"Mr. David, you don't want to eat that sandwich. It has bad meat."

So said Tiray (one of my 7th graders; pronounced "Teré") this afternoon after I took my share of the sandwiches that were ordered in for a handful of teachers and administrators. I didn't believe her; I'd eaten said sandwiches the previous two days, and in both cases the meat was tasty and I didn't experience any negative effects (apart from possibly getting a piece of meat stuck in my teeth). I told her that I thought it would be OK to eat this one as well.

Her response, a well-used Kurdish expression: "As you like."

She left with one of her friends, and I took a long stare at the sandwich. All of a sudden, I realized that this wasn't like the previous sandwiches I'd eaten from the lunch delivery. It was round, whereas the previous ones had been oblong. I pulled the top slice of bread off to inspect the meat. It didn't look like the tasty meat I'd grown accustomed to in two short days; in fact, it did look pretty gross.

Oh great. Lunch had suddenly turned into an ordeal today.

I asked Rizgar, our curriculum director if the sandwich came from the same store as last time. "Yes, yes," was his response. I didn't want to ask him if it was safe to eat, and run the risk of sounding ungrateful. No, I waited until another one of the teachers came into the director's office. Another Rizgar--the teacher I work alongside for several hours a day in the 7th and 8th grade science classes--came in and immediately offered me some of his peanut butter cookies. I then asked him if he thought my sandwich was kosher (note: I didn't actually use the term "kosher"). His response: "Yes, yes."

So it came down to an act of faith. The meat did look kinda nasty, and Tiray certainly wouldn't have lied to me, but Rizgar and Rizgar both made it seem as though I shouldn't be concerned.

I prayed a short prayer--"Lord, bless this food, and moreover, protect me from any sickness it may cause me"--closed my eyes, and took a bite.

Now, maybe I had already psyched myself out, but the sandwich did taste pretty bad. I choked it down, and then, because I was pretty hungry at that point, decided to take another major step of faith and go for the second sandwich. It tasted as bad as the first, and as I was eating it, I started to feel kinda gross. Great. I should've listened to Tiray after all. I probably would've finished it anyway (if I was indeed getting sick, what would it matter if I ate one whole sandwich of bad meat or two), but as it was time to go to 5th period math, I discarded the last half of the sandwich and went on my way.

Part Two to come as the rest of the story plays out. I just figured I had to post the first part while it was still...uh..."fresh."