Yay and Nay

Yay:

• I got paid! The Feds finally pulled through. It took a few weeks longer than it should have and I still haven't received all my money (damn bureaucracy), but at least there's money in my account to pay bills.
  
• My luggage came. Four days late is better than never, I guess.
• My mom is making me the cutest Peace Corps skirts ever! I just tried on one of them and it fits perfectly and looks really good (for those of you who sew, it's a 6-gore skirt). She's making me a khaki-colored skirt and a navy blue one.
• Tomorrow I'm going to Madison with Djam to celebrate New Year's. It'll be my last night of partying in the U.S.
• My dad and I were at the local bakery/bus station when a kid came in with a bloody finger. My dad offered to help and ran out to his truck to grab a Band-Aid. The bakery owner gave us a free donut for being good citizens.
• We went to Gaylord today and stopped at Wally-World to get more Peace Corps supplies. I feel more prepared now and just need a couple more things and I'll be all set!
• I got my Peace Corps haircut today. It's about shoulder length and blunt (for easy trimming). It looks really cute! (pictures to come sometime in the future)
  

Nay:

• Major passport issues. Back in October, the USDA was supposed to release my official government travel passport to the Department of State. However, last week while I was in California, I received noticed that the passport still wasn't taken care of. Unfortunately, the government offices were closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so I had to wait until Wednesday to call them. They said "oops, sorry we didn't do that back in October, we'll do it ASAP tomorrow." When I called today to check on it, the Department of State still hadn't received it. I was so pissed. I called the USDA again (this time crying and begging the lady to help me) and they said it would be available by monday. My Peace Corps Niger person said if they don't get it monday, then I probably won't be able to attend staging and I think that means I won't be able to go. Once again I am pissed. My dad said the local congressman owes him a favor so he will call his office monday if it's still not taken care of and ask him for help in this matter. Says my dad, "his office will make sure you get that passport." Really, the way the USDA has been about this is completely unacceptable. I'm supposed to leave for Niger in 11 days and still no passport.
  
• I hate AT&T. Remind me to never be a customer of theirs again. Their "$14.99/month" local phone plan costs me about $50/month with all the added fees. Grr.
• More bitching - I faxed in an application for continuation of health care coverage over a week ago (after they lost the paper version three weeks ago and I had to re-fill it out) and have repeatedly called the HR people to see if they actually got it. I keep leaving this lady messages and she hasn't responded. My health care coverage was scheduled to end on the 24th without the continuation, and I have a doctor's appointment wednesday so I guess I'll find out then if I still have health care coverage.

I worked for the government for four years so I should be used to all this application-approval-checking up bullshit, but I'm not. I'm kind of ticked that I have to keep calling people to make sure anything gets done. I guess that's the real world for ya.

Tonight's Dinner:
Leftover peanut chicken stew with basmati rice
Stir-fried broccoli in sesame oil with walnuts

Crazy Ghanaian food

Djam and I made some peanut stew with fufu for the fam.

First we placed some chicken legs in a big pot. We sprinkled them with seasoned salt, then added some sliced onion. We let it steam for a while.

In the meantime, Djam combined a small can of tomato paste with Ghanaian peanut butter (no salt or sugar added). He mixed it together in a frying pan...



...then added water to make a smooth sauce.

The sauce was added to the chicken mixture along with some green chilies (no habenero peppers available in Grayling). We let it simmer for a while, and viola! we were left with a nice orange-colored stew with pieces of chicken floating in it. Yum!

Djam made some fufu to go along with it. I know you're wondering what the heck fufu is, so I will explain. It's kind of like instant potato flakes, but made with cassava root, maize, plantains, or other grains. In Africa people actually make it from scratch using the cassava root, then pounding it, then allowing it to dry, then cooking it, but that's not very practical here. So they have the instant kind, where you mix it with water and cook it until it becomes a thick paste.



It has a kind of sour flavor but tastes good with stew. Plus you eat it with your hands!

