He wishes I were his special ed teacher!

Friday night, my mom, sister, Ashley, and I enjoyed a "Girls Night Out" in New Brunswick. First, we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Makeda, for Ethiopian food. Yum. For those of you who have never, ever, tried Ethiopian, you honestly don't know what you're missing. The food is sort of cooked in a way that's similar to Indian, but even if you don't like Indian, you'll most likely dig Ethiopian food. The spices are different, see. I had my favorite dish there--the mesir azefah, atakilt wat, and gomen wat. In English now--cold lentil salad, potatoes, green beans and collard greens. They serve the food perfectly spiced with just the right amount of tang and with injera. Injera is the spongy "dosa-like" flatbread you use to pick up the food. There are no utensils. Well, unless you wuss out and ask for a fork. (Here's a website for the azefah I mentioned--I cooked it a few weeks ago and Eric and I both really liked it!)

On to the real reason Mom, Ashley and I were in New Brunswick Friday night--we went to see David Sedaris speak at the theatre. Wow. David Sedaris, I can honestly say, is one of my top three favorite writers. He's funny. He's so funny--he's a humorist. His books are written in the form of short autobiographical tales. One chapter may have been a story about his childhood in North Carolina, the next, a story about last winter in Paris with his boyfriend, Hugh.

So we saw David speak. He's just as funny in person as he is on cd or in his books. Then we waited in line over an hour to have his books signed. Sorry, Mom, that we made you wait.

Waiting in line was well worth it. Once it was our turn, he spent a few minutes talking to us and asking us questions. He asked me what I did, and I told him. I tried to impress him with my ability to say two things in Japanese (he just got back from a trip to Japan). I even got him to laugh when I asked him what time it was in Indonesian.

We left his table and headed for the door. I then looked at my book. This is what he wrote:

To Marisa, I wish you were my special ed teacher. David Sedaris

Addendum: Unfortunately I have no photos of this joyous and momentous event. No Photos allowed!