BAMBI News June 2016
View PDF Dear members,This time my letter comes to you with warm greetings from Lebanon! We are here for our friends' wedding and to visit my parents-in-law. I am always very happy to be here, I love this beautiful country, but I'm never happy after the trip when I check my weight. Lebanese food is just too good!It's a country with long food traditions. You always start with the mezze – many cold and hot appetizers on small plates. By the time you finish with that, you already feel quite full and could go home, but no, don't be fooled, the meal is not over yet. Mezze is followed up by platters of meat or fish and topped up with fresh fruits and mouthwatering sweets.The food is always shared on the table and there always has to be too much of it. They are very generous people and it's not seen well if a dish runs out on the table, because then it means you are stingy and don't care about your guests.I'm sure it's the same way also in many other countries, but it's definitely not the case in Estonia. Since I was young I have been taught that to be polite you always have to finish your dish, otherwise, the host will think that you did not like their food. Quite different from the Lebanese approach, right?I will forever remember the first time we took my parents to a Lebanese restaurant. They were visiting us in Paris and my husband wanted to be a good future son-in-law and treated them with the best of Lebanese cuisine. So as good Estonians, my parents kept emptying the plates, and as a good Lebanese, my husband kept on ordering more and more food as soon as they finished something. So it was a vicious circle with magical plates that never got empty :)The Estonian and Lebanese cultures are very different and we are always having fun with it in our families. This is the same fun we all are facing here in Bangkok every day. With such a mix of nationalities, there is so much to discover, and so much good food to eat!With the BAMBI committee we also recently enjoyed good food from different countries. We had a potluck dinner to say thank you and farewell to Ravit, our previous Chairwoman and Chiharu, the Events Co-coordinator. It was an evening full of good memories. I counted that in the committee we have around 40 people from close to 20 different nationalities. It's such an interesting mix and there is always something new to share with each other.If you also would like to mix up your life a bit, then why not join the BAMBI committee too? It's a lot of fun and we are always looking for new volunteers. You can see all the vacant positions on page 37. Or just contact me or anyone else in the committee and we can see together what could be fun for you.See you around!Cheers,Tini View PDF