We spooned some fufu into our bowls, added some peanut stew, and ate it with our hands. It was fun. Everyone loved the stew and no one was too afraid to lick the sauce from their fingers.

Tonight's Dinner:
I don't know. There's some hamburger in the fridge that needs to be cooked.

Christmas fun

Here are some pictures from our Christmas. Unfortunately, my luggage is in limbo so I can't yet provide you with pictures from California (grr).

Tom and Djam playing with a remote-controlled helicopter. Djam is wearing the cute Ghana shirt I gave him.


Dad and Joe having fun with their gifts


Some Christmas schwag along with 3 djembe drums Djam built and brought with him. He gave us some drum lessons, and even Dad and Tom tried it!


Djam and I went snowshoeing. I showed him around the yard and we walked in the woods. He did very well for a beginner!








Djam making his first snow angel.


A cute picture of Blackie.

Politically Correct Holiday Greetings

Holiday Greetings (and Disclaimer)

Please accept with no obligation implied or implicit our best wishes for a pleasant, environmentally conscious, socially responsible, non-stress inducing, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday with all due respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others.

We also wish you a similarly peaceful, pleasant, fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without equal respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures. We extend these greetings in equal measure without regard to the race, creed, color, ethnicity, age, gender, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this holiday wish you implicitly acknowledge that this greeting may be subject to clarification or withdrawal; that it implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes extended, and is void where prohibited by law and revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first. No additional warranty is intended or implied.

Pictures

Unfortunately, I deleted the pictures of me and Djam so you won't know what he looks like just yet.

However, here is a picture of Blackie with his girlfriend:


And Djam's stocking, which I worked on painstakingly for a few days and am very proud of:










Tonight's Dinner:
Beef and stewpeas (a Jamaican dish I've been wanting to try - you can see the recipe here).

Peace Corps FAQ

Almost everyone asks the same questions... here are the answers. Got more? Feel free to ask.

• So, like.. where are you going?
Niger, Africa. North of Nigeria, east of Mali, south of Libia, and west of Chad. It's pronounced "knee share." (a la Francais, oui oui oui)


• What kind of work will you be doing?
I was placed in the Forestry Extension, so I will most likely be planting trees to stop the Sahara Desert from creeping further into Sub-Saharan areas. Also, it is common for Peace Corps volunteers to pick up secondary jobs, such as teaching English, coaching a soccer team, and sharing HIV/AIDS awareness.


• What do your parents think about you joining the Peace Corps?
They’re excited. My mom said I’ve been talking about doing it for years, so she’s happy I’m following my dreams. My dad is pumped, too. He tells me stories about friends/colleagues who served as Peace Corps volunteers.


• Will you be by yourself?
Probably not. Usually there are a few volunteers in each location, but it’s not guaranteed.


• What will you be eating?
I read the most common foods in Niger are sorghum, millet, rice, mutton, and goat. Sounds tasty.


• Will you have to learn a new language?
Yes! The official language of Niger is French, but I will also be learning Hausa and Djerma, two local languages.


• Do you get paid for this?
Sort of. The Peace Corps gives each volunteer a living allowance similar to what the average person makes. On top of that, I get paid $225/month, which I will receive when I finish my 27-month term of service. Also I'll get something like $25 a month for vacation allowance.


• Are there any political problems in Niger?
Not really. Niger is a big country, almost the size of Alaska, and the only part where I heard there are problems is in the northern part of the country, and that’s tribal quarrels over land. The Peace Corps is very careful about making sure volunteers are safe, and if problems did arise, they would remove me from the country immediately.


• What are you going to wear?
Niger is a primarily Muslim country, so I’m not supposed to wear shorts or anything tight. I’m going to make a couple of long skirts this December, and I’ll also bring a pair of jeans. Kolby, one of my colleagues, gave me some really nice lightweight, breathable shirts that I can wear. I can also buy clothes and supplies in Niger.


• What will you be living in?
Most likely a mud hut. I believe everyone is given their own hut with a walled-in yard area. The Peace Corps will supply me with screens for the windows, a cement floor, a water purifier, and a gas stove.


