breakfast
there was a woman selling congee out of a food cart just downstairs from my grandmother's apartment. she would have to set up around 6 or even 5 in the morning to be ready for students who started school for 7. i bought congee from her when i had time. sometimes i would eat there, a little table set up beside her cart. i would order a bowl of congee with one or two small side dishes. incredibly, the selection of small side-dishes included fried shrimp, sliced crispy red pork, and various sliced, boiled internal organs. i think she had other things, but these impressed me most. a rice noodle shop around the corner offered the same items, but it was a shop not a cart. i liked eating at the cart because i could eat out the congee of a plastic bowl, with fried shrimp or crispy pork on a small plastic dish laid out in front of me while she watched me eat. more than anyone i've bought food from, i enjoyed buying food from her. i don't know if it's just good will on our parts or if she just liked how i ate, or if i just liked how she put things together but we really enjoyed each other. when i bough congee to go, she'd pour congee into a clear plastic bag, tie it closed with a bit of red plastic, and slip it into yet another a plastic bag with a styrofoam bowl. sometime she would even put in a small styrofoam plate for the side dish, which was overkill. i'd get to the classroom and eat the congee out of the plastic bag not bothering with the styrofoam, resolving to wake up earlier the next morning so i could eat at the cart.