Tommy patiently and good naturedly takes our orders. Some are having Chinese, others western fare, primarily any of the half dozen or so varieties of burgers served here. And they are excellent, huge, well stacked and with whole wheat buns. The cheese could be cheddar, Swiss, Blue or Brie, or Parmesan, or mix any two three or four varieties if you want. I am settling for a veggie burger with blue and Brie cheeses, in abundance, and an extra portion of hand cut oven-baked fries. I can't say that I'm especially hungry, but staying with these people has really summoned forth my inner glutton. Tristan who is seated on my left, has opted for a burger with cheddar and a large coke. Carl has been threatening to order beer, but cannot get around our collective disapprobation. So, he settles for iced tea. Jenn and Sarah are sharing platters of Chinese food with George, Jeffery, Matthew and François. Jesús is tucking into a BLT with fries. Carl is sharing his veggie burger and fries with Sarah in exchange for chow mein and sweet and sour pork, which she can't eat, being vegetarian. Aaron is savouring a veggie burger with some variety of cheese and fries.
"The food here is just incredible", says Sarah between mouthfuls.
"We used to sneak here every chance we could get", says George, "When we were at the monastery."
"What?" says Jenn, "Were you guys forbidden to come here?"
"Generally, it was frowned upon", says Jeffrey, while balancing a large portion of Chinese cabbage with his chopsticks.
"They didn't want you guys getting corrupted by the godless world?" says Carl, smiling.
"Something like that", he replies. "Actually, they didn't want anyone in the outside world to find out anything that was really going on behind closed monastery doors."
"What was going on there?" says Glen.
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