• Are you going to get tons of vaccinations?
I already got my tetanus/diphtheria booster, a polio booster, and a measles/mumps/rubella booster. They also tested me for a bunch of diseases, including tuberculosis exposure. I think I will get more vaccines when I leave for staging January 7.


• Are you going to come back and visit the U.S. during your volunteer period?
Doubtful. The plane tickets are really expensive, and the Peace Corps doesn’t pay for vacation costs. Anyway, if I’m in Africa, I might as well see Africa, right?

Tonight's Dinner:
Homemade pizza (called "pizzazz" by the fam), made by ma

Stuff

I've been watching a lot of ANTM lately, mainly because it's on 10 hours a day friday and saturday, and it's cold and snowy outside and I'm lazy and don't want to go anywhere. I deserve to be a vegetable, don't I?? I'll be living a different life in Niger and I want to be well-rested before I go.

Last night my mom and I did some more baking for the Boy Scout bake sale. Things went better that time - I made two mini cheesecakes (6" diameter) and a cheesepie with linzer cookie crust and this morning I whipped up a banana cream pie with linzer cookie crust. My mom made an attempt at the linzer cookies but she used a better recipe so they came out okay this time.

Tonight we went to the Wellington Farm Park Christmas event. Grayling, my town, was a logging area in the 1800s and still has a lot of logging history. Wellington Farm was around for about 70 years as a place where homesteaders lived and amazingly were able to farm with Grayling's dry, sandy soil. In 1994 somebody (I don't know if it's an individual or an organization) restored Wellington Farm and made it into Wellington Farm Park. Tonight, from 7:00-9:00, we took a tour of the blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, grist mill, kitchen, and church. At each stop were actors posing as people from the 1930s. The blacksmiths worked on some metal using fire from a coal-fired pit, the carpenters were making brooms, and the ladies in the kitchen gave us some yummy cookies that they made in their wood-fired oven. We went from place to place on a horse-drawn sled, and as there was no electricity, everything was lit with kerosene lamps. It was dark and quiet outside, snow was falling gently with no wind, and overall it was a great time.

In other news, I finally organized my bedroom upstairs so I am no longer afraid to hang out in there. Yay! Now I just have to get ready for my trip to California to visit Becky, Fonsi, and Christopher!

Tonight's Dinner:
Crystal took the day off. Dad made some beef-vegetable soup and mom made her famous oatmeal biscuits

Last night's dinner:
Hamburgers with fried onions
Frozen fries
Spinach salad with avocado
(what can I say, the fam was ready for "normal" food)

Bad night for cooking

Everything cooked in this house tonight was a FLOP. It started with my enchiladas. We don't stock canned enchilada sauce, so I used this sauce recipe. The 1/4 cup of cayenne pepper proved a little much, as the sauce was really, really spicy. Compared to the rest of my family, I have a pretty high tolerance for spicy food, but this was really hot and I had to douse my enchilada in sour cream just to eat it.

Later I decided to make some cookies in preparation for the Boy Scout Bake Sale this weekend. My mom just bought a set of linzer cookie dough cutters, so I gave them a try (linzer cookies are rolled out and shaped into circles, filled with jam, and another cookie is placed on top, often with a cute little design cut into the dough). I followed the recipe on the back of the cookie cutter box. Boy, was that a mistake! The cookies came out wafer-thin and crispy and didn't at all resemble the perfect little cookies on the box. Next time I'll stick with the ol' standbys, Joy of Cooking and Cook's Illustrated.

Linzer cookies

The way they should look:


The way mine looked:


The bad luck didn't just come my way. My mom made some homemade granola bars. She used this recipe and substituted molasses for the honey. The bars came out crumbly and not very chewy. She did what she could to form them into bars and the rest will just be granola.

Hopefully tomorrow's baking will be more successful. I'm thinking of using the linzer cookies as a crumb crust in some pies and cheesecakes (for the bake sale, of course).

