neighborly love

i'm not sure what ethnicity they are, hmong or thai ... and i know that those are 2 very different cultures, i'm just not sure, and not sure how to ask.
regardless... they are the most wonderful neighbors.  for starters, the man (i cant spell his name but it is pronounced like THAI) will mow part of our curb grass for us and in the winter will shovel part of our sidewalk for us.  the women that live there will try very hard to speak english with me and i speak to their children and their children enjoy our cat and audrey. 
today though, our neighbors went above and beyond.  im not sure how many people live in their house... sometimes i see about 8 children running around the yard and a few older children coming and going, and other times i barely see anyone.  they gave us a small, but beautifully grilled whole fish with the head cut off and the belly was stuffed with the most amazing herbs and chilies.  i have not had fresh fish for a long time, let alone prepared that way.  i can not even begin to explain the feeling that it gave me.  mind you, i have an issue with food and eating and my body size right now anyway, but.... oh my gosh i could have eaten that forever.  i just wanted to keep exploring all of the different flavors that were hitting all the different corners in my mouth.
along with that piece of fish came a handful of freshly grown cilantro.  that is my FAVORITE herb!

while we had a power outage this evening, he was outside (and i forgot to ask again where he's from) but i did tell him how amazing that fish was.  he said he would try to teach me what he did.... im not so sure how good it will work out, but i sure hope i can get a lesson in some measure.

i really want to travel.  i want to go to other countries and eat.  haha.... says the girl with the mild eating disorder.  but seriously, i want to learn about other cultures through their food.  i want to learn what spices they use and what is popular in their country to eat.  for many people, cooking is a way of showing love, not just a means to a basic necessity such as eating.  i think it would be really amazing to learn to cook all these different cultural dishes.  it excites me... just recalling the amazing reaction in my mouth when i tasted what the belly of the fish was stuffed with..... mmmmm!

i love my neighbors.