36 1/2

Imagine spring rolls, filled with nearly all meat. A whole tray of them. Plate after plate. 36 1/2 to be exact. That was the final number of "Chinois Nems" consumed by each Barbara and me.

We had a nems eating competition. Keep in mind a normal meal for a person would be somewhere between 6-12 nems, depending on your hunger. So 4 of us started out, talking all the shit we could about how many we could stomach. 2 people dropped out at 21, saying they were in training for the next time. At 33, I went to order another tray of 6, the cooks of the restaurant looked at me and said "No more, you have eaten too much! Enough. Why are you causing problems? You are finished!" Although they were joking around, they unfortunately brought another tray. And we finished it. Barbara and I officially ate 36 1/2 nems. Beat that.

It wasn't so bad until the taxi ride home. In Niger they pick up other people and you share taxis. So as if the bumps in the roads weren't enough, next thing I knew I was squished between Barbara and a large Nigerien women in the backseat. Thankfully I didn't puke, however we kept saying "We are not in health!" and when we got out he came to open our door for us.

Now we both sit here feeling dizzy, sickly full, and wanting to vomit.

As my sister said it, "It's like you ate 3 feasts!"

Yea, something like that.