Luck o' the Irish

Although I haven't yet felt very homesick during my time down here in Colombia, this time of year seems to be bringing it on.  In Chicago, the weather is just starting to warm up and it makes you want to enjoy the time out side again: reading a book on the patio, grabbing a cold beer after work with the roommates and even running or biking along the Lakefront.  And there is no better feeling than that first afternoon you realize you no longer need a coat.  Blissful.  While I do not miss winter I am really missing spring.  Sure, Cali is pretty much eternal summer, offering plenty of time outside and poolside, and I get the springtime rain twice a year, but its not even close to being the same.  The other thing that always makes this time of year so great is St. Patrick's Day; I may only be 1/8 Irish (I think), but everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's day, and luckily I still got to celebrate this year.  There may not have been a parade or dying the river green, but we made the best of it.

With a little persuasion from Sam, Kelsi and Kristin decided to have some people over to celebrate Saturday night.  I had been hoping someone would have a get together as all of my Pinning gave me some great St. Patrick's Day themed foods and recipes to try.  After spending the morning and afternoon baking and putting some things together, the girls headed to San Fernando to work on some crafty St. Patrick's Day shirts.  "Bésame, soy Iralandésa" was a favorite amongst the group.  I learned that my T-shirt making skills are not what they used to be, but I managed.  With my rainbow cupcake in hand it was time for the photo op.  Of course all I could think of was Muffins!, an oldie but a goodie. 



These cupcakes were more about looks than taste if you ask me; I didn't love the taste and texture, but everyone seemed to enjoy them.  I adapted the recipe from Our Best Bites:



I might have overfilled some...



1 white cake mix

2 eggs

1 C low fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 C milk

1/3 C sugar free applesauce



Pot o' gold

 

They looked pretty darn cool inside.

So they may not have been my favorite tasting, but they were at least healthier than usual and looked pretty awesome.  I was on the hunt for a better for you frosting too.  Most recipes usually call for butter and 5-6 cups of powdered sugar.  Delicious?  Usually.  Healthy?  Not even close.  So when I found this recipe on the same site, I decided to give it a try.  I'll admit, I was a bit very skeptical as I started to cook up milk and flour mush, but in the end it turned out pretty good.  Still a decent amount of butter, but far less sugar.  I would like to try this again, but with a fit of flavoring of some sort, I think it could really use a little something more. 

 

I also threw together rainbow fruit plates.  Yummy!

Kristin and Kelsi made grasshopper drink which were fabulous.  It was like drinking a Thin Mint cookie.  Mmmmmmm.  There was guacamole, Spanish tortilla with green eggs and a Oreo peanut butter green ice cream cake from Sam.  We had quite the spread.  When the boys finally decided to show up, we watched some college basketball, took some more pictures and then when on the hunt for a bar with Guinness.  The bar we were counting on, Talbert's (which I always thought was Talbot's) turned out to be closed.  Bourbon Street which was across the way had Guinness, but was also packed with people.  And students.  And that's just awkward for everyone.  We tried Hooters, but it was a no go, so we finally settled on the Beer Lounge, which didn't have Guinness (like their menu says), but they did have Murphy's Irish Red which I tried for the first time.  Didn't love it. 

The night was more tranquilo than most St. Patrick's days I have had, but I was perfectly OK with it.  It was nice to have a relaxing night where we could enjoy some crafts and food and the company of friends without the massive crowds that I normally deal with during such celebrations. 

 

Where Does One Find an Ewok?

As you may have read on my To-Do List, I've been wanting to watch the Star Wars movies.  Given that I am 25 and have NEVER seen one the whole way through, I found it necessary.  I have a distinct memory of one of the movies being played when we were visiting my aunt and uncle in Vegas when I was in grade school, but I'm pretty sure at the time I thought it was lame and either fell asleep or went outside.  Who knows.  Nevertheless, clearly I have grown up and can now appreciate some of the finer things in life. 

When my mom saw this on my list, she tried to help by buying the complete set for Christmas.  Unfortunately, it was the Blu Ray set and as it turns out, the DVD set is nowhere to be found.  Bah humbug.  Luckily, ever since we got our Wii at Christmas David has become very technologically savvy and errr, ummm..."found" all six movies for me!  In the last week we have finished episodes 4-6, those are the ones that came out in '77, '80 and '83.  Half way there!  Here are my thoughts so far:

Ewok!

