The Other Side: Surprise! What Did I Just Eat?

Food is a huge part of life regardless of your background. A large part of my Indian culture is being a vegetarian. Although my boyfriend and his family understand that I am a vegetarian and respect that, it still makes for a very awkward situation. For example, if I ever go out to a restaurant and they mess up my order, I tend to lose my appetite immediately. Just this past weekend I was at dinner with my boyfriend and his family and I ordered spinach ravioli. Of course as luck would have it, they gave me some sort of meat ravioli instead. A few bites later we figured out the mistake and I about threw up in my mouth. My boyfriend and his family will really never be able to understand just how I feel when mistakes like this happen. This is a huge difference between my family and his. My family is vegetarian, and they understand how disgusted I get when I eat meat by mistake. My boyfriend's family is always understanding, but it is just never enough because in my heart I know they can't completely identify with me. This is a huge gap largely due to our cultural differences. I absolutely hate being the only vegetarian when I am hanging out with my boyfriend and his family. I hate that I can't just blend in with the group, and that certain dishes have to be specially made with me in mind. It is a lonely feeling to find myself having to stick out like a sore thumb just because of food. When I find myself in such a situation, I miss my own family even more and always wish they were there with me so I would have someone there who really understands. Food is really such a simple thing, but when I'm one vegetarian in an endless group of non-vegetarians, I feel singled out. This has been a hard feeling for me to swallow. It has and still is taking a lot of time for me to adjust to just being different. I rarely think about my skin color or even religion, but food, a part of everyday life, has really hit home the fact that I am inherently different from my boyfriend and his family. Interracial relationships will have many surprises, and this is just one of the little ones that hit me like a ton of bricks. I never thought food would end up being such a big issue. Surprise!