Lisons & Dansons...

Primary Sources in the News: December 2011 Smithsonian

2012-01-27T12:13:00.000+04:00

There were some really cool stories in the December Smithsonian and I just had to share them.

"Artisanal Wheat on the Rise" tells the story of small farmers around the U.S. who are giving old wheat stock a try. The jury is still out on whether the taste alone merits its cultivation, but the article touches on other benefits, too. Because I'm have a passion for history and the environment, I like to follow stories on rare breeds and seeds. It's fascinating to read about the way in which plants and animals were adapted to their environment. And I like to hear about the renewed appreciation for this specificity over one-size-fits-all monoculture with its intendant dangers. Besides preserving biodiversity, I love the thought of being able to taste a food the way my ancestors did, to put myself in their shoes for a little while.

Speaking of getting in touch with our ancestors, I was excited to read about a Smithsonian project with the Osage tribe in which early 20th-century busts of tribal members have been rediscovered and people are getting to meet their grandfathers face-to-face! The Smithsonian is working with family members and the tribal museum to have copies made for them. And from my part of the country comes a story about a dam removal project on the Elwha River in Washington State that will provide the opportunity for the Klallam people to walk their ancestral land for the first time in over a century.

(Also from my old stomping grounds, an article on Clarence Darrow, that asks whether he might have bribed a jury member, references the Special Collections at the University of Oregon.)

For Star Wars Fans & Dog Lovers Out There

2012-01-20T12:12:00.000+04:00

If you have missed this elsewhere, I just had to post it to my blog! Hee hee!

The Price of a Good Thali Lunch

2012-01-16T07:08:00.000+04:00

We had a veggie Indian lunch at Sangeetha here in Abu Dhabi yesterday. It's delicious and cheap which is unusual in this town. We met up with a couple of friends and their two small children around 1:30. Unfortunately our timing and our natural reticence meant that we didn't get food for a good 45 minutes, as people who arrived well after us got served first. Sigh.

We all know that small children have a narrow window of patience for these things. I had hoped that the folks at the restaurant would recognize this, too. They have a set lunch, so usually they would have had food on the table within five minutes of seating us, but a busload of folks had arrived just before us and it happened to be a special harvest festival--Happy Pongal, by the way! The food was tasty and served in generous portions in the end, fortunately, and we emerged relatively unscathed and stuffed with all sorts of goodness (only some of which could we name).

Lessons learned:

Observe and adapt to the culture of the place. Be bold--assertiveness is rewarded at Sangeetha.
Avoid festival days when possible.
Order immediately upon being seated.

Trends in Pets

2012-01-13T13:00:00.000+04:00

We've noticed a lot of young men walking huskies along the Corniche in the evenings. I don't think Emiratis have traditionally owned dogs because of Muslim strictures against the canine kind. They are considered ritually unclean. So, I wondered if this might be some sort of youthful rebelliousness. I worry about the welfare of the dogs since they are cold-weather dogs in what is a very hot-weather country come summer and their people may not understand what it means to be a responsible dog owner.

The other day we saw a young man with a snake dangling from his shoulder and speculated whether that would be the next trend. Then last night, some guys upped the stakes by walking two monkeys on leashes. What will be next?

Pistache Perdu

2012-01-13T10:05:00.000+04:00

I do not have the most domestic of skills, but I love food, so occasionally I'll turn on the stove and make something. This morning we had a fresh loaf of pain de campagne and some eggs, so I thought I'd make some French toast. When reaching for the cinnamon, my eye fell a bag of pistachios. What would it taste like to dredge the bread through pistachios and cinnamon before cooking, I wondered.

So, I cracked the eggs into a bowl with a little soy milk, cut a thick slice of bread and put it in the bowl to soak. I chopped the nuts and mixed them with cinnamon then added butter to the frying pan and warmed it up on the stove before forking in the soaked bread. (I quickly figured out that sprinkling the chopped nuts over the bread after it was in the skillet worked better than dredging--more even distribution.) When it was done, I divided the French toast in two and drizzled (poured, really) maple and lingonberry syrups over the halves.

I love the tanginess of the egg and the sourdough combined with the sweetness of the cinnamon and syrup and the nutty crunch that I got with the pistachios. Also, lingonberry syrup takes me back to my childhood. It reminds me of the boysenberry syrup that was traditionally served with pancakes and French toast when I was a kid. Do restaurants still provide those little sticky pitchers? One boysenberry, one "maple"?

Wrapping up 2011

2012-01-10T20:44:00.001+04:00

We had a busy couple of days wrapping up 2011. On the 30th, we visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The light that afternoon was just stunning on all that white marble. It was beautiful!

And then for something completely different...we went go karting on Yas Island. Yep, you get to put on racing coveralls. That's Chuck and me with the dark visors. I'd never gone go karting before. It was a little terrifying going around the twists and turns of the track. We ladies came in 14th, 15th, and 16th...of 16. Sigh. Afterwards, we had dinner at Amerigo's at the Park Inn which had delicious Tex Mex and strong margaritas!

On New Year's Eve morning, the women got up and went kayaking around the mangroves. It was very peaceful. We saw lots of egrets and heron and even a flock of flamingoes wading in the distance. It was much easier than my previous kayaking experiences, possibly due to the lack of wind, which made it much more fun than I expected. (I admit it, I was a doubter.)

After re-energizing with a shower and some French pastries, we had a generous and tasty Indian thali lunch at Sangheeta followed by abaya shopping. And we fit in a nap before heading to celebrate the new year with friends. It was a crazy busy weekend, but we had so much fun!

Falcons!

2011-12-30T09:24:00.000+04:00

Yesterday morning we visited the Falcon Hospital. After the, now familiar, navigational challenges, we found the place out among the scrub. If we'd known, we could have made arrangements to visit the Saluki Center, too--there's always next time.

It was impressive! They began with a preliminary lecture including how falcons travel--when commercially, in-cabin, two to a seat, with passports--how they are acquired--from licensed breeders mostly in Europe--how much they are worth--tens of thousands of dollars--where they are taken to hunt--Central Asia, North Africa, Pakistan--and how many a Sheikh might own--a couple hundred. We also learned that female falcons can be twice as big as males and are the preferred hunters.

Then we entered the exam room, where some twenty falcons were lined up on perches on the floor awaiting service--19 of them were female. Here they perform routine maintenance, like clipping and sharpening talons and beaks, and more complicated care, like replacing or repairing feathers. Before any procedure they knock the falcon out with anesthesia delivered via a mask that fits over its entire head. They split our group into two and we got to see them trim a falcon's talons and beak. They let us touch its feathers and showed us its ears.