Tonight's Dinner:
Chicken and black bean enchiladas with uber-spicy sauce

Christmas shopping

Yesterday I took the day off from my household duties and went Christmas shopping in Traverse City with mom and Tom. We kicked some serious shopping bootie and now I'm totally done! Woo hoo!

The bad news is I didn't get my final paycheck monday like I was supposed to. I called our secretary at the place formerly known as my employer, and she said the HR people in Albuquerque have to do a leave audit before I can get paid. That could take weeks. So now I have NO cash in my checking account and am relying on Mr. Credit Card for everything. Dangerous territory. Not to mention no money for car payments, student loan payments, and car insurance, all of which are taken directly from my checking account. Grrr. Of course I will do some juggling to prevent an overdraft, but it's still a pain in the ass.

But the good news is my mom bought me some kickass Peace Corps things, like this +55deg sleeping bag.


And these super-comfy, lightweight shoes.

And today I'm going to the Secretary of State office to get my new driver's license. I made sure to put on some makeup and comb my hair, so I'm all set.

Tonight's Dinner:
Beijing birthday noodles (you can find the recipe here)

This week's projects

Neverending!

• Clean the massive mess that is my bedroom - there are boxes and open Rubbermaid bins everywhere and there's hardly any room to walk.
• Fix the computer. I don't know what's going on, but I can't open any .pdf files, all the Windows games are gone, and most of Microsoft Office opens with, like, three error messages. It's kind of hard to fix these problems when the Windows CD is missing. Grrr!
  
• Mail another package to Djam.
• Wash truck, take a picture, and put it on autotrader.com. Anyone need a truck? You can have my 2002 S-10 for $5000.
• Write thank-you notes to people at work for the awesome cards they gave me. Respond to emails that will take more than 30 seconds to write.
• Figure out how to get Power of Attorney for my dad while I'm in Africa.
• Upload pictures from camera and post them for your visual enjoyment!
  

Today I'm doing laundry. And I guess I'll start on my bedroom (shudder).

Tonight's Dinner:
Boy Scout Court of Honor potluck thingy. I'm making a Mexican bean salad for it.

Hola!

Greetings from the metropolis of Marquette, MI.

Chico and I drove up here yesterday to attend Mary's Pampered Chef party. Tom is normally a pretty quiet guy (he's usually watching tv, I guess) but he chatted the whole way here. We talked about lots of stuff - music, woodworking, wood in general, Blackie, mom and dad, hopes for employment.. it was fun. At one point I just wanted to listen to music and give the talking a rest, but he just kept talking. It's cool, though.

So yeah, the Pampered Chef party. It was fun. Mary made hors d'oeuvres and the Pampered Chef lady made a kickass veggie pizza. I bought a 16" pizza stone and a flour/powdered sugar shaker for my confections. Then we drank a bunch of wine.

Poor Chico was left alone at the party while Joe took a 20-minute nap that turned into 2 hours. I'm pretty sure Chico suffered from estrogen overload and that still continues today, as Joe is still sleeping and Mary, her sister, and her sister-in-law are discussing all sorts of womanly issues like pregnancy, birth control, and hysterectomies. Tom just sits there and listens quietly.

I was reading this chick's Peace Corps blog from Senegal, and the funniest thing I learned is that if you send a package and place some loose panty-liners on the top the customs people won't touch it because they are men and find those items to be really scary. Good to know!

I called Djam last night and it was great to talk to him. He's truly wonderful. This Bob Marley songs keeps running through my head:

Latest Peace Corps news

Arrrrghh! I got this email the other day from the Niger Peace Corps people:

Your future post in Niger has notified me of an important change to your upcoming pre-service training—this year, the programming and training staff have decided to raise the bar for language acquisition. Henceforth, trainees will be required to score at least Intermediate Mid on the language proficiency exams by the end of PST, as opposed to Intermediate Low, the previous requirement. This is a requirement for swearing-in as a Volunteer, and as such, we strongly encourage you to study the P.DOT Hausa/ Zarma language lessons prior to departure.

