Sabrina CP#2

Time/Date/Location

March 15, 2017: Tom Brown Park: 4pm to 6pm 

I met Rehab Salem at Tom Brown park during Spring break on a very cold afternoon. We all had our winter gears on and upon meeting, we both chatted about how absurd it was to have winter weather during spring. Rehab is from Egypt and is an FSU graduate student studying Geology. She has three beautiful children whom I all met. The kids played in the playground while we chatted. I cooked a chickpea dish that my mom used to make for us as a kid and brought it to share with everyone in this little picnic. Rehab loved the food and it started a whole conversation on Egyptian food. I learned about the different spices they used in their cooking. In some cases when she was struggling to describe a certain spice, I would begin listing the names and then she would point out the right one. At one point she kept saying, “biter” and I was confused. Her son corrected her saying, “Mom, its bitter!” I found her son’s enthusiastic approach to correct his mom cute and amusing. Rehab then shared with me how to cook a famous Egyptian lamb dish. She taught me a few of her secrets. Rehab says that she doesn’t like cooking the authentic Egyptian way and always likes to add her own perks. We had a lot of fun eating and chatting. We talked about her studies and how she manages to raise three kids while doing so. I had a great time with Rehab and I can’t wait to get to know her better!