They also demonstrated a sort of falcon repair kit where we got to see how different feather breaks are fixed. They use bamboo near the base or a needle at the tip and glue it back together. Not only are the birds given a microchip for identification, but when hunting, they are fitted with a tracking device on their tail! This way the hunter can follow along in a truck as the bird flies.

The highlight of the visit was getting to hold two different falcons. The first required a thick leather glove and was surprisingly heavy. The second was a much smaller bird that we could hold right on our wrist.

Our tour wrapped up with a visit to an aviary--in the summer they are air-conditioned since falcons in the wild would migrate to cooler climes--some individual outdoor cages with eagles and owls, and then the small museum. I highly recommend a visit!

Camels!

2011-12-30T08:15:00.000+04:00

Molly's shot of a camel crossing

Having a visitor has given me the impetus to do some of those cultural things I've been meaning to do. Tuesday, four of us went to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival in Abu Dhabi's Western Region at the entrance of the atmospherically named Rub Al Khali, or Empty Quarter.

Molly and Ben and I were grateful that Chris agreed to drive--he was much more adventurous than I would have been. This was my first experience having to navigate out-of-town. Thank God we also had the iPhone and its mapping abilities. I now see why everyone has a GPS and a road map with coordinates. The signage is extremely limited and tends to be right at the turn off or exit with no lead time.

We eventually made it to the festival with the help of the taxi driver hired by some folks we met at a rest stop. We had missed the poorly labeled side road for the festival and were well on our way to the Liwa Oasis when we turned around.

At the festival itself, we started at the Ministry of the Interior village where we learned all about historic and modern uniforms of police, military, and emergency response units. We browsed the other tents including one in which little kids could dress in uniform to have their picture taken, the military band's tent, and the Special Forces tent where we could have apparently fired a real automatic (?) weapon.

Then I asked one of the officers how we could get to the camels that we saw in the distance. He said, "No English," so I said in Arabic "where (is a) camel?" He pointed down the road. So, off we went in Chris's little compact car, down a road that increasingly turned to desert, until we found ourselves in a chaotic mix of camels and four wheel-drive vehicles--some driven by children (both the camels and the 4WDs).

Shot of Chris and camel owner by Molly

We pulled over and went to speak with some of the camel owners. Chris had a nice chat in Arabic with a man from Sudan in which we learned, among other tidbits, that his camel could go for $10,000, but the darker camels were worth a lot more. As we spoke, Emiratis pulled up in their trucks to talk to the owners, but we couldn't tell whether they were asking after the camels or us. We seemed to be the only foreigners out there and I'm sure we made a ridiculous sight--No one else was on foot unless they were corralling dromedaries.

Molly & me with camels by Ben

On the way back out, we got caught in a jam of trucks, camels, and a news crew interviewing people. Fortunately, Chris's Shanghai driving skills kicked in and he got us back to the cultural village.

While there, we got to see men perform the traditional Emirati dance (al yawlah?) with sticks and swords and possibly fake guns. They sang in a sort of call and response style accompanied by drums.

Camel babies!

Later, Molly and I were invited to drink Arabic coffee with cardamom and hot milk with ginger and sugar (surprisingly tasty!) with some ladies in full niqab. We asked after each other and they gave us each a little gift. We weren't sure what we were doing, but think we made it out without causing offense (?).

The way back to Abu Dhabi was down a dark road with semi trucks in the right lane and impatient locals in the left. It was a little scary, but in the end we got home with sand in our hair and shoes, but otherwise without incident. What a day! (Alf shukr to Chris for getting us back in one piece!)

Dubai, the superlative-est city in the world!

2011-12-29T07:42:00.000+04:00

Molly was scheduled to arrive in Dubai Thursday night, so Chuck and I rode up after work. After checking into our hotel, we took the metro to Chuck's tailor to pick up his new linen suit. But first, we stopped at a veg Indian place, Sangheeta, for dinner. It was excellent! We've got to track down the branch in Abu Dhabi!

Friday we spent at Dubai Mall. It was quite accessible for being "the largest mall in the world". We had a nice brunch at Shakespeare and Co.--delicious hollaindaise!--and then visited the Dubai Aquarium, featuring the "world's largest viewing panel" and some pretty cool gray nurse sharks (a.k.a. sand tiger sharks). Looking at those teeth from below as you walk through the tunnel is a leetle freaky.

After more browsing and shopping, we made our way to the Burj Khalifa ("the tallest man-made structure in the world")--not nearly as accessible as the mall. In fact, it was so exclusive, we couldn't figure out how to get in the door. We eventually made it in and met up with Chris for high tea on the 122nd floor at At.Mosphere, the "highest restaurant in the world".

We started with a glass of bubbly; nibbled on tea sandwiches; sipped tea; and compared notes on the little cakes that finished out the set. A couple of hours later, as the sun sank over the Gulf, we thought it might be time for a cocktail. Fortunately, cocktail hour began at 6:00. The harpist was rolled away and the piano player brought out. He sang some lounge-y numbers, fortunately mixing in a few Christmas tunes, while we sipped strawberry balsamic martinis--delicious!

We descended just in time to see the Dubai Fountain ("the largest choreographed fountain in the world"?) brought to us by the same folks who designed the fountains at the Bellagio in Vegas. They danced to Thriller! :) We did a little more shopping, then took some Pot Belly Sandwich Works and Baja Fresh back to the hotel for a late dinner. It was a successful, if surreal, day in Dubai!

Oh good, the Lamborghini is back from the shop...

2011-12-29T06:42:00.000+04:00

We are constantly amazed by the variety of outrageously expensive cars we see in Abu Dhabi. We've seen custom cars and cars from manufacturers we've never heard of.

Yesterday, we saw this Lamborghini, a Bentley, at least one Maserati, along with the usual Porsches and Mercedes (they seem to be a dime a dozen). We've decided the 4-door white Porsche is the family car of choice. You know, the car you take to get groceries, the one that fits the kids' carseats.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-28T22:34:00.001+04:00

As we approached Christmas last week, I made a concerted effort to embrace the holiday spirit. Last Wednesday, I got a group of carolers together at work and at their urging we strolled from office to office spreading holiday cheer. I wasn't sure how our warbling would be received, but those still left in the office seemed genuinely happy to see us.

After the first round of decorating, we brought the tree to near-perfection adding little bright Christmas balls sent from my folks, and candy canes purchased at Choitram down the road.

