Finding Joy in a Food Truck

 There's a lot of uncertainty and unhappiness swirling around right now. Provincially, the education sector is on tenterhooks as they wait to hear if they will be sent back to in-person schooling or not. Nationally, the discovery of 215 unmarked children's graves at a Kamloops BC residential school is a grim reminder that First Nations peoples have been seen and continue to be seen as lesser. 

This blog post is not meant to minimize these terrible things or to pretend like they don't exist. The intent is to look for the little things that can, at least temporarily, boost my spirits, make me smile and carry on.

My students talk about their personal lives while we are at school. One talks about helping her family with their food truck on the weekend. During my weekly Friday night social time online with a few of my colleagues, we toyed with the idea of supporting the family's business by visiting the food truck over the weekend. The bonus was that, if we could coordinate our times, we could see each other too!

Well, not only did we successfully arrange this excursion, I went twice! (The photo below, of me in my yellow shirt, is from my Sunday visit.)

This is Street Eats Market Scarborough. It's an idea that makes sense in our pandemic conscious society - see https://streeteatsmarket.com/ for the details, but it involves arranging several food trucks in an easily accessible area with closely monitored numbers of visitors. 

I was SO happy on Saturday and Sunday. The reasons were quite clear:

1) I was outside. 

It's hard to escape the computer, between running classes on it and using it to write report cards. The weather was a bit cool, but it was sunny and with a light jacket and long pants, so it was pleasant to be outside.

2) I got to see my friends and my students.

I didn't realize how much I missed seeing *live* people. Yes, some of us reconnect via our House Party app, but it's not the same. I carried on like a fool when I caught a glimpse of my student and her sibling in their family's truck, waving madly as if it were a celebrity sighting. Remember, I haven't seen them face-to-face (excluding when I dropped off supplies at students' houses) since early April. 

(No pictures of the students - gotta respect the privacy. Big thanks to Farah for allowing me to reproduce the photos she took on Saturday of the adult visitors.)

3) The food was delicious!

I've never been to a food truck festival before but I love the concept. It satisfied my desire to "go shopping" and it exposed me to many different kinds of food. I really wanted to patronize every food truck present, but as my daughter kept reminding me, to my chagrin, I wasn't able to carry everything I wanted. That's why I had to go back the next day for more! Let me tell you about some of the things I bought. (Warning - this isn't a food blog, so my photos of the meals don't do them justice!)

Los Vietnamita - Saigon Fried Chicken (This is what my student told me to order and it was so good!)

Get Your Own Taters - Taters filled with Bacon and Cheddar accompanied by Chipotle Dip (perfect snack AND even breakfast meal the next day!)

Food Dudes - Fish Tacos, Truffle Fries, and Strawberry Jalapeno Lemonade (so tasty, and such unusual combinations of flavors!)

Beaver Tails (I know it's a typical Canadian tourist treat but I never had one before! I chose the classic version. Forgive the bite marks in the photo!)

Jesa Sweet Tooth (This baker sold white/milk/semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies that were so moist and scrumptious!)

Rebozos - Churros (The chocolate and dulce de leche versions were equally tasty!)

I couldn't help but constantly thank all the food truck and security personnel for making it possible to have such a wonderful experience. It did wonders for my emotional well-being. Yes, I'm probably even more chunky than I was last weekend because of all that food going in (and straight to) my belly, but I have no regrets. I look forward to the mixed blessing it will be when gyms can re-open and I'll deal with the extra weight.