Plum Enchiladas

"It is beyond my imagination." (More than I could have imagined, unbelieveable, etc.) This came from the newest addition to our house (expected stay uncertain- I'll explain in a moment). I watched doubtfully as he used chopsticks to eat his bowl of ice cream...piled high with pork salt!
Encouraging him to eat some leftovers had been unsuccessful and if I didn't cook something, he would. I made a batch of pancakes for him, a sister and myself.

Meet Jimmy, a computer science student from China...who has introduced my sisters to the x-box, loves to win any boardgame we play and is addicted to cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. He recently lost his passport and took a bus from Arkansas to Houston to visit the Chinese embassy about the problem. Our cousin in AR had learned he'd be coming to Houston and asked my family to meet him at the bus stop (at 6am) and take him to the embassy which didn't open until 8 or 9am. There was also the hint that he'd probably need to spend the night.

No big deal. We've helped people out before, hospitality is just a part of life.

However, it became apparent that it would not be one night. The embassy mentioned that it needed even more paperwork than Jimmy had brought and that this whole process could take up to 2 or even 3 months!!! Jimmy was given one of my sister's bedrooms and is still with us.

When I walked into the house for lunch on Friday (my Aunt was leaving town and I wanted a last meal with her!) I found the tv on with an aerobic kick-boxing video and Jimmy and one of my sisters were kicking along to the video. Poor Jimmy- he is surrounded by women- even the people in the video were ALL women.

Yesterday, we had a wedding to attend for a family friend. Jimmy had accompanied us to church and we invited him to come to the wedding ceremony (one of us would skip the reception since it was an rsvp dinner-style wedding, and take Jimmy home). He declined going to the wedding and I skipped the reception so that he would not be alone. However, as he was asleep, I hid in my room with a book. I was still shy around him and didn't know what to talk about- plus, I wouldn't have normally had much interaction in a house alone with any of my other guy friends...it seemed a little improper and very awkward.

Soon, after I became really interested in my book, there was a knock at my door.
"Come in" I called before thinking.
The door opened and Jimmy poked his head in the room, "Do you want to eat something?" he asked.

"Oh, I am not very hungry, but you go ahead! There are plenty of leftovers in the fridge!"

He nodded and left and after a moment of wondering if he was going to be ok, I went back to my book.
I could hear his x-box music down in the living room and relaxed.
But 30 minutes later he was back at my door, "Don't you want to eat?"

I realized that it was about 6pm and my stomach had been talking ever since his last knock on my door.

"Sure I'll come and eat something!" And I followed him to the kitchen.
It was unavoidable, he was going to cook for me. Jimmy had cooked my entire family dinner on Friday, but I had had a meeting and missed it. I was extremely nervous about what he would make (my sisters had had to keep him from buying fish with the heads still on and other things that NEVER entered our house when they took him to Chinatown on Friday afternoon.)

"What are you going to eat?" he asked me.
"Well it's Sunday, and usually my family eats leftovers for dinner. I think I'd like an enchilada."

I pulled out several containers of food and offered them to him. "There's plenty to eat!"

He told me that he didn't know how to fix up an enchilada and I showed them to him and explained "You just re-heat and add salsa or more cheese."

Frustrated he said "No, I want to cook for you...I will take the enchilada and cook it here (he indicated the wok pan we happen to own) and add spicey to it!"

(The concept of leftovers seems to be something he doesn't understand. The beauty of them is the mess-free meal they give: "re-heat and eat!")

"Oh. I don't like very spicey food, though...it hurts my mouth." I said.
"Not spicey food- I want to add spice (and here he indicated our spice rack) to give it flavor and add vegetables."

"Oh!" (I was perfectly satisfied with my Mom's chicken enchilada...but I didn't want to be rude and snub his gift of cooking for me. Obviously it was important to him since he had waited 30 minutes to get me down here and hadn't really eaten himself. And vegetables are fine...I mean anything will go with chicken.)