We've filled up on traditional and new holiday TV shows, singing along with Misers Snow and Heat in "The Year Without a Santa Claus", and watching the AD/BC Christmas musical, "It's Christmas Charlie Brown," and this year's Doctor Who Christmas special with Molly. We continued the mood-boosting with a little "Love, Actually" and selected scenes from "Much Ado" on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, I walked down to the bakery to get some pastries, we unstuffed our stockings, and unwrapped our gifts and then Molly and I went to St. Joseph's for mass. They were holding services, sometimes three at a time, in 13 different languages--some of which we'd never heard of. It was a fascinating mix of people. We arrived as one service was wrapping up and as that congregation got up, we moved in and they started the next service immediately.

Since we went to an English-language service, the attendees were mainly Filipino and South Asian with a few of us Euro/American-types mixed in. We were seated under a giant shade and even felt a little chilly. Before heading home, we had a picture taken by the Christmas tree and snapped a few shots of the general atmosphere.

Mass was followed by brunch with friends at the Park Hyatt's Beach House. We sat sipping champagne and enjoying the company, the view of the Gulf out over the soft sands, and, of course, the food! It was a wonderful way to spend the day. The extended brunch sort of wiped us out for the rest of the day, but I got to talk to my folks before we sat down to our movie later in the evening.

Chuck and I worked on Boxing Day, but that evening we and Molly got to Skype with Jennifer and Patrick before walking to dinner at Cantina Laredo (not bad for Mexican-food deprived people). After dinner and some shopping at Lulu, we wrapped up that evening with Doctor Who Christmas and cookies from Dee Dee. Mmmm, lady locks!

Majlis-ing

2011-12-17T22:09:00.000+04:00

As the weather has gotten cooler, we've seen many more people outside enjoying the fresh air. The other day we took a long walk and passed by a square of majlis cushions set around a fire ring. A majlis can mean an official meeting or it can just refer to a place to gather with friends. The casual kind usually has low cushions or couches for seating with other pillows to lean on. They can be indoors or out.

This one was set up on the ground, in a sand-covered space next to someone's house, bordering on their parking lot. It didn't offer much privacy and I thought it an unlikely spot. But the next evening, we walked past again and there was a group of men sitting around socializing with another man apparently waiting on them.

I just wished I'd had the guts to take a picture...I'll work on it or I'll get my own cushions--that's how dedicated I am.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

2011-12-17T21:51:00.001+04:00

This weekend I finally feel like I'm getting in the Christmas spirit. Yesterday Chuck and I put up the tree and this morning I sent out our annual holiday letter. I've been singing along to my vast collection of Xmas music and during out trip to Carrefour today we bought a large selection of cheeses for all that celebrating we'll be doing with friends. So, things are looking up.

It was especially fun, as I took out each ornament to think about the person who gave it to me or made it for me--there are cross-stitched ornaments from Mindy, Ukrainian eggs from Dy, a Lenox angel from my mom... Then there are the ornaments we bought in Thailand, Bethlehem, and New Zealand. There are others I've had since I was a kid--a mane-less rocking horse, a mouse (or is that a cat) in a little wooden chair, a ceramic toy soldier. Chuck humored me and took a walk down memory lane with me.

I called my folks a few days ago, had a nice long chat with Carolyn yesterday, and got to talk a little with Dee Dee this evening. I expect we'll be catching up with more friends and family in the next couple of weeks and that, of course, is the best part of the season!

November Reading 2011

2011-12-11T20:16:00.000+04:00

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I devoured _A Game of Thrones_. It tells a complex story of scheming royals and intertwined families, the tensions of war and ancient evils rising again at the edges of the known world. There are some despicable characters and some truly honorable characters and people trying to keep their families safe and trying to reestablish the authority of ancient bloodlines.

Martin has created different cultures and societies with different gods clashing for dominance and meanwhile, winter is coming....

View all my reviews

Crazy Cars

2011-12-11T20:04:00.000+04:00

Yesterday evening, we got a ride to a friend's house and then walked the 3 miles back for some exercise. On our round trip we saw no fewer than 6, maybe 7, Mercedes G-Wagens, mostly white, not to mention BMWs, Maseratis, Porsches, etc. It's a strange place, Abu Dhabi.

Calls to Prayer and Other Stuff

2011-12-06T06:58:00.001+04:00

Yesterday, it seems that our local call to prayer became louder, longer, and uncut. They use a recorded muezzin here, so over the last few months 1.) the volumed seemed to have been turned down and 2.) we got used to the same call every day and slept right through it. Unfortunately, the ~5:24AM Fajr call goes on long enough now to break into our unconscious minds and rouse us from sleep. Hopefully, we'll get used to this, too. (Guests, bring your ear plugs!)

Speaking of the call to prayer, I was in Riyadh last week and realized that they use a live muezzin at each mosque. They begin the call at slightly different times, so the call ripples out across the city. Very atmospheric.

And speaking of atmospheric...it rained in Riyadh Tuesday all day! I thought, this would be a miserable day in Oregon, but being incredibly rare, it wasn't so depressing in this part of the world. They closed the schools since the city has no drainage system. Riding back to my hotel, there was standing water everywhere. The high Tuesday was 55F, so I was grateful for every layer including my abaya!

I didn't do much outside of the sort of bubble of the hotel and the Diplomatic Quarter during my visit, so I didn't experience the unpleasantness of the religious police. In the end, I didn't need to cover my hair, but did wear the abaya outside of work. I got to visit a private university, but that was my only external trip. Not sure I got (or want) the full experience of the real Riyadh.

I did get to have dinner with friends and meet their baby girl which was really special! And I met some library colleagues and got a fuller picture of the biblio-scene there. Good stuff!

Happy 40th, UAE!

2011-12-01T20:00:00.000+04:00

Things are working up to National Day here. It will be the UAE’s 40th anniversary on Saturday. Last night, we went out walking on the Corniche around 11:00. There’s a band shell nearby and there were DJs working the turntables. They’ve created dancing fountains out of pumps in the water off the beach which are choreographed to music.

We bobbed to the DJs, saw entertainers on stilts, a fun drum circle, and guys posing on a 3-D sidewalk painting. The best part is seeing all the cars decorated with the Emirati flag, pictures of the Sheikhs, hearts, ribbons, and pompoms in green, red, and black.

Today we’ve seen a military marching band, a helicopter hovering over the Corniche, lines of cars honking and people blowing air horns... We purchased our “I love the Emirates” scarf and a couple of little flags and watched an Airbus A-380 do several loops along the beach. We are now awaiting the evening’s fireworks. I don’t think we’ll get much sleep this weekend, but it won't be boring!

Abu Dhabi Art

2011-11-26T09:29:00.000+04:00

Last weekend we went with friends to Abu Dhabi Art--a sale of mostly modern art on Saadiyat Island. They had a wide range of works from a sculpture made of an old ship's propeller painted orange to requisite Arabic calligraphy art to a 3-D sculpture of NYC out of marble to some Andy Warhol stuff to a Degas dancer to a bedazzled oil barrel that appeared to be bleeding from the bottom to a cool work for your wall that responded to any movement nearby by darkening tiny screens. Still, we managed not to purchase.

