Tucson Meet Yourself

I woke up today around 11 and remembered it was Tucson Meet Yourself also known as Tucson Eat Yourself. Basically it’s a bunch of food booths set up down town from just about any culture you could imagine. What better way to celebrate diversity than to stuff your face with food from around the world? God bless America. I threw some jeans on, put on a hat and walked downtown for some breakfast. I started out with some Chinese veggie egg rolls and an iced coffee, Costa Ricans style, which means it comes with lots of sugar and cream. It was very yummy. Now alert and craving more food I headed over to one of the many booths that were serving Indian fry bread, a favorite of mine since childhood, growing up in the South West. I got mine with powdered sugar, though honey was tempting. My girlfriend went with beans and cheese. After that we headed over to one of the two stages set up and ate our fry bread while listening to some Chinese music. Despite being a musician for much of my life, the instruments were things I had never seen. They were beautiful. Two members of the group played on an instrument similar to a violin, but played up right. The other member played on an instrument that sounded like a steal drum but looked like a xylophone. It looked like she was striking strings with a mallet but I suspect she may have been plucking strings based on the sound. The instruments created a very rich and textured sound together and it was unlike anything I’ve heard in the States. Just as food has developed and evolved in different parts of the world, music has as well. To me, they’re both necessities and I was amazing to see how different instruments are formed in every culture for a universal purpose. We sat and listened for a few more songs and then headed out to find a boba drink; a blended slushy type beverage with little tapioca “pearls” in it. It’s drunk through a wide straw so the pearls can be sucked up. I got the honeydew flavor and loved it. We wondered around for a while and ate some Danish “abelskiber,” fried round balls of dough. My girlfriend has some Danish in her so it was a dish her grandmother used to make. Later I almost got some ox tail from the Jamaican booth but chickened out at the last minute and got the jerked chicken instead. In line, I keep telling my girlfriend she was “ja-macian me crazy,” which wasn’t even funny the first time. We wondered around some more, ate some skewered meat and watched an Asian guy dancing with a sword. Stuffed, we headed home at a fast speed debating who would get the restroom first (which I did). Despite the upset stomach, it was a great time and I think it’s great Tucson hosts this event every year. Viva diversity.