• As predicted by David, episode VI was my favorite for one simple reason: Ewoks.  Have you seen these little guys?!  How cute are they?!  I couldn't stop laughing and giggling at there little antics and saying "I want one!".  I'm pretty sure any respectable Star Wars fan has now stopped reading.  So be it.  They are damn cute and I want one.  Mom if your reading, this year's Christmas list has "Ewok" on it.  Good luck.
• I would have fallen in love with Harrison Ford sooner if I had watched Star Wars.  Han Solo > Indiana Jones?  Close call. 
• Jabba the Hutt is  d i s g u s t i n g.
• In case you have lived in a hole since 1977, be warned the following bullet points contain spoilers.

I wish I didn't already know...

• Leia and Luke kiss AND they are brother and sister.  Also, why does no one point that out in the movie!?  I mean c'mon Han, don't act like that wasn't the first thing that came to your head!
• "Luuuuke (heavy breathing) I am your father"
• The Emperor and Darth Vader die.  Expected yes, but still spoils the intensity of the scene.
• The cute little kid I saw in the previews for episodes 1/2/3 turns into Darth Vader

because I kept asking "Is this the one where...", "When do we find out..." instead of just enjoying the movies.  My bad. 

OK, some real thoughts:

• Intricate plot and story line, but some of the lines and scenes I couldn't take seriously.  Young Luke could have used some acting classes if you ask me.  (Ensue hateful blog comments)
• Special effects came a long way in just 6 years, and MUCH further since then.
• All of the languages confuse me. C3PO translates for Jabba to the bounty hunter, but talks to both of them in English. And Han talks to Chewbaca in English, but understands his garbles. So does everyone understand English, but not everyone can speak it?  I need to do some research.
• I am eagerly awaiting the next time we have a free night to watch the next episode.

More Star Wars insights to come as we watch the last first last three episodes.  Can't wait to scratch it off my list!

 

Pinterest, I Think I Love You

I know a lot of people have a lot of complaints about this new social media, but I don't care.  I have tried so many new things in the last few weeks and I have loved every minute of it.  Here are some things I have made from recipes I found on Pinterest:

Sugar Free Homemade Apple Sauce

http://whippedtheblog.com/2009/10/25/applesauce-simple-homemade-sugar-free/

I made this one mostly for baking, but its a great snack too.  Its nice to keep a store of it in the fridge so when I need it as an oil replacement I don't have to make a new batch every time.

Easy Mac & Cheese

http://www.macaroniandcheesecake.com/2011/09/revolutionary-mac-cheese.html

Not to be confused with "Easy Mac", gross.  I came home from work and saw this recipe pop up, realized I had everything I needed and immediately made my way to the kitchen to whip it up for dinner.  The trick is cooking your noodles in milk.  You don't have to drain it and the milk serves as the base for the cheese sauce.  Genius.  This does require serious pot baby sitting and the milk will boil over if you aren't careful.  And if you don't learn our lesson the first time it will boil over 2-3 more times.  Oops. 

I used Monterrey Jack cheese because it was what he had already.  After cooking the noodles, I put it in a pan and topped it with some freshly sliced tomatoes and baked it for about 10-15 minutes.  While the blog suggests it as a side dish, I enjoy Mac & Cheese all on its own, and I definitely don't think this made 4 servings, so next time I'll be making more.  Also, its great leftover. 

Spicy Crab Stuffed Cucumbers

http://domesticfits.blog.com/2011/07/07/cucumber-cups-stuffed-with-spicy-crab/

I made this when we had people over for David's birthday.  I wasn't in love, but everyone seemed to really enjoy them.  While Colombia has a wide variety of canned fish (squid, salmon, oysters, cuttlefish among others) crab isn't one of them.  I used frozen crab sticks.  I think I would have enjoyed them more.  Still call this one a success though.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

http://www.soveryblessed.com/2012/02/quinoa-pizza-bites.html

I didn't use any onions, but did throw in a couple dashes of onion powder.  No fresh basil either.  I made some with pepperoni and some with mushroom, both delicious.  I didn't have mini muffin pans so I used regular sized ones; they fell apart a bit more, so I would highly recommend the mini pans if you have them.

And last, but certainly not least...

Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal

http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/personal-sized-baked-oatmeal-with-individual-toppings-gluten-free-diabetic-friendly/

These are a new favorite in our apartment.  I have made them 3 or 4 times now and David even offered to make them this weekend because he wanted them so bad!  This is also the original reason I made that homemade applesauce.  I've probably made the most edits to this recipe, so here's what I used:

 

2 eggs

2 cups sugar free applesauce

5 cups rolled oats

1 over ripened banana, mashed

2 cups milk

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

You know that 1 or 2 bananas that always gets left uneaten at the end of the week and starts to turn gross and brown?  Instead of throwing it out, put it in the freezer.  These bananas are great for baking and if you have enough you can make some yummy banana bread too.  I used less milk because mine just seemed a bit too moist.  As for the flaxseed in the original recipe?  Yeah right, like I'm going to go on the hunt for that here.  I just left it out and it seems to work just fine.  I also learned my lesson the first two times with the cupcake liners: NOT worth it.  It's a waste of liners and they stick to the oatmeal; we've eaten a lot of paper with our oatmeal. 

