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Articles and Information
The Traveling Plate
by Mary Eileen Finch
On a Sunday afternoon I heard someone knocking at our door. Upon opening it, I saw our new neighbor and her daughter standing on our porch. I had yet to meet her but our yards connect in the back and our daughters play together daily. They are Hispanic and speak very little English.
I smiled and said, "Hello". She asked me something and I was able to make out the words 'Fiesta," "Nina," and "Mi Casa." I gathered that it was her daughter's birthday party and we were invited. I replied that we would be happy to come. I threw a present together and grabbed a plate of vegan snacks. The party was very interesting and we had a wonderful time, despite not being able to communicate with anyone. I wasn't able to tell them that I did not eat meat or ask what was in their food, so I just didn't eat anything and hoped that we were not offending anyone. When we left, I forgot to take my plate with me.
A few days later she returned the plate with some type of spiced bread on it. I invited her in and we visited for awhile. I was moved by her gentle spirit, and after a few minutes I didn't even notice that we did not speak the same language-- we were communicating just fine. I took a quick moment to look up, "We do not eat meat" (Nosotros no comemos carne) on a free translations website. She smiled and nodded that she understood, and our friendship began.
We get together every Sunday evening for lessons. I am helping her with English and she is teaching me Spanish. The plate that I had accidentally left at her house had traveled back and forth between our homes many times. After the spice bread she had baked for us was eaten I filled the plate with a pasta dish and sent it back to her. She returned it loaded with flat bread and beans and on it continued back and forth. I don't always know what I am eating but it always tastes great, and she always assures me that there is no meat. And she is experiencing a taste of vegan America.
I always tell her what is in each dish and she does the same. I am learning all the Spanish names for vegetables, fruits, and grains. We get confused at times and don't always understand, but we laugh and move on. Both our husbands work at night so we share that in common, and help each other with the long lonely hours when darkness falls. It brings me such joy to see her coming through my back yard, plate in hand, so that I can test out another dish she had prepared.
She is the only human, that I have met in person, whom has never thought it strange that I do not eat any animal products. She never gave me a strange look when she found out that I home school, homebirth and avoid modern medication. In a way we are the same, people living in a society that does not understand us, and that bonds us together. A bond that started with my dinner plate.
Mary Eileen Finch, CD (DONA) lives in Arkansas along with her inspiring husband, Jason, and their three adorable children, Rebecca, Jarod, and Alex. She is a certified labor doula and a vegan of seven years.
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