Getting ethnic

One of the best benefits of living in a city (as opposed to a cave, where I grew up) is the opportunity to experience life and culture from the perspective of someone else.

That opportunity, combined with Saturday's amazing weather and a strong desire to avoid doing yard work led us to hit up the Ethnic Enrichment Festival at Swope Park.

It was a great time, and like I said, the weather couldn't have been better. I don't know if it's because of global climate change or what, but it's been incredibly unseasonably pleasant around here this year.

There were about a babillion booths at the festival, and I think we visited all of them.

Since we arrived in the late afternoon, one of the first orders of business was finding something to eat. This isn't difficult in the least. Just pick out a booth and stand in line for a few minutes. I chose to stick with my own Scotch-Irish heritage and dine on some bangers and mash from the Scottish booth (unfortunately, they weren't giving out any Scotch whisky, dammit).

We had dessert pastries from the Scandinavian tent. The powdered sugar dusted pancake balls were a big hit, as were the various fruit Danishes we sampled. Of course, later in the evening I treated myself to a mystery meat skewer and an ice-cold coconut from the Thailand pavilion.

But most of our time was spent waiting in line at the Pakistan booth where a talented artist was offering Henna tattoos for a small fee.

Our six-year-old daughter was determined to wait as long as it took to get one on her hand. Seriously. We waited a looong time.

I distracted myself briefly with trip to the privies and a brief stop to watch a group of Slovenian (I think) musicians perform some traditional tunes.

It was well after dark when we left. And although I felt culturally enriched, the food and the clutch full of trinkets left my wallet a bit lighter. But I think we got our money's worth.

tagged: henna, Pakistan, Kansas City, Ethnic Enrichment Festival, family, food