Eddie eats something Indian

When the tour guide says, “Will you help me with something?” you should always ask “what” before agreeing.

Southerners are naturally helpful, though, and often answer before we think.

So when this question was asked of Eddie and he agreed, it was a fleeting look of panic on his face when he said, “I’ll be right back.”

When the next thing he said was, “Do you watch Fear Factor on Television?” the look came back.

In his hand was a leaf with something on it. We were never sure what it was, exactly, except he assured him that it wouldn’t hurt him. Apparently in India it’s not uncommon to chew on these leaves with this stuff in it (it apparently tastes something along the lines of leaves with a faint lime flavor) as a way to cool you down.

It turns your saliva red, and you don’t swallow it, you spit it out.

Now, given that there’s a $500 fine for spitting, this could have been something of a quandary. Fortunately, there was a street drainage grate there just made for spitting, and our guide had a bottle of water handy for rinsing.

So Eddie was a good sport about it. He chewed and chewed, then he spit so we all could see, and he did it all with a smile on his face.

And we got it on video.