(no subject)

so. we are back. oddly, this trip was really interesting and quite enjoyable. lots to write about, but i won't belabor the short attentioned among you. we stayed busy pretty much the entire time, with side trips to Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Morehead City, and Washington DC. we had a lot of fun:

• Mystery noticed that north carolina is "The Land of the Pig Wearing a Hat." as almost every establishment features this type of mascot. we saw pigs with chef's hats, wth paper butcher's caps, and even in the case of the "Nahunta Pork Center," a pig with a crown.
• we made a baked ziti with zuccini and tuscan bean and mushroom bruschetta for mystery's aunt and uncle, who saved our sanity many times. when buying supplies at the "piggly wiggly," (home of the pig wearing the paper butcher's cap) we were treated to the following exchange.
  Cashier: (holding up zuccini) what is this? some kind of cucumber?
  Me:It's a zuccinini.
  Cashier: (incredulous) a zuka-whut?
  Me(I'm a bit puzzled here, since one thing that i never failed to find in North Carolina was zuccini bread.) a zuccini.
  Cashier: (Flipping frantically through her book containing PLU codes.) Well, that can't be right, cause it ain't in the book.
  Supervisor:(Over at the Customer Service counter dispensing powerball tickets.) Tiffany, it's under Green Skwarsh.
  Cashier:Ohh! ya'll shoulda said it was green skwarsh.
  
• while visiting mystery's cousin in chapel hill, he took us to a small cafe where i had perhaps the best cup of coffee ever. it was called the "Open Eye Cafe," and the coffee came from local roasters. we purchased a pound of the beans and i must say, it eclipses the beans from the B & O espresso in seattle, and that is no easy task!
  
• we visited the India Mahal, and it was as good as we recalled, but on our way back home, we stopped at the Amma Indian Restaurant on M Street in Georgetown in washington DC, where we had simply the best indian food, EVER. now i've eaten at a lot of indian places, from the subtle to the sublime, and i can say that in each case, the restaurant has specialized in one thing, but fallen in the middle on some other aspects, eg: the chai and naan are perfect, but the dishes are too rich... the dishes are good, but the chai is bad, etc. not so here, everything was simply perfect... except the art on the wall, which seemed a cross of Bombay Kitch and Miami Vice. They were all originals, so it was probably the work of a relative, and as such, can be forgiven (my art graces the wall of many a friend and a relative)
  
• i can say that the only negative aspect was mystery's relatives with their subtle barbs on our poor state... a quiet dig about the job hunt or runaway charge card bills, a dig about us wearing jeans to dinner, etc., a joke about how they could give classes on how to manage money, unlike some in the family... each comment a subtle shot designed to sting an hour later. after about thirty, i almost told em all to go to hell, but i restrained myself, since mystery forewarned me about this, and told me that a blow up is what they want, so they can all talk about it for twenty years. i can't believe i lived in this town for two years without realizing that the Duke car banners and the UNC bumper stickers are camoflauge for the real sport, which is baiting family members and slow-cooker feuds that take years to come to fruition. the sad part is, i am good at fending off this type of insult, in each case, i realized the insult, and had an appropriately subtle response ready... but not being one of the family, i feel obligated to take it and smile. after all, they could be innocent remarks, each one is crafted so a to be easily construed as innocent (if they are indeed venomous on purpose.)