate several little guys as they stared down my throat.

Finally, we were given a large bowl of meat. I thought Charlie had told us we were going to have "wild pig" so I assumed it was pig or boar. Each piece still had all the bones attached so I ate carefully. He told us it was chicken then pulled out the head from the bowl as proof. It was sliced vertically, but the beak and little flappy "hat" could still be seen. I thought to myself, "Where else am I going to taste chicken head?" So, after Charlie said I could have it, I ate some of the skin, the comb (the top "hat"), and even parts of the BRAIN. The comb was very soft ... and yummy! All of it was actually. I am not sure how soon I will be eating another chicken head though. Soon after eating the chicken head, I made my way to the bathroom. To get to the bathroom, I had to leave our room, walk outside, and find my way to the bathroom. The only problem was I had to walk by that large cage on my way. Immediately after eating a chicken head, I stared at 10 live chickens in the eyes.