It’s Valentine’s Day weekend! This makes me think of all the countries where Kris and I have been on dates. We love to travel and feel blessed to have seen 19 countries together. As you might imagine, some countries are more romantic than others. But even in romantically-challenged countries, we gave it a valiant effort! Here’s one of my favorite stories from one of those locations. This happened back when our kids were little.
Sahara Sweat
At temperatures over 100 degrees and no air-condition, it’s hard to stay fresh and clean for very long. Basically, for the half-second that you step out from under the shower and grab your towel. That’s about it. As soon as clothes are on, the sweat starts to build. That’s why cologne and perfume are such valuable commodities in desert countries. Everyone smells like their choice of purchased scent mixed with sweat and sometimes dirt, because dirt and sand are just part of the package deal when you live on the edge of the Sahara.
And don’t bother choosing a cute sundress for your date because now you must cover your sweating-self with long-sleeves, a long skirt, and a scarf around your neck. Hopefully “dowdy” is the new “little black dress.” It is…right?
On the Town
We had baby-sitters lined up and an evening “on the town” so we chose a cute little Indian restaurant for our date. The tables sat under hanging plants in an open terrace. Definite “date” material. This was gonna be nice!
As far as I can remember, the food was good. Indian food is delicious and if you’ve never tried it, you need to go find an Indian restaurant near you as soon as you finish reading this post. Then go try it out. And meet the family that owns it and tell them their food is delicious.
But, as much as I love Indian food, I do not remember much about the food that night. We ordered our meal, probably butter chicken masala, naan, maybe a veggie dish of some sort, and a lassi. Then we settled in to enjoy complete sentences and finished thoughts, none of which contained references to cartoon characters, potty habits, time outs, or koolaide. You parents of young kiddos will understand that this is a very exciting activity to experience.
Uninvited Guest
While we enjoyed adult conversation, we saw movement on the ground around our feet. A tiny mouse. It didn’t skitter by. It stopped at our table and stood on its haunches, looking at us. Then it turned away, but quickly circled around and came back. It stared at us. Kris stomped his foot and the mouse ran toward the outer door of the terrace, leading to the street.
Weird. But the sun had set and the temperature had dipped down to double digits and we were on a date without kids! So we forgot about the mouse and kept talking.
The mouse, though, didn’t forget about us. He came back, stopped at our table, and sat on his haunches looking at us. Kris stomped his foot again. The mouse ran away. This happened a few times and it wouldn’t have bothered me so much except that I was a young mom, living in the desert, getting a rare break from mom-life, trying to look pretty in sweat, and trying to have a nice dinner with my husband. The mouse was cramping my style.
Help on the Way
Finally, the waiter saw what was happening and he came over to “help.” He chased the mouse out to the street and then came back to our table.
“I apologize,” He said with a friendly smile, “Do you know why he keeps coming back?”
This was a restaurant, so one might assume the restaurant staff wouldn’t allow a mouse to “come back” so to speak. So, no, we did not know why the mouse kept coming back. We shook our heads.
“He is trying to get back to his family who lives over there,” the waiter pointed past us to the opposite side of the terrace, to the entrance of the kitchen. He laughed and shrugged as if to say, “What can you do? The little guy wants to be with his wife and kids.”
IN.THE.KITCHEN.
Where our food was currently being cooked.
While the mouse intrusion around our feet probably knocked a star or two off our mental rating of the dining experience, the memory remains as one of my favorite “date stories” from our adventures overseas. I can still see that little mouse trying desperately to make it past Kris’ stomping foot to his loved ones in the KITCHEN of the restaurant, while we tried desperately to have a romantic dinner.
Life is an Adventure
My mom always encouraged me to think of life as an adventure. I have found her words to be perfect advice for turning what could be an opportunity to grumble (an evening out messed up by a mouse) into a chance to laugh at the funny little “things of life.” We all have them.
What About You?
Do you find it easy or difficult to see the humor in situations?
What’s the funniest/weirdest restaurant story that has happened to you?
I’m still trying to figure out what’s so unusual about this story. Was it Kris stomping his foot at the mouse?
I also have a memory of watching you preach a sermon one Sunday morning and a little mouse came right up to your feet and stood on its haunches and looked right up at you as you continued to talk. I think it was trying to come forward and it wasn’t the invitation time yet! Now that I think of it, I have a lot of mouse memories. You probably do too. I can understand why you don’t get what’s so unusual! ha!
I had forgotten that one. I’ve also had chickens, goats, centipedes, and dogs “come forward.”
When we first arrived in Germany with our toddler Joel, we quickly learned that children were not usually welcome in restaurants. N high chairs, kids’ menu, color sheets, nothing to welcome them. Our first meal out was to a pizza restaurant with Joel in tow. We got scowling looks from the waiter but sat down anyway. We ordered a pizza to share, thinking of pizzas in the US. They brought out something smaller than a pan pizza and we were embarrassed. Joel dropped his toy. When I reached down to get it a huge German shepherd came over and grabbed it. Dogs in restaurant—no problem! Just kids were a problem. That same dog then stretched out across the entrance and we had a difficult time getting out. We saw many dogs when eating out but very few children.
What a funny story, Jana. Since you said this happened early in your time in Germany, I wonder if you thought “Oh man, what have we got ourselves into?” So funny that you saw many dogs but not many kids when eating out!