I haven't even started learning my Hausa/Zarma. Grr. Guess I'll have to start studying.

The good news is I finally completed and turned in my aspiration statement and resume. Halle-frickin-lujah... they wanted it back in September.

Compassion

The Dalai Lama came to visit Madison last summer (I posted about it here in my blog). About a week ago I read a copy of Asian Wisconzine, a publication we routed at work. The issue I had must have been really old, because the article was basically a transcription of what the Dalai Lama said back in May.

He talked about compassion, about how we can achieve happiness by feeling compassion for others. And it's so true. I don't feel happy when I'm directing angry thoughts at somebody. Why waste so much time being mad when I can be happy and feel like a better person by feeling compassion? For example, instead of feeling angry at Kevin for things that happened between us, I should feel sorry for him for being such a messed-up person.

Yes, I'm still thinking about stuff that happened between us. It hurts. Every other day I struggle with these thoughts. But I need to direct my energy toward something else. Like Niger!

Speaking of Kevin, I have to share this dream. About two weeks before we broke up, I had this awful dream where I was on a subway and I kicked some poor girl in the face. She was faceless in the dream, and was sitting down, and it seemed like I kicked her for no reason. Her teeth were all messed up from what I did. The dream shocked and scared me because I'm not a violent person and could never imagine doing anything like that. A couple weeks later, after we broke up, I was listening to a morning radio show. There was a guest on the show who analyzes dreams, so people could call her and ask about their dreams. A woman called and said that she dreamed she punched somebody in the face and didn't know why. The dream-expert asked her if she was feeling bad about herself or some decision she was facing, and she said yes. The expert said that the woman in her dream was herself, and it was a way of expressing how she was displeased with herself.

That really made sense to me. The girl getting kicked in the face on the subway was me. My mind knew something was wrong but my consciousness didn't see it.

This entry began as something about compassion but morphed into many things. I would like to get a book and read more about the Dalai Lama's teachings on compassion. I think it's something that would be really useful for me.

Latest cooking disaster

About two weeks ago I cooked dinner for Djam. It was his first experience tasting my cooking, so I wanted to impress him. I made one of my favorite dishes, curried lamb and parsnip stew (recipe is from Asparagus to Zucchini).

When I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients I noticed the parsnips didn't look too great. For those of you who aren't familiar with parsnips, they are are root vegetable and look like a white carrot. They kind of taste like carrots, too, but with a more peppery flavor. These parsnips looked like deer feed - they were kind of gigantic and lumpy. But it was all they had, so I bought them.

Fast forward to the cooking of the stew - it was simmering on my stove and I tested one of the parsnip pieces to see if it was tender. It tasted nasty - really bitter. I figured it was because the parsnips were kind of old, and thought a little salt would help with the problem. It didn't. I added the finishing touches to the stew, hoping the fresh lime juice would help neutralize the nastiness of the parsnips. It didn't. But the lamb was really expensive and I didn't want to throw the stew out. I just figured we could eat around the parsnips.

Djam came over and we ate the stew. I exclaimed that the parsnips were bad and I avoided eating them, but as he gulped down the food he said, "I like bitter food so I will eat the parsnips." The next day we decided to eat the leftovers. It tasted even worse - the flavors had a chance to combine in the fridge and even the lamb and sauce tasted bitter. I noticed even Djam didn't eat the parsnips. I dumped on some fresh cilantro and yogurt, hoping it would be more palatable, but I still had a bitter taste in my mouth for the rest of the day.

A few days later we went to the grocery store where I had purchased the parsnips. I went over to the parsnips as they sat on the shelf, and finally took notice of the label beneath them - "horseradish root." I couldn't believe it!!

I had put an entire pound of horseradish root in my stew! No wonder it tasted so bad!

P.S. Tonight's dinner, the braised Chinese chicken with bok choy, was kind of a flop. No one liked the bok choy but me.

Feeling motivated

I got a good night's sleep last night (something like 11 hours) and now I'm feeling good! I have been so exhausted lately. I think the stress of moving out of Madison, leaving my job, going to court, etc. really added up and now I'm getting over it.