"Sure, go ahead!" I paced the kitchen for a bit as he dragged out all sorts of foods and turned on the stove-top.
Nixing the parsley he had lain on the counter, I went outside to water my flowers.
Hearing the phone ring, I ignored it- I don't like to answer the home phone. However, suddenly Jimmy was bursting out the back door mumbling something and handing me the phone (which had answered itself when he picked it up).

"Hi Hannah!" my Aunt's voice came over the phone. (She had been visiting us the past week and had been the one (along with a sister) to pick Jimmy up from the bus stop.) "I was going to ask if Jimmy's still there but I guess so!" and she laughed.
"Yes, he is. He's inside cooking for me." We laughed at my unenthusiastic tone- I eat a lot of things and try not to be too picky- but eating "mystery dishes" can put me in a panic.

I finished my conversation with her and went back to watering the plants, filling the dog's water bowl, and giving the turtles' bucket a cleaning. (We relocated some turtles for a dear family friend who took them in when they were the size of quarters...now they were the size of my hand.) I was going to take them to the pond that evening and decided that would be my next chore if my food wasn't ready yet. The waiting was killing me! :)

As I was finishing up, out popped Jimmy with two gallon plastic bags- one with purple cabbage, the other with eggplant. I nixed the eggplant.
"You breaka mah heart" Jimmy said, but I did not change my mind.
Shaking his head, he hurried back inside to his creations...

Unable to stand it any longer I caught the turtles (who were exploring the back porch), placed them in their bucket and headed through the house.
"I'm going to run see my neighbors, I'll be back soon!" I told Jimmy.
Stopping me he asked where the 'floor' was. Eventually we understood one another and I showed him the flour container.

Stepping outside I breathed deeply in the 90+ degree Texas heat. I stopped at my neighbors' house and showed them the turtles- pictures were snapped (the turtles were very clean and had beautiful markings on their skin and shells)- then it was off to the pond.
I ignored the scolding ducks and found a shallow "cove" on the edge of the pond. The grasses had the reflections of sunlit water skidding across them and a group of fish watched me as I gently set the turtles in the pond. The green one (having once been a wild turtle for the first week of it's life) had great instincts and immediately hid herself by the edge. The little black one had been bred in captivity. It had chased and eaten live fish, plants, and bugs before- but never overnight. She was happy with the warm water and drifted in it for about 10 minutes before copying her friend the green turtle. Their names were Yoshi and Donatello (my favorite ninja turtle)...we didn't know they were girls until they were much older.

Content I poured the water out of the bucket, turned it over, and sat on it- watching the turtles, fish, and enjoying the sounds of kids at the pool nearby. How peaceful! A duck with her five ducklings watched me curiously and brought her little brood within a couple feet of me to see if I had brought them a snack. Our neighborhood spoils our ducks and turtles...they get fed several times a week.

Realizing that the sunlight was moving across the water and it was now blinding me, I suddenly remembered Jimmy!
Oh no! He's going to think I can't stand his cooking and I haven't even tried it yet!
Grabbing the bucket I scared the ducks in my dash for home.

Jimmy was not happy I'd been gone so long- 40 minutes! He told me so.
The food had to be reheated.
"I added one of these" he stated and pointed to the plate of plums!
"You put a plum in the enchilada?" I asked, shocked and tickled at the same time.
"Yes, I mean, it will be ok." he said nonchalantly.

I washed up, took my enchilada out of the toaster oven, and sat at the table.
Knowing that he was a little nervous about what I would say and hoping that it would taste good, I dug in.

I was very pleasantly surprised! It tasted delicious! The plum added a sweetness, the cabbage added a nice color and texture, and I don't know what all of the spices he used were but I think he used one of our Lipton tea bags...

So all of this is to let you know that plum enchiladas are divine and I am learning a lot about how to interact with guys when you live with them (never had a brother before...) and how to translate "axe" into eggs and "floor" into flour. If you think of us, pray that Jimmy will be able to find a way to get home to China soon!

Life is NEVER dull.