What we were most impressed by was the Emirati Expressions photography exhibit in the Manarat Al Saadiyat. There were some bleakly honest photos of Abu Dhabi along with more art-like, composed works and creative presentations. I especially like the self-portraits of a young woman photographer set against repeating backgrounds of things like books that appeared as if she was flying.

We rode back to town as the sun was setting, a giant orange globe sinking over the water. We decided a drink was in order and found a seat along the canal at Prego where we could sip some chilled white wine and nibble on some cheese and while away the evening.

Finding Fateer

2011-11-26T09:05:00.000+04:00

I don't know what I did to deserve friends who ply me with delicious foods, but I'm grateful. One of my friends has shared, among other things, home made jams--fig, mango, and orange marmalade--and recently introduced me to the wonders of fateer. It's an Egyptian pastry/pancake/croissant-y kind of thing that is made with lots of butter and/or oil. I ate my first portion heated on the Foreman Grill and spread with some of the fig jam. Next, I'll try it with a little Nutella. So satisfying! Yum!

Last night we wandered into Al Quds Modern Bakery and among the cookies and pastries I also saw fateer. Dangerous knowledge. At least it's a little inconvenient to get there...

Thanksgiving in Abu Dhabi

2011-11-25T09:52:00.000+04:00

Yesterday was one of those American holidays we get off from work but on which naturally, the rest of the city keeps on working. This worked out to my advantage because I had an early morning meet-up with a friend at Cairo Fabrics (they open at 8:30AM and stay open late into the evening!) and then she introduced me to her tailor nearby. She and I both wanted to have one of my dresses copied, so a joint trip was in order. Fingers crossed it will turn out well....

Chuck and I were thankful to have received several invitations for Thanksgiving gatherings yesterday. It's so nice to know that we're starting to develop a sense of community here. He made a delicious pumpkin-carrot ginger soup into which we dropped bits of bleu cheese and I went for tradition (and ease) with a green bean casserole (with slight exceptions for the ingredients: British low fat/low sodium mushroom soup and fried onions made in Thailand, imported to the U.S., and moved to the UAE--it never tasted quite right to me).

Our first meal was an afternoon lunch at the house of some of our friends across town. They were even gracious enough to come and pick us up! They put on quite a spread with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, roasted pumpkin, cranberry relish, etc. plus our contributions. And the desserts were amazing! Crustless pumpkin pie (mousse?) with caramel topping, cherry crumble, and a home-made pumpkin cheesecake with a chocolate cream pie for the kids. I was trying to pace myself, but I just had to have another cherry or two and more of that wonderful cheesecake!

On the bright side, even though I took in three (four? five?) times as many calories as I would on a normal day, I didn't ever feel over-stuffed. I sort of nibbled as I went along.

Our second dinner was closer to home so we could stroll down the block to our apartment afterwards. It offered Mexican pumpkin ginger soup, turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, rolls for sopping up gravy, and a tasty apple tart. When we the attendees were polled it turned out that the person most experienced at carving a turkey was...the vegetarian. So, Chuck gamely jumped in and got to work.

Conversations ranged from weather to work to pilgrimage to Emirati and Saudi culture to world travels (naturally) to TV series to technology, etc. It was a good day and we were happy to spend it with friends.

Hakkasan

2011-11-25T09:09:00.000+04:00

For our 6th anniversary dinner, Chuck chose Hakkasan at the Emirates Palace Hotel. It's flagship restaurant in London has a Michelin star and, perhaps more convincingly, it's rated #2 of 167 restaurants on TripAdvisor.

Heather backed by a small portion
of Hakkasan's offerings

We reserved for the early seating at 7:00. Upon arrival we appeared to be the sole occupants. We didn't realize the vastness of the place since it was broken into cozy nooks surrounded by wooden screens. We were first ushered to the bar, a chic stretch of softly glowing space backed by the most impressive selection of liquor we'd ever seen. And we had it entirely to ourselves. We were served pistachios and bright green olives while we perused the many choices.

After giving the cocktail menu serious consideration and briefly consulting the bartender, I selected the Kumquat Mojito (muddled kumquats, lime, mint, mandarin liqueur and Diplomatico Reserva rum). It was just how I like it, refreshing and tart with just a bit of sweetness, tastefully assembled with enough ingredients to make it interesting. Chuck's drink had an iterative, Franco-Asian name we can't remember, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't order it again. It included Frangelico and was totally surprising in it's crisp deliciousness.

After sipping and chatting and ordering a second drink, we were invited to our table. Although we were seated in a section with other diners, it felt like we had our own private space. The menu had enough familiar dishes to make it inviting, but a sufficient number of unexpected ingredients to keep it interesting.

Chuck waiting to dive in to the dim sum

We began with the steamed vegetarian dim sum and Shanghai Dumplings. This was not some afterthought as veg dishes often seem to be. Each little bite had something unique and interesting and brought out exclamations of delight. Even now, my mouth is watering. Then I ordered (a little sheepishly) the sweet and sour chicken. It was served with pomegranate seeds and...was that mango? Familiar, yet surprising and delicious! Chuck ordered the tofu, aubergine, and mushroom claypot that he eventually upended over the vegetable fried rice to get every last bit of its rich and tangy sauce.

I had the sorbets for dessert--coconut, pineapple, and strawberry. Like most things, I like my sorbets to have some tartness. The strawberry was surprisingly the most satisfying. But Chuck got something creamy with a passionfruit element. It was excellent, even if I forget it's name.

It proved to be an expensive evening, but we know where we'll bring friends for a chic cocktail or a very special night out now....

A Visit to Bahrain

2011-11-18T11:24:00.000+04:00

This week I got to spend several days in Bahrain, less than an hour's flight from Abu Dhabi. It nearly takes as much time to get to the airport and back as it does to fly there. There has been ongoing unrest in the country, but it felt a little like Bangkok did when things first flared up there. If you weren't in the thick of things, you could be totally unaware anything was amiss.

I was there to work with libraries and my colleagues, so I was able to avoid the troubled areas (that's for you, Mom and Dad). On my off time, I wandered around near my hotel, passing the Al Fateh Mosque and American chain restaurants on one side and carpet stores and (what I like to call) shwarmarias on the other. I found a cool block where they're having an art and craft market on weekends. The street is home to several chic restaurants and an art gallery. It seemed so unique and a little out of place.

