New Food and Gambling

For those of you who know me well this post will come as a big shocker. Be assured that it is all true.

I have a budget of $41 a day for food. This means that I have been given more money than I can realistically spend since I don't drink heavily when alone. I went to a couple of Vietnamese places yesterday and today I decided to try Ethiopian food.

That's right I went to an Ethiopian restaurant! I had heard a lot of good things about Ethiopian food and decided that it would be interesting to try something new especially when you spend someone else's birr.

I had a vegetarian combination plate as recommended by my rather lovely server. I chose collard greens, a vegetable mix, a green lentils dish, a chick pea dish, and a red lentil wot (stew). All were served on injera (a flatbread). For those of you who haven't eaten Ethiopian, there is no cutlery but portions of the injera are torn off and used to scoop up the wot and larger foods.

After the initial surprise and the newness of the whole experience I jumped in. The food was very tasty and flavourful. The spices were unlike any I had ever tasted, but two hours later and I'm still soporific and quite sated.

After my meal I decided to hit the casino. Yesterday was a crazy day at the Casino Regina. Here's a breakdown:

1) Was up $40 in the first 10 races at the mechanical horses.
2) Lost that $40 and $20 of my own.
3) Played $2 roulette. I play a single chip on a single number and am bettting that my number will hit before my money runs out. I bought $60 worth of chips giving me 30 spins. I hit after about 20 spins and spent all but my original $60. Cashed out even.
4) Returned to horses and lost $10 in five spins.
5) As I was leaving the casino I noticed a $1 roulette table being run by a rather attractive croupier. I flirted in a way that only I can (quietly, mumbly, and badly) and bought in for $40.
6) My money on "23". There I sat for 38 spins. Nothin'.
7) On the last spin I put down my last two chips on "23" resigned to the cold fact that I would lose $70.
8) From where I was seated I couldn't see the wheel, but from where it looked to be dropping it was nowhere near my number. As I stood up the croupier declared, "red 23". Hot damn!
9) I cashed out quickly and broke out completely even. It felt as though I had won a fortune.

So today, I returned to $2 roulette same game plan. I started out on red 23. Spin 5 hit. I put my $50 investment back into my pocket and decided to play the remaining chips for a while. I switched to "0" about 12 spins later, hit. I cashed out $80 plus the $50 that was still in my pocket. I won $80 tonight. That should cover gas and my meals tomorrow.

So things are going well here. We are on schedule with the marking exams so I'll be done on Tuesday. I haven't decided if I'll stay an extra night or what, but I will wait and see.