I usually make a 3-4 different varieties with each batch.  Some include: banana and peanut butter for David, banana topped with a bit of brown sugar, apple cinnamon, strawberry and chocolate chip.  We keep them in the fridge and can grab 1 or 2 for a breakfast on the way to school, or a small snack when we need something to tie us over.  If you like oatmeal, you HAVE to try these.  Huge success.

BINGO! Casí...

Remember when I shared with you that my name in Spanish is pretty much the same as the word for "almost"?  The more and more I think about it, I have to say, my mom did a pretty good job naming me, at least if she was the Spanish dictionary as a guide.  While I wouldn't say my life is full of "almosts", the word seems appropriate in plenty of situations.  Like the time I almost won a huge Bingo prize at Bolivar Day at school.

Bolivar is a huge celebration at school with many food vendors and whats turns out to me a small amusement park for the kids.  There is music and dancers among other things, but the highlight (for most adults at least) is the intense Bingo game.  I'm not kidding, the Bingo ladies from Annunciata were put to shame.  The outdoor cafeteria was packed to the brim with those ready to win.  Bingo cards were sold for $10.000 each and got you 4 rounds, with 8 games total.  Each round included a letter to be completed (L,X,C and U) followed by a full card or carta blanca.  Now, I never win anything.  I mean anything, so I wasn't getting my hopes up and wasn't too confident that my two cards would get me very far.  The first and second rounds were a bust, but the third round brought me some luck.  The "C" prize had already been claimed, but my card was pretty full until I was down to the O 67 that had been haunting me all afternoon.  I squealed "one more!" when Kristin noticed that Kelsi and I both needed that troublesome O 67.  In other words, if it was called we would have to fight to the death for the prize as they only allow one winner, kind of like the Hunger Games.  Sure enough O 67 was pulled and we danced our way to the front to have our cards read, both convinced we had a number wrong as we didn't double check our card, ad sesentas and setentas can be easily confused.  We both had legitimate BINGOs and so to break the tie, the Bingo guy pulled one more ball from the numbers left for each of us; whoever had the higher number would be the sole winner.  I quickly looked at the numbers not yet lit up on the board: most of O was gone, with the highest number left being 70.  Of course, the number he pulled for Kelsi was 70 so I didn't stand a chance.  He pulled another anyway for show and I think it was 48, but I hardly bothered to listen. 

Teachers playing Bingo at Bolivar Day!

A full card Bingo and I got nada.  Kelsi's prize included highlights of a new watch, shirt, bathing suit, a partially paid cruise for one, in addition to some dental work and laser hair removal and a bag of Colombian candy.  Now while the watch and clothing may have been the only things I probably would have wanted, its the principle of the matter; I almost won.  Kelsi offered up the hair removal and dental work too, but it just wasn't the same.  It didn't really belong to me.  I may have considered that cruise for one.  Who am I kidding, I'm not bold enough for that.  Casí, Cassie, casí.  Maybe next year.  Looking forward to Bolivar Bingo 2013.

Quien lo Vive, es Quien lo Goza: Carnaval de Barranquilla

I couldn't have said it better myself Barranquilla.  Translated as "Who lives it, is who enjoys it," this serves as the slogan mantra for Carnaval de Barranquilla and seems to fit just about perfectly.  Every year Barranquilla hosts one of the world's oldest and largest celebrations to kick off the Lenten season, starting four days before Ash Wednesday.  We got lucky this year since because 1. we had a three day weekend the same time as carnaval and 2. we are friends with Kristin & Kelsi.  While I had absolutely no idea that Barranquilla had a very large and very popular carnival every year, Kelsi & Kristin have been trying to go for the last two years that they have been in Colombia.  Learning from past experience, they got on top of things in September with booking flights and hotel and were gracious enough to invite everyone else to join in the fun; we ended up having a group of 10 in total. 

 

Colorful and fun shoes I wanted to buy.
Unfortunately 8 is not a common size.

