Not Quite a Social Leper

That was fabulous.

Turns out some restaurants open for dinner on Sundays. As I was walking down Bennekelstraat I noticed one that had caught my eye earlier--Shoarma Ramses, a kebab/pizza place--was open. So I wandered in, looked over the menu. They had the meat roasting behind the counter, right next to a fancy pizza oven. I didn't see falafel on the menu, so I went for Pizza Margherita. Turns out Dutch Egyptians really know how to make pizza--nice and cripsy, with plenty of cheese and basil. I ate my pizza, read, and eventually got talking with one of the guys who runs the place. He wanted to know where I was from, why I was in Eindhoven, etc. I'm not used to being exotic, interesting, a topic of conversation. So we talked for a while, and I paid my bill, and taught him how to pronounce my name, and he packed up my pizza, gave me a menu, and told me to come back. Wished me luck on my first day of work.

Everything looks so much brighter when I've eaten well. I've even got pizza in the fidge for breakfast, so I can throw out my crazy plan to wake up early enough to walk to the store before work. I walked home from dinner grinning like a lunatic, feeling like I really belonged here (for a little while at least) and generally at peace with the world.

I can do this. I really can.