I got to make a short side-trip into Saudi Arabia to meet with colleagues there. It was interesting to drive across the long causeway--stopping at passport and customs windows on both sides. When we pulled into Khobar, I was surprised to see flamingos wading along the shore! Apparently, they migrate through every year. I'd never seen a flamingo in the wild. They seemed so exotic!

My last day, I got to visit the excellent Bahrain National Museum which features archaeological finds like remains of funereal mounds around the country from thousands of years ago--skeletons as found buried in jars or coffins, coins, jewelry, pottery, etc. I had no idea how long Bahrain had been involved in trade and how much evidence there was left behind. I was especially interested in the personal seals that traders used to mark their goods.

There is a room that explains traditions and rituals of marriage and childbirth, another with a reconstruction of a traditional souk (market), another dedicated to the spread of Islam. It was all very professionally done and we had the museum practically to ourselves.

I also got to go to the Beit Al Qur'an which has an amazing collection of Qur'an manuscripts and prints. As you walk along a steadily rising ramp, you go from medieval to modern day and at the top there are also translations into various languages including the oldest known English version from the 16th or 17th century!

The best part of the trip was getting to visit my colleague's house and meet his wife. This was a first for me and I felt really honored. Along with the excellent company, I also got to try home-made ma'amoul, furthering my study of Arabic sweets.

Work-wise, I had some good conversations, got to give a presentation, and visited some pretty cool libraries. So, it was a good trip.

My Thai

2011-11-15T09:32:00.001+04:00

We spent last week in Thailand and it felt like going home. I was surprised, and exceedingly pleased, to realize how many Thai words came back to me once I was surrounded by it again. Colors, names of animals, different fruits, chili, spicy, man/woman, numbers, delicious, and phrases like "turn right/left", "hurts a little" (handy for massages), "thank you very much", "sorry, excuse me". I could speak polite baby talk again. Yea!

We had several massages including a couple right on the beach, listening to the waves wash the shore just as the sun was setting. Ahhhh. I listened for the chirp of a gecko, thinking surely there was one in the rafters of the palm frond roof somewhere. I was eventually rewarded by the sight of a plump little lizard on one of the beams--go little guy, get those skeeters! We counted 13 geckos one night on the ceiling and walls of the portico leading to our hotel room. I admit, I shrieked a little when one plopped down on the path in front of me and when scrambling off. They must have been eating caffeinated bugs. Those suckers were fast!

It rained a little most days while we were there. They were still worried about flooding further north, but rain was just a curious anomaly in Khao Lak this time of year. We enjoyed watching the storm clouds approach and listening to the drops build in a crescendo. One night at dinner a few drops swiftly rose to a deluge as we whisked our dishes off the table and made for the interior of the restaurant. We probably hadn't seen rain for three months or more. Though, there was that day in Abu Dhabi when it was so humid that the trees dripped...

We took lots of walks on the beach, drank lots of fruit shakes, and consumed several plates of kale in oyster sauce along with some of our other favorites. It felt so familiar and comfortable and relaxing. I was so glad we didn't end up going somewhere new and coming back more tired than when we left!

More Creative Breakfast

2011-11-15T08:26:00.000+04:00

I've been traveling a lot lately and I'm trying to keep healthy habits while on the road. Breakfast is the meal over which I have the most control and it's the easiest to make healthy. So, building on the creative breakfast idea I wrote about last month, I've added a couple of items to my breakfast kit.

I now pack not only instant oatmeal and almonds, but also a one-ounce (Nalgene, guaranteed-not-to leak) bottle with cinnamon and a baggie of my favorite, tart Montmorency Dried Cherries (courtesy of Trader Joe's back home). Since all my hotel rooms so far have included hot water kettles, I heat up the water, poor it over the ingredients in a mug, stir it up, et voila! Wash down with a cup of tea or two and I'm off to a good start.

October Reading 2011

2011-11-12T17:02:00.005+04:00

4 October 2011
Corduroy Mansions: A Novel by Alexander McCall Smith

AMS sets this story in London. In it, he uses the same frame for the story as 44 Scotland Street--a group of people living in flats in a charming building--but moves further afield in the lives of the characters. Some familiar themes pop up wine merchants, British Racing Green Jaguars, a dog, and some philosophical thinking. I like how the author writes his characters and I keep coming back for more. Just what I was looking for...

20 October 2011
River of Smoke: A Novel by Amitav Ghosh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After *LOVING* Sea of Poppies, I was disappointed in River of Smoke. :( I hope the third book might pick up again with some of the other characters from the first volume. River of Smoke touches on several of the characters, but mainly focuses on men and their activities in Canton at the beginning of the Opium Wars. It contains interesting, in-depth descriptions of life there among the "factories", but life was sort of repetitive and I found myself just irritated with the pomposity and swagger of the foreign traders. The personality of one of the characters, Robin, as conveyed through his letters, was also annoying. I kept thinking he was after revenge for a long ago hurt, which made me think he was more and more conniving as the story went on and he seemed to string along his correspondent. I just wanted to slap them all. Sigh. Maybe all will be revealed in volume 3?

31 October 2011
Habibi by Craig Thompson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was my first graphic novel. It was fascinating to see Muslim and Arabic themes and stories woven into the fabric of the narrative. The three stars is for the disturbing plot and not the skill of the author who told through words and images a complex tale of slavery and hard-fought freedom. I don't know if I can handle *seeing* depictions of rape and enslavement when reading about them seems upsetting enough. On the other hand, it's very effective.

Any recommendations for a good graphic novel for beginning with the genre, friends?

View all my reviews

Mango-lime Shake!

2011-11-07T06:31:00.001+04:00

We are back in Thailand for a week and one of the first things I needed was a fruit shake. I drank this in an open-air restaurant overlooking the Andaman Sea. Ahh, Thailand how I have missed you!

Next stop, the roti cart!

2011-11-07T06:28:00.001+04:00

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T06:50:00.000+04:00

Chuck and I went to a costume party on Friday. I was Amphitrite, Goddess of the Sea, and he was Julius Caesar. Afterwards, we were waiting for a taxi when a Mercedes pulled over and an Emirati couple got out and asked to take our photo. Why not? So she posed with us weird/funny Westerners and he snapped the pic. We didn't take any photos ourselves, so we'll have to see if we get some from the friends who threw the party.

Spices at the grocery store

2011-10-30T21:21:00.000+04:00

Discovered at Carrefour...I bought rosemary, cloves, and something called "lemon powder." I still need to figure out quite what the latter is since it's black.

Abu Dhabi Sunset

2011-10-30T21:19:00.000+04:00

Cooler weather and this! I'm starting to see why people like it here!

Store Symmetry

2011-10-29T22:33:00.000+04:00

A new grocery store just opened in Abu Dhabi. I'd never seen cans on grocery shelves so carefully aligned!

