Little Inklings 2023

5 Across the globe, the sun began to droop below the horizon as the long, dragging day had finally come to a close. All around the world, events had occurred. Wars had been fought. People lost loved ones. But one thing all those people had in common, was that they all gathered around together at the end of their day and enjoyed a meal. In the bustling city of Tel Aviv, Israel, a small family of three crowded togeth- er in their familiar, cozy apartment. The windows overlooked the busy streets of the city lined with dark silhouettes of palm trees that showed through the dimly lit sun sinking into the Mediterranean Sea. The family helped themselves to a plate of grilled chicken and falafel made from ingredients sourced from the local family-owned, kosher market down the street as they chatted contently. In a small, desert village in the West Bank of Palestine, a colossal family joined each other outside of their home and treated themselves to a feast after fasting for the whole day during the month of Ra- madan. They enjoyed a spread of olives, stuffed grape leaves, pita, and a selection of hummus and baba ganoush made ear- lier that day. Thoughts of cheerfulness lingered through the air as the children played in the bushes behind the house while parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles shared a laugh at the end of a long, exhausting day in the village. In a quiet, sleepy town in Ukraine, sur- rounded by sunflower fields, another family had a home-cooked meal around a tattered, wooden table with a white and blue checkered tablecloth draped upon it. They enjoyed a bowl of borscht topped with a heaping spoonful of sour cream and munched on some sunflower seeds they picked earlier that morning in the fields. As the family discussedwhat they had done that day, the familiar fra- grances of dill and beets that came from the pot of borscht on the stovetop wafted through their window and out into the darkness of the night. Just outside of the urban city of Mos- cow, Russia, a family of four in an old So- viet, cinder block apartment assembled around their kitchen table while noshing on a warm, buttery bowl of freshly folded pelmeni. The parents blathered on about the busyness at work while the two kids fought over the last dumpling. The chatter and warmth of the discussion at the table drowned out all bad things in life, and to the family eating their dinner, the only thing that mattered at that moment was in that small, dimly lit room that to the outside world, looked like an insignificant speck of yellow light through the window. From Israel to Palestine, to Ukraine, to Russia, all of these families enjoyed some- thing that could be enjoyed by all humans from all walks of life. And all those fami- lies in different corners of the world would perform the same ritual the next night, and the next. TULA THOMPSON ’29 A MEAL SHARED AROUND THE WORLD By: Eli Tomasetti ’27