Why I Was Dreading Being with Friends I Love--and the Happy Ending!

Why I Was Dreading Being with Friends I Love--and the Happy Ending!

As much as I love Annie, Rosa, and Jutta, I had a feeling of dread before the trip.  They're multi-lingual, and even though I speak French and Spanish as well as English  (I mean in addition to!),  I speak French and Spanish in a way that could annoy the French and Spanish, AND before meeting them I was writing messages in English like this in  an e-letter with the subject "Coming Out of the Cupboard:  I'm Vegan."

As for what I'd like to do, seeing you two is my number one "objective" since I went back to my former (1972) homes in Madrid last September.  But I do want to try all the vegan restaurants in Madrid that I can find, and I will understand if you two don't always go along. 

Yesterday I had a vegan potluck.  I didn't provide name cards saying, "Hello.  My name is Vegan Freak," but I know that's the perception of many non-vegans, so I'm going to be as polite but as assertive as I can be.  I'll be happy to go to non-vegan restaurants, too, but I don't want you two to suffer because of my being a "veganist."

One of my vegan friends thanked us all for the potluck saying that she was so happy to be at a gathering where she didn't have to ask "Is there meat in it?" about each dish.  Now it's "Is there meat or dairy?"  and  I know this can mean  culture-shock for some people.  The vegan authors of Vegan Freak:  Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World Jenna and Bob Torres suggest that non-vegans think of vegans as some kind of exotic tribe found deep in the Amazonian jungle who haven't yet discovered fire or the number zero.  

I now have a Vegan Passport, but it's a little bit unrealistic.  For example, it explains the concept of vegan (in lots of different languages including Hausa, Igbo, Xhosa and Zulu)  and suggests that we ask the servers to read the page!  Servers are very busy people!  Also, it has a page showing what we vegans can eat so we can just point, but I'm afraid that if I pointed to a head of lettuce, they'd bring me the whole head on a plate!

To my surprise,  the response of Rosa, who had posed the question, "What would you like to do in Madrid?" was, "I'm bringing a list of all the vegetarian restaurants,"  She did!  Instead of rolling their eyes in exasperation, these wonderful friends joined me on my continuing pilgrimage to find good vegan meals! Here Rosa, Annie, and I are at Vivaburgers the night of our arrival in Madrid.

In Paris, Annie, Jutta, and I continued to go to vegan and vegetarian restaurants.  When I told Annie how much I appreciated their openess to this, Annie said that it actually simplified decision-making because there were so many restaurants in Paris!

As for my fear that I would annoy the Spanish and French people with my Spanish and French, they were very receptive!  They recognized the language I was speaking as a version of their own and responded warmly and helpfully to comments and questions!  

I would say that this was a dream come true, but I hadn't yet gotten around to dreaming it!