Another Magic Thursday

These past two weeks have been a whirl-wind. Back to back conferences, blizzards, intense piles of work, job-hunting, work, did I mention work? Okay, but apart from the troubles of my imaginary celebrity life (jet-setting across the American Midwest has its tolls) I've found solace in the amount of embarrassing and awkward things I've managed to do in such short time.

Here's the short list:

• Falling down concrete stairs on the one day I decide its a good idea to wear boots with a heel. (not to worry, the face is ok.)
• After sharing a hotel room with 3 friends, I've discovered that I talk in my sleep. "So, what do you think of this painting?...." They'll be men lining the block for this one, now. I'm sure.
• Discovering that my unfailing love for Paula Dean is possibly in question after she made the claim that her cooking is not the reason of her newly developed type 2 diabetes. Oh Paula, you can't fry Krispie Kreams in lard and call that a light snack.
• Making a total fool of my self in Wal-Mart (what better place to make a total fool of one's self) when I confused one of my residents for their twin brother. Who randomly has a twin brother? I had quite a convincing argument though...they look exactly alike. But actually. And I had no idea this guy had a twin. After 5 months, how does this not come up in conversation?
• Professor in lecture asking: "Does anyone one know what the major crop in Uganda is?" Friends in class looking at me. My response: "We eat a lot of rice." as I eat my banana. Professor: "It's plantains, a type of banana.." Friends thinking: so she's not really Ugandan after all. Me: proceeds to finish rest of banana in shame.

But alas, things have managed to be quite magical as well.

• The blizzarding thing in Chicago, yeah the snow was pretty bad. But, it's so fluffy. 
• Deep-dish chicago pizza for the first time, good stuff.
• Teachers filling out recommendation BEFORE they're due. Can I get an amen!
• 3 weeks-1/2 a tank of gas. I'll let that speak for itself (we're in a recession folks)
• Red-Velvet Cake from Cake Man Raven's in Manhattan. My dear friend Tabs brought it back for me all the way from NY. I promise you, this guy invented cake.
• KOREN DRAMAS: can I just say...Wow, I'm hooked. You must see for your self. (If you do, watch Coffee Prince...I just started that one its great.) 

Cheers,

D

I'm Baaacck!

Well, I'm back in town and after about 2 weeks of lazing about my apartment and the streets of DC, I thought it was about time to put up some pictures and a post about the trip. Yay! (this is where the applause comes in.) I'm pretty sure people were starting to think that by "doing research in Guatemala," I was really just fooling around. Well, I was doing research, I promise. And only a little bit of fooling around. ...hehe!

If it means anything, I've thought long and hard about this post. What should I tell you about this trip? Should I tell you about the gas station ostrich we fed on our way into San Lucas Toliman (this is the town we stayed in by the way)? Should I tell you about the torrential down pour we got stuck in, resulting in us have to dive into flooded streets of sewage to push our truck to higher ground? I could tell you about how awesome it is to ride in the back of a pick up truck, with the wind whipping around you, surrounded by the most beautiful (active) volcanoes. I could also tell you countless stories of  meeting some of the most amazing people of my life. Oh, and the time I got to help teach the most amazing 10 year old with cerebral palsy how to communicate with his family. That was AMAZING. There was also the time we learned to make tortillas from scratch...so good. I think I still dream about those tortillas and beans. Those beans... Anyway, what else should I tell you about? Oh yeah, there were also several late nights of dish-washing at the Paroqia  (where we ate most of our meals), and the many inevitable soap fights that ensued after eating (beans of course.) 

But for the most part, I can't really tell you exactly everything about this trip. Not that I dont want to, it's just that this long distance thing makes it really hard. (note: I will gladly do a coffee date with anyone who wants to sit down to listen to me talk endlessly about this awesome trip. You're paying though, right?) It's hard to express every emotion and feeling and funny story if we're not face to face. So my only remedy is to offer you these fabulous photos as a peace offering. I hope you enjoy them! I hope they give you a glimpse of the beautiful country and people that I fell in love with this summer. ok?

Lots of love.

D.

I fed an ostrich. They're scarier than they look.

San Lucas Toliman 

Beautiful.

Lucky No.5

A couple of things currently making me smile. This is why I love summer!

Ocean City Boardwalk (real pics to come soon, I promise!)

 

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshakes! Make 'em, they're delicious

 

 

The beautiful people and places of Guatemala. So excited to be there in less than 2 days

!

