The fruit from hell

So this season not only brings an increase in rain here in Cambodia, but also an increase in the harvest of a popular fruit called durian. Almost every Cambodian I've ever met loves it, while most foreigners seem to avoid it like the plague. Durian is a large fruit that grows on a tree. It is kind of a dark, dirty green color on the outside and has spikes all over it (which should be a warning to anyone wanting to try it...or at least a foreboding sign of things to come!). The inside, once you get past the spikes and the tough shell, is a light yellow color with the consistency of a thick sticky goo when you bite into it. It also has a unique, vomit-inducing smell. Lucky for us, they are selling it everywhere right now so we can't go anywhere without getting a good whiff of it as we ride by!

Usually I can avoid durian or at least weasel myself out of any situation in which I might have to eat it. Unfortuately, I was not so successful at this the other day. Jes and I went to visit the family of one of my friends. They had made a special dessert. A durian sauce over sticky rice...which is actually a fabulously delicious treat with any other fruit. They also had fresh durian for us to eat. In their minds they were giving us a real delicacy. So there we were, caught between our survival instincts and our cultural sensitivity! What a bind! So I managed to down the durian sticky rice, but when I ventured to taste the fresh durian it was all over. Luckily, Jes began talking to them right as I gagged, deflecting the attention of the group at a critical moment. So just a warning to all of you potential travelers...Beware of the durian devil fruit!