It is the eve of Yom Kippur and I'm eating in the outdoor dining area. I ask the waiter, who is probably Greek, about the moussaka special. He says they're all out but they have a "wheel" stew.
The charade begins.
"What is wheel?" I ask
"You know 'beef,' 'chicken,' 'wheel.'
"lamb?" I ask.
"no, 'wheel.'"
He puts his index fingers up to the side of his head to indicate horns.
"'Deer?' 'goat?' 'wildebeest?'
"no, 'wheel."
The owner's daughter is nearby and I motion for her to come over.
She doesn't know what 'wheel' is either.
Finally, the waiter says that he just looked it up in the dictionary:
"v...e...a...l. You know, 'wheel.'"
Mystery solved. I order the seafood.
In the middle of the night I wake up with a sore throat and runny nose. I am about to get flattened by a cold.