I have so much to do. Still working on that freakin' Peace Corps resume, then I'm helping Tom with his. I also need to call our HR department from work (which is stationed in Albuquerque, how convenient) to see how much longer I get my benefits. I need drugs and don't want to pay full price for them.

Yesterday I took a break and watched 5 hours of Top Model. Good times! They aired the famous episode where Tyra goes off on one of the contestants. Yeah, baby.



I think Blackie finally remembers me. He's like, "oh yeah, you're that girl that pets me all the time." So we have a good time together. Later I will take a picture of his "girlfriend" (this red pillow he walks on and the red rocket comes out.. it's scary).

Tonight's dinner:
Braised Chinese chicken with bok choy
Rice

The latest

I've been so busy lately. The internet connection here has been unreliable, so I haven't been able to update as much as I'd like to. Yesterday I called the provider and spent 2 hours on the phone with a guy from India to try and figure out the problem. Nothing was wrong; what it boiled down to was the modem should be turned off at night to prevent it from getting too hot. Two hours just to find that out. But the guy and I had a nice little flirt-fest while we were talking. After getting off the phone I said to Chico, "that guy was totally flirting with me!" and he was like, "yeah, it's because you let him." Touche.

When I left Madison I still hadn't found a home for Kitty, so I took her to the humane society. I called them yesterday to see how she was doing, and they said they euthanized her. :( I was so sad, but when I surrendered her they said older cats usually end up being put to sleep, so I was half expecting it.

I found cheap tickets to California to visit my sister through United; however, when I tried to purchase them last week the representative said their credit card machine wasn't working so she'd get back to me. Not hearing anything, I called United yesterday and spent 25 minutes on hold, only for nothing to come out of it. I think I will start looking for tickets from another airline.

When I'm not sitting on the phone, cooking, or trying to fix the internet, I feel like all I do is eat. There is so much food here, and my family eats so much. I'm getting fat. And it's too cold and snowy (or I'm just too lazy) to go outside and take a walk. But that's okay, I'm just trying to eat more fruits/veggies and when I go to Niger it will drop quickly.

Speaking of food, now that I'm back in Michigan I can't wait to go to 7-11 and get a Slurpee. Mmmm.

Oh, and I miss all the big grocery stores and ethic stores in Madison. I have looked for sherry at all the liquor stores in Grayling (3), and no one carries it. And I'm really on the lookout for some panko (Japanese bread crumbs). And I wish I could get stuff like chicken feet and Jamaican soup mix and oxtail to make some unusual dishes.

Tonight's dinner:
Veggie night! Some kind of bean/kale/rice stew with biscuits
EDIT: no, it turned into red beans and rice with a little bit of ham... not vegetarian, but I tossed a bunch of veggies in it. Close enough.

Last night's dinner:
Pan-seared pork medallions
Potato and cauliflower curry with basmati rice

Sunday's dinner:
Homemade pizza

Being put to work

Holy projects! I have so many things to do at the parents' house it's not even funny.

• Sort all my belongings and place into storage, with labels on the outside of each box describing its contents
• Write my freakin' Peace Corps Aspiration Statement and Resume
• Start learning Hausa and Djerma
• Make a stocking for Djam (he's coming here for Christmas)
• Fly to California to visit Becky, Alfonso, and Christopher
• Help parents with Christmas decorations at home, church, and work
  
• Bake/cook for upcoming holiday parties, cookie exchange, etc.
  
• Bake 15 items for Boy Scout Bake Sale on the 15th
• Read books, such as Life's a Campaign, by Chris Matthews, Notes From the Nethers, by Sandra Eugster, and Big Shoulders, by William Jamerson
• Get ready for Africa!

Last night's dinner:
Beef Kafta served in wheat pitas with tomato, cucumber, red onion, and yogurt
White bean Mediterranean soup

Tonight's dinner:
BLTs
Homemade coleslaw
Oven fries