Citizen of Everywhere. : Tibet

Last night, I went to Tibet with Mike and Alejandro. Okay not really, it was more like a Tibetan restaurant at the Indoor Stadium nearby to where we live. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into but it turned out to be quite the experience. First of all we were greeted by a traditionally dressed Tibetan male dancer who had hair like Fabio. He enthusiastically ushered us inside and dawned us all with a traditional white Tibetan shawl. The restaurant was pretty crowded with many tables and colorful decorations all over the place. Our menu was given to us on an iPad. We had no idea what to order and just selected two different types of meat: lamb rack ribs and yak steak. I thought Yaks were an extinct species. What, you say? I'm confusing it with Mammoths? Well don't they look similar?! Anyways, I asked the boys if there was a possibility of ordering vegetables since our meal was looking pretty "man-ish" with just meat and rice but Mike said the Tibetans are't really big fans of vegetables. So meat and rice it was. Alejandro and I were so excited that we were able to apply today's Chinese lesson and order "3 bowls of rice" that we even had to "high-five" afterwards (to Mike's amusement). The Chinese typically have dinner early around 6pm or 7pm…so by the time that we arrived (8:30pm) it seemed like most people were done eating and getting prepared to enjoy the show. Yes that's right, this restaurant had a stage. First, the MC sang a traditional Tibetan song. Next, beautifully costumed Tibetan girls danced. And finally, the MC grabbed lucky (or not so lucky) members for the audience to participate in a group dance on stage. Naturally, I ditched the meat mid-meal and went on the stage to join. The first dance was going around in a circle and extending your arm every 4th step. The dancer in front of me sometimes mixed it up and and extended her arm in a quick 2-step motion. She always turned behind to look at me and when I copied her exact motion she laughed and then said something in rapid Chinese to the other dancers. I'm still not quite sure if that was good or bad. Perhaps she was saying to the others "ha ha it's only one arm extend, but I can make the dumb foreign girl behind believe it's two!" Afterwards there was one dance to go which was a Tibetan Can-Can. I have to say, that one I could definitely do right and the dancer girl seemed to approve as well. In the end, we did pay more than we expected to what I felt was a minimum meal…perhaps we managed to the house's most special dishes. But hey, it was an experience and now I wish I could go and visit the real Tibet.