{"id":26923,"date":"2026-01-19T14:29:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=26923"},"modified":"2026-01-19T14:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:29:28","slug":"the-foreign-neighbors-gave-me-this-and-wished-me-a-pleasant-appetite-but-its-something-hard-and-not-at-all-like-food-more-like-an-egg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=26923","title":{"rendered":"The foreign neighbors gave me this and wished me a pleasant appetite: but it\u2019s something hard and not at all like food, more like an egg"},"content":{"rendered":"

The foreign neighbors gave me this and wished me a pleasant appetite: but it\u2019s something hard and not at all like food, more like an egg \ud83d\ude31\ud83e\udd14<\/p>\n

At first, I was even scared.<\/p>\n

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The neighbors are foreigners; we hardly communicate, we just greet each other in the elevator. And then one evening, there\u2019s a knock at the door. They\u2019re standing there, smiling, handing me a bag and saying in Russian with an accent:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Enjoy your meal!<\/p>\n

I look inside \u2014 and there it is\u2026 this. Dark, hard, strange things, as if from a museum or a dinosaur movie. They don\u2019t look edible at all. In my hands they\u2019re cold, like stones. I even smelled them \u2014 almost no scent.<\/p>\n

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\u2014 Is this\u2026 food? \u2014 I asked cautiously.<\/p>\n

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They nodded, smiling even wider, and left.<\/p>\n

I stood in the kitchen for a long time with that bag. Thoughts were spinning in my head: \u201cWhat if this isn\u2019t meant to be eaten at all? What if it\u2019s a joke? What if I\u2019m missing something very important?\u201d Putting it in the fridge felt scary; throwing it away felt awkward.<\/p>\n

In the end, I went online. I searched by photos, by description, by shape. And when I finally found it, I couldn\u2019t believe my eyes. \ud83d\ude31\ud83d\ude28 I shared the details in the first comment \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47 Have you ever seen anything like this before?<\/p>\n

It turned out to be a water chestnut.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s eaten. You peel it, boil it, and eat it raw as well. In some countries it\u2019s a common food, almost a delicacy. I had simply never seen anything like it in my life.<\/p>\n

The next day I met the neighbors and told them I had figured out what it was. They were happy, started explaining something quickly, showing with gestures how to peel it and eat it.<\/p>\n

And I caught myself thinking how strange the world is: for some people it\u2019s a frightening, incomprehensible thing, and for others it\u2019s simply \u201cenjoy your meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The foreign neighbors gave me this and wished me a pleasant appetite: but it\u2019s something hard and not at all like food, more like an egg \ud83d\ude31\ud83e\udd14 At first, I was even scared. The neighbors are foreigners; we hardly communicate, we just greet each other in the elevator. And then one evening, there\u2019s a knock…<\/p>\n

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