After what seemed to be an endless day of teaching, we flew out from Cali at 7pm on Thursday and spent our first night walking around close to our hotel before calling it a night.  Friday called for some very necessary poolside time and reading before we made our way out in search of some costume wear for the parade on Saturday.  There was plenty to choose from with so many traditional parade costumes, like the Marimonda: a long nosed, floppy earred, bright vest and suspender wearing character.  This is typically the most popular since it is unique to Barranquilla.  There was street after street of costumes, it was a bit overwhelming.  In the end, most of us decided on crazy neon shirts cut and retied so be extra obnoxious.  Needless to say, this was a great addition to my hot pink shorts I was sure to pack.

Traditional carnaval costumes turned into purses!



Jeep decked out as a Marimonda

Friday night after dinner we found ourselves a cumbia (pronounced (kūm'bē-ə not kum-ba-ya as my brain seems to always revert to.  Embarrassing.) concert in a very large open field; yeah, I judged it too when I first realized I was standing in a big open field, but it was actually a lot of fun.  We eventually made it to the very front near the stage, which I thought would be a nightmare, but as it turns out, Colombians are pretty tranquilo; there was no pushing or fighting for space, everyone was simply there to live it, enjoy it and have a good time.  The cumbia music was practically non-stop the entire night; the shrill sound of the flute takes some getting used to, but the music is really quite beautiful and one can't help but move to the rhythmic beats.  Here is a clip of some of the music, not the best quality, but its all I have to offer.

When Saturday morning rolled around, it was time to prep for the big parade, the Batalla de las Flores (Battle of the Flowers).  After breakfast, we gathered our things and eventually the girls left without the boys as they had things to attend to.  Later we learned they had made shirts with their picture on them and couldn't pick them up until 11.  After about a 15-20 minute walk we made it to the line to go through security into the parade area.  After waiting and walking in the sun, I got a little sass when some women tried to cut us in line somethings along the lines of "Hay una fila.  El fin es por alla" (dramatic point).  As you can imagine that got little reaction and then I decided to give up on being frustrated, which is good considering how much more difficult getting to our mini-palco seats would be. 

Although the carnaval is a massive event that practically shuts the entire city down, it was difficult to find anyone who could actually tell us where our seats were located, since obviously the cross streets on the tickets were inaccurate.  Of course.  After wandering down countless crowded streets I selflessly offered to the group "I have no problem if we start telling people I can't walk and we need to get to our seats ASAP".  This is because I was sporting a lovely hinged knee brace due to a very special fall during my volcano hike which may have left me with a torn MCL.  I digress.  So we started telling police officers a parade people I couldn't walk and they had to take us to our seats NOW.  Didn't really work.  Eventually we did find a very large, very helpful military man, who delegated to a significantly smaller badged security officer who escorted us to our seats.  This resulted in a gringa parade for all those already in their seats as we walked the parade route to minipalcos 46 & 47.  Por fin.  And then about 10 minutes later the boys joined, who ALSO had to have an escort because no one could tell them how to get to the seats either.  Go figure. 

Once the parade started, nothing else mattered; it was full of entertaining dances and music, extravagant costumes with absolutely gorgeous colors and patterns.  Not to mention that all of this went on for five hours.   Marathon parade.  I could continue my attempts at describing the event, but I think pictures do a better job in this case.

The sanitation men of Barranquilla, one of the best performances!

What a costume!

Creepy/Crazy/Cool

Two of the more traditional Carnaval costumes

Lots of people dressed as animals and/or warriors

Plenty of extravagant floats as well.

After we lost some friends to the parade (not casualties, they jumped in) we made our way back to the hotel and then found a sushi/pizza restaurant.  I'm sorry, I meant heaven.  My too favorite foods in one convenient location?  I think I love you Barranquilla.  After cleaning up, some of use headed to a a street party, but I didn't last long.  The day had taken its toll and I was definitely ready for some sleep.  Sunday we had an afternoon flight and therefore would miss the parades and activities for the day, so we spent the morning doing more street browsing and shopping.  I left Barranquilla with a new Wayuu handcrafted mochila, three art pieces for our apartment, a beaded necklace, a woven compact mirror turned earring holder, some sunglasses and of course my fancy carnaval t-shirt and bow. 

Typical artisan stand

Of course a great weekend can never just be great, we ended up with a 2 hour delayed flight in Barranquilla that led to us missing our connecting flight in Bogota by about 2 minutes, which meant we didn't get home until 1 am Sunday night, and had to teach the next morning.  Woof.  Regardless, it was a great weekend and there is definitely talk of going back next year.

