Stories of my new neighborhood (1 of 4): Meat.

I was at that one store in my new neighborhood, which is run by Mexicans and has a ton of international food products, and was looking for a cheap piece of bacon or pork fat to use in a black beans recipe I have (I've been experimenting with beans-and-rice recipes lately, and finally have the right combo of veggies, and now I want to try adding meet).

I asked the Mexican at the meat counter if they had any, and he said no, they didn't carry any pork, and though I know that they were halal (sp?), I didn't know that that meant no pork at all for other customers, since, after all, they had pre-packaged pork in the deli fridge.

Then, when I was at the deli fridge, I heard the one Mexican laugh and say something about "el Americano" to his friend who had come out of the back, and that guy laughed, so I looked up and caught his eye, and he looked sheepish. I bet he was talking about how the American dude asked for pork at the deli, or something like that.