Work/Life

2011-10-28T13:01:00.000+04:00

I don't remember a time when I was so busy at work. I'm so glad that we ride to the office as a group so that there's more incentive to leave at a reasonable hour--I'm inconveniencing someone else if I don't wrap it up around 5:00. Naturally, I could stay longer and do more work any day, but there's always going to be more, no matter how long I work at it. I find too that if I leave the office later I'm less effective, much more tired, less likely to exercise, and more likely to have a glass of wine. So, clearly it's in the interest of my physical and mental health to leave at the 8-hour mark.

Administrative work/form-filling/reporting could eat up my entire day and prevent me from doing even the tiniest amount of creative work. So, I've started tracking my hours this week to see how much time I'm spending at different tasks.** I figure having an accurate picture of what I'm currently doing at work will help me set my priorities and manage my time to the best effect, insha'Allah.

Sometimes I long for perfection instead of good-enough. Sometimes I poke at my conscience and ask myself "shouldn't I feel guilty about this?". I must be mellowing in my forties, though, because I realize my instinctive, personal standards are too high/unattainable and I feel guilty a lot less often than I used to. Alhamdu'lillah!

But, should I wish to boost my anxiety level, there's always news of changes and restructuring back at the mother ship. My first instinct is to worry over how it's going to affect me. Then I realize I can/will/need to just keep doing what I'm doing. Any changes are not likely to affect me immediately. But even if they do affect my work, I have no control over that. So, I say something akin to the Serenity Prayer and keep plugging along.

**This is thanks to a tip from LifeHacker on the time tracker called Toggl. What's nice is that you can use the web app without having to download anything to your computer. Since computers are locked down at work, if I want to use outside apps they need to be in the cloud. And it seems to work pretty well in spite of our antiquated browsers.

Abu Dhabi Film Fest Wrap Up

2011-10-28T12:07:00.000+04:00

The Abu Dhabi Film Fest ended last weekend. I managed to see three films and attended one reception. The reception demonstrated to me where I need to work on my mingling skills. It's not walking up to a person standing there alone that's challenging, it's inserting myself in a group with a conversation already underway. It feels rude, but if I don't, we're all going to stand around talking to people we already know.

The movies I saw were "The Double", "Buck", and "Pina". It was the world premier of "The Double" and Topher Grace along with the writers were there for the event to answer questions. It was an entertaining movie, but left me wondering if I'd missed something.

"Pina" is a Wim Wenders movie in 3-D about German choreographer Pina Bausch and her dance company. It was an interesting use of 3-D, nothing flashy, but a new way to appreciate the dancers and their movements. I was intrigued by the use of street clothes in costuming and seeing dancers in their 50s or 60s along with younger ones. My favorite pieces were "Full Moon"--that involved the use of water both falling from above and splashing below--and the part of one dance set outdoors where a man is lifting a woman by the waist at his side and swinging her in looping circles while her red dress flares out.

I didn't appreciate the less beautiful dances involving dirt or strange facial expressions as key components. The one with a chair and a piece of veal and a woman dancing in toe shoes with her upper body slumped over gave me a little flashback to The Master & Margarita last year. I appreciated the brief interviews and shots of each dancer interspersed between scenes. I could tell that working with Pina was not just about dance, but a whole way of life.

Finally, "Buck" was my favorite of the movies I saw. It is a documentary about Buck Brannaman, the current horse whisperer. It features his work with riders and horses at clinics that he holds all across the US. The film delves into his personal history and philosophy and includes interviews with family and friends along with Buck, himself. It really captures the magic he works with people and animals. I laughed, I cried, I loved it.

Opining Soon

2011-10-25T06:53:00.001+04:00

Things have been exceedingly busy lately, so I haven't been able to offer as much commentary on living in a new place as I would like. Insha'allah, I'll be opining (again soon). ;)

Dining Al Fresco

2011-10-23T21:06:00.000+04:00

The weather has been dramatically cooler these last couple of days. Last night we met friends for dinner--we walked there and sat outside--didn't even break a sweat! There was a steady breeze that made for a cool, comfortable evening lingering over the table. (According to weatherunderground, it was 82F or so, but I could have sworn it was in the 70s.)

We went to Vasco's, an Italian/Indian restaurant at the Hilton's club, the Hiltonia, on the water. They have a nice salad bar with lots of options including fatoush dressing and pita bits. I was just happy to find butter lettuce, my favorite! I followed the salad with tender, tangy chicken tikka with garlic naan. Chuck had the possibly-too-cheesey Pizza Quattro Formaggi. The benefit of the restaurant-tied-to-a-hotel was that we could have a couple glasses of chardonnay-semillon with our meal.

Good food, good company, good weather. We couldn't ask for more!

Creative Breakfast

2011-10-13T20:57:00.000+04:00

After a couple of days of indulgent eating in Jeddah, I decided to make a simpler breakfast in my room one morning. I had the elements necessary—a hot water pot, instant oatmeal and almonds from my luggage, and even an apple generously provided on my hotel fruit plate.

I fired up the pot and, using a coffee mug as a receptacle, poured in the oatmeal, chopped up half the apple and threw the chunks in with a handful of almonds. The only spoon-like implement was a small stirrer, but I soon found that the fruit knife made a better stirring/eating tool. I poured the water over this mixture, letting it sit for a couple of minutes and then dug in.

It was a perfectly tasty, although I might consider packing a spoon and some cinnamon in the future...

Saudi Arabia 1st Impressions: Jeddah

2011-10-13T20:53:00.000+04:00

My first experience of Saudi Arabia was a sheltered one as I kept to my hotel or remained in the company of colleagues. Still, it was interesting. I see visiting Jeddah, a more cosmopolitan place by all accounts than Riyadh, as easing into the Saudi experience. I understand social mores are much more strict in the capital.

The city is narrow and long with a few skyscrapers among many more low, two-story buildings. Residential compounds are walled at least as much for privacy as for security. The main boulevards have large-scale sculptures in the middle--here a giant hammer or saw, there a flying carpet with an SUV on top or a wave of mosaic tiles. If there was an overall theme, I missed it. I saw a few walls made of coral, but didn't get to visit the oldest part of town this time. Many of the historic coral homes are gone now, anyway.

When going out in public I was expected, as all women are, to wear an abaya. For me that was the easy part. Well, easy mentally. Physically, I was challenged, stepping on the hem four or five times before I even left the airport. It got easier with a little practice.