Equally less awesome are the current temperatures here in DC. Can you spot us? We're the one's boiling alive at 104 degrees today. Good thing I'm peacing out tomorrow for cooler temps and afternoon showers.

See you in 2 weeks! 

Love. Love.

Doris

Variations on a Theme

They do say imitation is the highest form of flattery. Thanks to a couple inspirations this past week, my weekend cravings were satisfied by some wonderful goodies. (with my own spin of course, anything less just wont do.)

The Inspiration

"Hey I made fro-yo!" "Oh really, how'd you make it?"...."I just froze some yogurt..."
Pretty good stuff right here.

This was basically how I spent my Saturday. Fro-yo and endless hours of sleep. yum. I did make it out of the house at some point to go adventuring  and ended up with a great little lace skirt (for $7 folks. bam.) But of course, a skirt is not a skirt with out a little inspiration. I've been swooning over this outfit since I came across it, hoping to recreate it in some decent, broke college student kind of way. And here you go....

I kind of love this! Success!


cheers.

Dear Weekend,

I was thinking about you today, cuz it's Thursday and I have to go to work tomorrow. But I just wanted to tell you, "you been running through my mind like all the time!". Maybe I'll sneak out of work early. It's cool, I think we're meant to be.

Rain in the forecast = endless naptime

Possibly hitting up a nice bookstore or farmers market

I've had a hankering for these babies

Swoon...

love. love.

Farm fresh my grass!

well, isn't this cute.

This summer I'm working at a pretty cool organization in DC. Its called the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP for short. We're big on acronyms where I come from.) It's a small little office with a really big heart that does a lot to raise awareness on issues important to farmworkers throughout the U.S. This morning our organization hosted a public screening of the documentary "The Harvest/La Cosheca" which follows the lives of 3 migrant children who work in the fields to support their families. It's a touching film, especially as these young kids articulate precisely the problems and faults of our government regarding the farmworkers and their rights. Its quite sad that our society seems to care more about the ease of access and commodity of things like food and labor than it does for the people that actually help provide them.Our country's history seems to perpetuate the idea that there is always a group of people needed to be the stepping stool. There's always a group; poorer, less fortunate, more in need, that is "available" to do the work no one else really wants to do. But of course, since we need the cheap food/labor, its ok to keep our workers underpaid and without fair and equal rights. Really? This dialogue of consumer ease and comfortability that our society has accepted is so sad. It's pathetic to realize how distant we are from our food and the people that allow it to end up on our tables.The truth is, there are many directions that this conversation points to. But one of the most important issues I think is our relationship with food and what has become of it.

 Consumption (of food in particular) is one of the most organic and intimate parts of daily life. Eating food is the act of being able to put something into our bodies that helps to both restore and sustain our life. For some, we are able to pick and choose the foods that we are intimate with. For others not as fortunate, there are fewer options and less acts of food intimacy to partake in. But when we do have the ability to chose what we but into our mouths, shouldn't we be more conscious of how it got there? Now, before I get crazy eyes from anyone reading this, hear me out. It's a good thing to know where you food came from, to know that the people who picked it are not being exploited, to know that food you are eating has not been pumped with chemicals to grow quicker and fatter (ps. I just watched "Food Inc." as well. Betcha couldn't tell.) It's a good thing to be able to know all this. But the truth is, even with knowing all this, its still hard to afford those better choices. But guess what, asking questions... that will always be free! So ask. Go ahead, it's okay. Ask where your hamburger patties came from, ask who picked your overly priced winter asparagus (in the summer!) Go ahead, ask, because when you ask you open up the dialogue for more people to be informed about making smarter choices about the food we eat and how it gets to us.

and scene.

InDCent

I'm back in DC for the summer for another round of good times. First on the list. Food. All things food. Since I'm from the South (Louisiana y'all!) I'm used to a way of life that involves eating anything that moves and doesn't you first. So, I'm ready.  Don't worry, we're friends. The flip side of this is that I'll be doing all the cooking for my self this time around. Cereal and peanut butter and jelly get in my belly! But for real, I'm trying. The other night, I made this potato hash from this lovely lady joy the baker, and I must say it wasn't half bad, you know. I'm trying. If only I could get paid for all the effort I put into cooking, then I would be able to eat more. Oh unpaid jobs, why do you exist?

Ps. I'm all about cute guys with fake mustaches serving up good food. Praise the lord for office food truck runs!

                                                                     love. love.