MaryLee Day is the host mom of Daniel Ishaya of Gombe State, Nigeria. They live in Grundy Center, Iowa, and Daniel attends Grundy Center High School.

It was a rainy dreary day, and I just didn’t feel like cooking after a long day at school. I had been told that most of the students from Nigeria and Tanzania didn’t like pizza, and I knew first hand that my exchange son didn’t like our dairy products, but fatigue won out over my sympathy for his taste buds — I took the family for pizza.

I did, however, order a supreme with thin and crispy crust, knowing that Daniel likes vegetables and that it would have less cheese.

When the pizza arrived at our table Daniel just looked at it. Then, with a confused look on his face, he pointed at a mushroom and asked, “What is that?”

“A mushroom,” I replied.

The look on his face was priceless. It was a mixture of disgust, surprise and awe. To add to the effect, he even slightly cocked his head in disbelief. Laughing, I assured him it wouldn’t kill him (while at the same time, my daughter assured him it would).

After this little exchange we prayed whereupon saying, “Amen,” Daniel muttered under his breath, “And Lord help me to eat this.”

We all cracked up and being the good sport that he is, Daniel did eat it and decided that he does indeed like pizza. We have a picture to prove it.

I am actually writing this from the town the Des Moines Register article mentions, Grundy Center, Iowa, a town of 2,531 who has seen 13 presidential campaign visits for the ‘08 election. The part of the article that caught my eye however, were the quotes from Republican residents saying they would vote for Obama. Consdier Grundy Center resident Shelly Westerman who voted for Bush in 2004, but will vote for Obama after hearing him speak in Grundy.

“He seems real genuine and sincere. He’s a very gentle person. I’ve got a friend who saw him and is doing the same thing.”

Consider another quote from the Register article:

Slug Kosterboer, 81, looked up over his newspaper at the barbershop and simply said he was “fed up.” The war and the economy had him down, and he was now willing to listen to a Democrat.

This is one of my main reasons for supporting Obama; he is Democratic candidate most likely (certainly not Hillary) to get moderates and Republicans to consider switching sides. I am fed up with partisan bickering, we need a president who will be able to unite the country, not  further divide it, we need Barack Obama.

A can’t miss exit emerges in race: Grundy Center – [Des Moines Register]