The more challenging aspect was my uncertainty in interacting with men. I wondered, Am I being too friendly with the hotel and restaurant staff? If I accidentally make eye contact with a man while waiting for the elevator, should I look away, should I keep my face blank? Am I laughing too loudly? If I nod, am I inviting unwanted attention? What do fellow westerners think of this? Perhaps Culture Shock! Saudi Arabia is in order.

On the food front, I was happy to find that my colleague is an expert in the local dining scene. When eating in restaurants (in my abaya, naturally), I was led to the “family section” where women, couples or families must sit separate from men who are dining alone. Service was attentive and courteous, and presumably by non-Saudis. Although locals are not outnumbered by expats as the Emiratis are, so Saudis make up a larger percentage of their own workforce.

It will be interesting to see, when I have the chance to visit Riyadh, whether that experience will feel more circumscribed and separated.

Better than an impulse buy

2011-10-05T19:54:00.000+04:00

Back in January 2010 I read Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies which I absolutely loved. At the time, I learned that it was a planned trilogy, so I'd been eagerly awaiting the sequel ever since. In July of this year, I was excited to find out that the new book, River of Smoke, would soon be published AND I could pre-order it for my Kindle. So I did.

Months went by. I forgot I'd ordered it. Then today, Molly wrote to say she'd bought herself a copy of the book and I thought, wait a minute. I turned on my Kindle and flipped to the last page...and there it was! This is better than an impulse buy. What a great surprise!

Sadaf Restaurant

2011-10-02T02:39:00.000+04:00

I had some awesome Persian chicken in Fujairah the other night. Can't decide if it really was the best chicken I ever tasted or I was just really hungry at midnight. Does it matter?

After the concert on Tuesday a few of us just couldn't make it without some serious sustenance. So, our van driver recommended Sadaf very close to the hotel. We ordered food to go and had a look around while we waited. The tables have screens or curtains to give families privacy while dining. I hadn't seen this arrangement in person, but remember that Anthony Bourdain encountered it in Saudi Arabia.

I had the Joojeh Masti from Sadaf. (Google Translate interprets this as "Drunken Chicken"). I believe it's marinated in yogurt with spices making it deliciously moist and tangy. Then it's finished with the satisfying singe of the grill. Mouthwatering. It came with fries, salad, yogurt sauce (with mint?), bread, a salty yogurt drink, and a dessert and was less than $10 (I'm sure that was the end of the night discount).

The best part is, they have a branch in Abu Dhabi, too! Could it be that good a second time? I'll report back.

Happy Thoughts

2011-10-01T10:47:00.001+04:00

Following the model of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour I've been thinking about what makes me happy this week. One of those things is PCHH itself. The gang has been podcasting for over a year, but I only recently discovered them, which means I have some catching up to do. This is great since I can listen to a new episode every day, helping me laugh my way through my treadmill time.

I listened to their 1st anniversary podcast the other day which included a nice tribute to Jim Henson under the heading "Wish You Were Here". I've been thinking lately about books and DVDs that exemplify American culture and I think "The Muppet Show" would be a great addition. H.E. Kermit the Frog, Cultural Ambassador?

Last night some friends and I went to see "Louder than a Bomb" as part of the American Documentary Showcase. It features the largest poetry slam in the world which takes place in Chicago every year. I was amazed and moved by the poetry and its performance. These kids are deep! I highly recommend it!

Earlier this week I had lunch with a colleague and our conversation ranged from art history mysteries to Renaissance Italy to Dutch painters to ancient archaeology to Alexander McCall Smith to Shakespeare--an altogether satisfactory lunch! I learned last week that a colleague at a different post had organized a regular session for singing bawdy Renaissance songs. I have found My People.

Also, this week I got to hang out with the Johnny Rodgers Band, talented musicians all, who put on an extremely energetic show. The particularly catchy "Mary Jean" has been circling through my head all week. It makes me dance and dancing makes me happy.

First Visit to Lebanon

2011-09-29T21:42:00.000+04:00

The last few days I’ve been so busy and exhausted at the end of the day that I go to work, come home, eat, exercise, sleep and do it all over again the next day. End of the Fiscal Year deadlines have me stressed, but I’m enjoying the challenge of keeping all the balls in the air.

It was ideal, I think, to start my work travels in Lebanon where I had friends who I not only got to see, but to work with. It made for a soft landing. Fortunately, I had a chance to get away from the confines of Beirut to visit different parts of the country.

Late Sunday afternoon I got to explore Byblos where alphabetic writing may have originated. It’s a town that has seen steady activity more or less from prehistoric times to the present. The Bible gets its name from Byblos and its former papyrus industry. C. and I went with another of her friends to explore the ruins. There’s a Crusader castle from the 12th century, Roman columns and an amphitheater, Chalcolithic (Copper Age) tombs, and an Ottoman house among other remnants. It has beautiful views back towards Lebanon!

On Monday a group of us visited Zahle. We drove winding roads through an arid, but green landscape, into the hills and on to the city. After our meetings we had a massive Lebanese lunch. We sat under the canopy of one of the open-air restaurants that border the trickle of a river. The food (and wine! (or arak for some)) just kept coming! We had to abandon our table and move to a fresh one for dessert.

After lunch we got to visit the UN World Heritage Site at Anjar in the Bekaa Valley where we had a tour led in French. It was nice to feel confident in a foreign language again after the rigors of Arabic training. The site is the location of an 8th-century Umayyad city which borrowed some of its architecture, literally, from previous inhabitants including some Greek-inscribed columns. It also hosts the only known remnants of Umayyad baths in the world. We were told it is exactly halfway between Beirut and Damascus.

Tuesday there were no great adventures, but I did have an excellent Mediterranean dinner with friends. We started with bruschetta, warm-goat-cheese salad and prosciutto and shared a bottle of a Lebanese red wine. I had seafood pasta in a red sauce. I could have licked the bowl clean, but I had been warned that an amazing dessert was to follow. So, I stopped myself from eating the last couple of bites in anticipation. And it was as C. had promised—delicious baked chocolate with berries on top, warm, smooth, and super yummy. We also helped P. with his gigantic pink macaron.

Wednesday I headed out with the same gang to see Baakleen in the Shouf Mountains. They have a beautiful National Library there which gets a lot of use. It sits on the top of a hill looking out over a green valley. Just lovely. I wish I had a chance to visit longer. I got to practice my Arabic at a meeting there making for a multilingual week. Then it was back to Beirut for more meetings.

Thursday I wrapped up business at the office with meetings and some harried collection development and then headed back to Abu Dhabi. I got home around 10:00 that night tired but happy with my time there.

Travel Update

2011-09-24T21:38:00.000+04:00

I've updated my travel timeline because I just got back from my first trip to Lebanon! I'll be blogging with some photos soon, but in the meantime, you can check my album out on flickr.