Congested in Colombia

In case you have been wondering why I sound so nasally, here's why.  I just took a little trip to the grocery store down the street in search of some cold medicine to combat this ridiculous congestion that overcame me yesterday.  There was plenty to choose from in various forms.  Luckily I happened to check the label of one product quickly and noticed it had fenilefrina, or phenylephrine, in it as the active ingredient for decongestion.  Unfortunately, I found out the hard way in college that I have seriously unpleasant reactions to this drug in the form of continuous vomiting for about 2-3 hours after taking whatever medication its in.  TMI?  Sorry.  Needless to say I quickly put this back on the shelf and grabbed another.  And then another.  And then another.  Ultimately realizing that they ALL had fenilefrina in them.  Off to the pharmacy counter I go.  I successfully informed the man behind the counter of my allergy and asked if he had something else without phenylephrine, but with the same cold-fighting benefits.  Drawer after drawer of search and he found that everything he had also contained the drug.  I checked the OTC aisle one more time and finally accepted I would be stuffed up for the rest of the night, and grabbed some extra Vitamin C tablets instead.

On the walk home, I realized I could check with the pharmacy at the hospital tomorrow after I have my appointment to check on the status of my knee.  Hopefully this cold wouldn't get too much worse before then.  When I got home I decided to do a little research, like how to say psuedoephrine in Spanish, as this is the decongestant I normally take.  In the US, this has to be purchased from the pharmacy directly since its used in large doses to make meth.  Somehow in my search I came across this article http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-5824648 outlining how psuedoephrine sales have been banned in Colombia for the same reasons that you need to get it from the pharmacist in the US.  I wasn't going to get decongested anytime soon.

This then led to a search of "natural home remedies for nasal congestion" because this its just too miserable to not try to fight.  Looks like I have 10 or more jumping jacks to do and some hot sauce or mint gum and maybe some gin soaked golden raisins (what!?) tonight.  Or maybe I'll keep the tissue close at hand. 

If you're coming to Colombia, PLEASE smuggle down some Sudafed with psuedoephrine, but keep in mind, I bare no responsibility if you are detained or accused of making meth.  That's a rick you'll have to be willing to make.

No Sé

Since returning from winter break, I have been trying to seriously rev up my Spanish studying so that I can stop sounding kind of like an idiot in my day to day interactions with non-English speakers.  I have started one-on-one Spanish lessons for an hour every week, 1.5 hours with  group at school (I actually skipped today, oops). in addition to my random studying of flashcards online and reading Spanish subtitles on movies and while David watches Mad Men.  I do have to say that I feel like I am improving past and future tense conversations no longer scare the bejeezus out of me (well, not as much) and my end of a conversation has a little more substance to it.  Unfortunately, I still have a very serious weak point: random conversation.  Understanding conversations in Spanish is a piece of cake when you have context; most science department meetings are a breeze because I have at least an idea of what conversations are going to be about.  Today I had one of those terrifying interactions with a stranger that leaves me feeling like well, a complete idiot. 

I was in Carrefour shopping for some goodies for David's birthday pool party this weekend when a man walking past me asks me a question.  I did happen to catch the word "donde" so he's obviously asking the location of something, but what?   My mind suddenly starts reeling with possible conversation topics in a grocery store.  Where are the apples? Where can I pay my bills?  I politely respond "como?" asking him to repeat it (as is still the norm with me) hoping that I can catch what he said the second time.  Dammit.  Nothing.  I have a rule about asking "como?" more than once:  I don't do it.  It's embarrassing and I want to at least feign comprehension (poor decision).  I try to work with what I got.  I think I caught a "crucero", but I have no idea how that will help me.  Well, we are in the mall, maybe he wants to know where another store is?  If that is the case I have no idea anyway.  After some awkward silence, I give up on trying to be helpful and revert to my "no sé" - "I don't know".  If someone told me they didn't know something, I'd say thanks anyway and walk away.  Not this guy.  He follows up with asking if the place is close - cerca - to where we are; at least I was right he was looking for a place.  Now I'm even more nervous and sweating, and still have no response but "no estoy seguro" - "I'm not sure".  I awkwardly start to walk away, having not even an inkling as to how to properly continue or end this conversation.  As I turn, the man smiles with a light laugh and points to his forehead, where on my own, I have a cross of ashes that I got at school today.  And suddenly I realized why he was looking at me like I was a complete moron; he had asked where I got my cenizas (ashes) or my cross and I told him I didn't know...  He asked if the place was close and I said I wasn't sure.  I deserved that look and that laugh.  I quickly made my way to the checkout line as a flurry of Spanish words and sentences sailed through my mind for all the things I do know how to say and should have responded, direct object pronouns and all.  I was close to going and finding the guy to prove I in fact did speak more Spanish that just "no sé".  But the damage was done.  Looks like I'll be practicing extra hard this week.  No sé.