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Coffee Date with a Hippie

Yesterday was my first offline meet up with someone from OkCupid since I began my new philosophy of not beating around the bush when it comes to meeting new people.  This guy was definitely a hippie, which is why I was drawn to him.  He had told me that he lived in in tepee for the first 6 years of his life, and even his name was very creative, (he didn’t have a name for several months he told me- probably living in a tepee was stressful and his parents had too many things going on to bother thinking of names- like hunting for buffalo I would imagine), but I really thought it was cool that he had studied Arabic in Yemen and then had worked for the Army as a translator.  I thought we’d have so much to talk about!
                                                                    

And the date was good, we met for coffee, and he was cute, and looked just like his picture.  The time passed quickly, us sitting on a couch and conversing, and while it wasn’t a bad date, there weren’t fireworks either.  It was, however, some of the most interesting conversation I’ve ever had.  Here are the highlights:

 

1)      I asked him to tell me about Yemen.  What I learned is that people like to chew a leaf called gat, and you pretty much have to chew it or it’s a major party foul.  He didn’t like it, because it tasted gross and made him sweat- a lot.
                                                        File:Qat man.jpg

 

2)      When he was sweating from chewing gat, he wasn’t allowed to open a window, because the fear is that a genie will come in through the window (haven’t these people seen Aladdin- a genie is a good thing!)
                                                      

 

3)      Because alcohol was illegal in Yemen, he had to buy it once from pirates and smugglers. But when he put it in the freezer, the vodka froze- because it had been mixed with water.  But what can you expect from pirates and smugglers- really? I’d expect rum and not vodka, but I guess I’ve watched too many Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

4)      He was almost deported for repeatedly talking on the phone to a Muslim girl- you just can’t do that.

 

5)      The place he would most like to travel to now is Ethiopia, because it seems “magical”- his words.

 

6)      He enjoys eating Ethiopian food.  I asked him what it was like because I’ve never tried it.  “Spicy, flavorful, you eat with your hands and it hurts your mouth” he explained.  Sign me up.
                                           

 

7)      I asked if it was safe for me to eat Ethiopian food because I’m a vegetarian.  Like was it cooked with meat blood or anything?  “I don’t think so”, he said, “I think it just uses savory water”.  Savory water= broth.  Love it!

 

8)      You could probably make bread out of bones, because you can burn bones in a crematorium and it turns to ash.  Makes sense right? I like his logic- but I’m still not interested in eating bones, or blood, or the Japanese soup that he loves with tripe and tendons in it.  He likes that stuff and not chocolate- something is wrong with his flavor profile I think.

 

So, there are the highlights of my first OkCupid date.  Not a complete success, but not a bad meeting either.  A couple hours of fun conversation and I learned a lot, like genies aren’t all good, you can’t really trust pirates, and I’m glad I’m a vegetarian, even though I’m missing out on a lot of interesting foods it seems.

 

Katie

I'm a teacher, and I have a passion for traveling and experiencing new cultures. People are always asking me about my travels, and about how I am able to do it on a budget.

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4 Comments

  1. Anonymous says:

    Sounds like you should see him again (perhaps as a new friend since no fireworks) and get Ethopian food. Is there a place like that in C-bus?

  2. Anonymous says:

    Sounds like you should see him again (perhaps as a new friend since no fireworks) and get Ethopian food. Is there a place like that in C-bus?

  3. Casual Observer says:

    I like the pictures here, but where's the juicy part where you kiss?

  4. Casual Observer says:

    I like the pictures here, but where's the juicy part where you kiss?

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