Ponoom...No really...PONOOM!

When eating at someone's house, it's always polite to go back for seconds. It really shows the host/hostess that you enjoyed their cooking and hospitality. However, when they pile a mountain of rice on your plate, along with chilies, potatoes, daal, and chicken, it makes it almost impossible to want to reach into that rice bowl for seconds. And you can forget that you know the word "ponoom" which means that you've had enough food and you're full. No no...in order for your host to understand that you truly are full, you must say it three different times. Until then, they think you're just being polite and not wanting to seem like a pig by eating more.

I learned this lesson the hard way. Two plate fulls, an ice cream cup, cup of chai, strange gingerbread cake thing, and some sort of brown goo substance that tasted like baked beans later, we left our friends house. Oh South Asians...how I envy your stomachs.