Durian

I had never heard of durian before studying here at GIAL. When I was here 3.5 years ago everyone who had worked in Malaysia, Indonesia, and some other Asian areas regularly debated the merits of this particular fruit. I was amused by the fact that everyone who had tried it seemed to have such fiercely held opinions about it and loved to either defend it, or denounce it. Any debate about durian regularly would reference its pungent aroma: per the Wikipedia article about durian "Some people regard the durian as having a pleasantly sweet fragrance; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting." *

My grammar professor worked in Malaysia for many years and loves durian, as does one of the students who works in the Philippines, and another student who is from Japan. So, it was decided that we would have a class trip to the quad outside of the main school building at the end of class. The point of this class trip was for everyone to try this exotic fruit.

It was fascinating to watch the process of opening a durian, I had never seen a fruit like this before.

I now have first-hand knowledge that there is a unique potency to durian's odor. Most importantly however, I now have tasted it and have an opinion on this fruit that evokes such strong feelings in others.

As a famous meerkat once said "slimy, yet satisfying." I will add that I wanted to be someone who could like durian, so I was trying hard to like it. I am not at all sad that there is no durian in Tanzania.

Wikipedia: Durian