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Better Over There

As I've been writing these blog posts over the years (amazingly, it's been over 9 years now), I've noticed that there are certain things that keep coming up. It's possible that I just find certain things funny so I write about them all the time, or maybe I do actually have certain things happen to me surprisingly often. Either way, there seem to be certain themes that routinely make me chuckle.

Today's post involves one such theme: food and diet. If you don't understand quite why I say this, let me remind you of a few recent posts. First, there was the puny salad that I had for lunch while volunteering. Second, I point you to the time that I accidentally grabbed a bowl of chili, and only chili, for lunch. The last exhibit in my case that food-related hijinks are a thing in my life comes from an unusual pairing with potstickers. Like I said, we tend to have some food-related laughs around here.

The latest in the string of food laughs came up when I went to Puerto Rico recently. I was actually traveling with a few locals, so they were able to give me an insider look at the culture and food. I was pretty happy that they were able to point me toward authentic food, and it really helped that I liked a lot of what they pointed me to.

However, a throw-away comment from one of them was what led to my favorite memory from the whole trip. You see, this one local said that he had a soft spot for Church's Chicken and that he always made sure to stop in when he was in town. Yes, THAT Church's Chicken. He was talking about the same chain that we see in other parts of the country, the kind that is known for their fried chicken.

What's more, he also said that the Church's Chicken in Puerto Rico was infinitely better than the Church's Chicken on the mainland. Well, this I had to see.

Both fortunately and unfortunately for me, we had plans for pretty much all of our meals, so I didn't really get a chance to sample the chicken. Ultimately, I left for the airport figuring that I'd just have an interesting tidbit to talk about. C'est la vie.

Yet, the universe chose to smile on me that day. As I was walking to the gate for my flight, I spotted a Church's Chicken stall at the airport. I hadn't had breakfast at that point, either, so I needed to eat something. I present to you that something:
They call these "pechu-bites"
I'm not even sure you can get the equivalent outside of Puerto Rico, so I suddenly understood why that one person had said he liked the Puerto Rico Church's Chicken better. As far as the food went, it took me a while to eat because I kept having to stifle chuckles. I'm pretty sure a couple of the other passengers thought I was weird. I wasn't about to let that stop me, though; I got to eat the Puerto Rican Church's chicken.

In the end, I didn't share the profound love for the food, but it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, if I'm ever back in the area, I think I'll just have to stop off at one of these restaurants.
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