International Influences

I first noticed something was a bit off when we went to the post office and Joel and I were the only people speaking English.  There were tons of people there from Africa and Latino America, but I wasn't sure which countries.  It turns out that Columbus, Ohio has a huge Somali population.  In fact, it's the second largest population (Minneapolis being the first) of Somalians in the United States.  It seems kind of random to me, but there is also a Mexican Market in Galloway and 5 Hispanic restaurants within 5 minutes of our house.  You don't normally see real Mexican food on the East coast unless you're in a major city.  When I think of great international food my first thought would definitely not have been Ohio, but it makes for some very interesting meals and conversations. It's kind of fun.
Tonight Joel and I went to a local Somali restaurant.  We were the only non-Somali's at the joint, so I was pretty sure it was authentic.  They even had the Aljazeera channel on in the background.  I tried goat.  It really was just spicy chicken.  The spices tasted very similar to kuri.  I liked the rice and Joel had some Somali flat bread with his meal that I thought was tasty.  I'll chalk it up to one of those random cool experiences that I really never had thought I would have.