It’s something tough and more like an egg than food, but my foreign neighbors gave it to me and wished me a nice appetite 
I was originally even terrified.
The neighbors are foreigners, and we only say hi to one another in the elevator. Then one evening the door is knocked on. They’re speaking in Russian with an accent, smiling, and handing me a bag:
Enjoy your food!
This is what I see when I look within. Dark, rough, strange things that seemed like they belonged in a museum or a dinosaur movie. They don’t seem to be edible. They feel as cold as stones in my hands. Even when I smelled them, there was scarcely any smell.
— Is this food? I asked warily.
They nodded and smiled even more before leaving.
I stood in the kitchen with the bag for a long time. My mind was racing with ideas: “What if this isn’t even supposed to be eaten? Is it a joke? What if I’m missing anything important? It seemed weird to throw it out and scary to put it in the refrigerator.
Ultimately, I went online. I looked for photographs, descriptions, and shapes. And when I finally found it, I was amazed by what I saw.Have you previously witnessed anything similar?
Have you previously witnessed anything similar?It turned out to be a water chestnut.
It is consumed. You boil it, peel it, and eat it uncooked. In many countries, it is practically regarded as a delicacy. I had never seen anything like it in my life.
The next day, I went to see the neighbors and told them what I had found. With pleasure, they began to quickly explain something, using gestures to demonstrate how to eat and peel it.
And that made me think how bizarre the world is—for some, it’s a scary, inexplicable thing, while for others, it’s just “enjoy your meal.”