Travel on Dipity.

September Reading 2011

2011-09-17T19:18:00.001+04:00

15 September 2011
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: A Novel by John le Carré
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a thriller with a complex plot and good detailed character development. I found I couldn't read it when I was tired or I would miss crucial details. It kept me on my toes! I appreciated that Smiley wasn't just some flashy spy, but was a middle-aged man with real-life problems. I definitely want to continue with the series.

3 September 2011

The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I flew through _The Map of Love_ and it was challenging to keep track of the several main characters, but I really liked this book! It relates the story of Anna, a British woman who travels to Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century and her family at the end of the century. Two woman, Amal and Isabel, meet in the late 1990s to pore over a trunk of Anna's letters, journals, and belongings and gradually piece together the story of her family, her falling in love, and her growing ties to Egypt and it's political future. Anna's story alternates with that of Amal and Isabel and how they cope with love and Egyptian politics 100 years later.

There are a lot of introspective scenes where we get to know the complexity of Anna and Amal especially. I learned a lot about modern Egyptian history. The author worked in some Arabic lessons and I recognized some of the idiomatic expressions, too.

Highly recommended!

Cry Wolf by Tami Hoag
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Romantic suspense set in Louisiana. There was a lot of denial between the two damaged main characters. Atmospheric.

View all my reviews

The Scent of Abu Dhabi

2011-09-17T11:04:00.000+04:00

Perfume is very popular in Abu Dhabi, particularly 3oud (العود), an expensive scent made from the resinous heartwood of a certain evergreen tree from Southeast Asia. It has a spicy scent that's a little heavy and sweet for my taste. Here's an example of an ad for 3oud that we saw in one of the malls.

We've also seen shop window displays of pretty perfume bottles including some very large ones. I expect people can afford to fill those bottles here if they chose to do so. Some folks also apply more scent than others. The other day I walked into the ladies' room after a woman who wore so much rose perfume that I could feel it in my ears. Coming from scent-averse America, it will take some adjustment.

People watching supplemental

2011-09-04T05:58:00.001+04:00

When discussing men's fashion in my previous post, I neglected to mention the dishdasha/baseball hat ensemble. We've seen several men wearing the traditional robe topped with a baseball cap instead of a ghutra. Naturally, the cap is from a house of haute couture and not some trucker hat.

I also found another western woman's blog entry that does a better job than I could explaining the flare with which Emirati people wear their national dress and the pride they take in it.

I have seen many woman wearing full veils, usually very sheer ones, or the niqab that reveals only the eyes. When I returned to the dress shop to pick up my abaya (for future trips to Saudi Arabia), I saw one woman shopping for niqab with her daughter. I was intrigued and would have liked to ask her what you look for beyond fabric quality. What are the subtle differences that I can't see with American eyes?

I felt the same when visiting a sandal and keffiyeh shop. I had no idea that there was such a range of choice in color and quality. Naturally, if you wear something every day, you put a lot of care into choosing it. I think of how much consideration I put into selecting new frames for my glasses and the impression I want to make.

Food in Abu Dhabi

2011-09-04T05:38:00.000+04:00

So far we have focused mainly on Arabic and Indian food in Abu Dhabi. In every grocery store, there is a hot food counter that offers both. Chuck is in heaven sampling the fatayer/pies with spinach and we order a new Indian dish every day.

We have seen lots of American brands in the stores--we even found vegetarian Rosarita refried beans! One of the few familiar things, a staple in Chuck's diet really, that we haven't found yet is ajvar, that bright orange Balkan eggplant-roasted pepper spread, but surely it's only a matter of time...

The Arabic bread is amazing and there are more types of it than we ever knew. We especially like a chewy Egyptian kind and a big, very thin, flat bread. We toast it up on the grill for every meal.

Speaking of baked goods, the ma'amoul, distant cousins of the Fig Newton with a slightly crunchy or crumbly exterior, are excellent here. They are so much better bought fresh from a bakery than from a box--no surprise, I guess. The date-to-cookie ratio favors the date and they are not overly sweet, which I appreciate! We've also had them stuffed with pistachios. And other sort of rectangular tubes of pastry stuffed with dates and rolled in sesame seeds. Fortunately, we've found ways to walk a lot and burn off some of those calories!

The restaurant scene seems to have a lot of variety at the high end and quite a few familiar fast food chains (though we haven't been to a-one of them, I'm happy to say). The city doesn't have the culinary diversity of Bangkok, but it also has 10X fewer people than that city. We have had Tex Mex, Lebanese, and French food, the inexpensive Lebanese being the best so far. Although we did have some excellent tangy lentil soup to start off a fancy Iftar at the Emirates Palace Hotel.

A colleague and friend had us over for a wonderful lunch that featured what I called Indian Sloppy Joe's, or Pav Bhaji (yes?). It was a mixture of chunky beans and veggies topped with fresh onions and tomatoes to which you add lemon juice and pepper and then eat it on butter grilled buns. Yum! We finished the meal with a traditional Eid dessert, Sheer Kurma I think. It was a warm mix of nuts, dates, other dried fruit, and fried vermicelli with a sweet, cardamomy milk base. It was really special to get to share in this tradition!

In summary, we aren't suffering!

People Watching

2011-09-02T17:34:00.000+04:00

So far our best experience for people watching was wandering a crowded mall around 11pm. Most of the stores were closed, although the restaurants were still open. People were there to see and/or be seen.

I'm fascinated by fashion here. It was interesting to see (what I believe were) teenage girls completely veiled--which, I imagine, offers excellent observation opportunities without being seen--and others with big hair (one girl was even blonde), a shayla/headscarf draped over the top, some had their scarves open in front or their abayas trimmed with flashy, bright fabrics. One girl's abaya showed off animal print leggings underneath. Other ladies were dressed in black abayas and shaylas sometimes with a few crystals, sometimes even simpler.

The young guys wore dishdashas, mostly very white, but some in a creamy yellow. Some wore red and white checked or white ghutra casually knotted around their heads. Others held them on with with Iqal, the black woven rope, on top. Then the ghutra was worn in different ways, free down the back, sides folded over the top, worn loose, twisted around.... I noticed some young men had longer hair than I expected, too. I assume this a a mark of teenage fashion like shaggy hair is at home.

It was interesting to see how teenagers express themselves here compared to the U.S.

Laundry Detergent: Know your market!

2011-09-01T19:21:00.000+04:00

Persil, keeping your black clothes black and your white clothes white!

Outdoor Observations

2011-08-31T09:47:00.000+04:00

It's interesting while I'm on one of my walks to notice the things that are familiar and the things that are novel to me.

On the familiar side, I see boxwood, pink bougainvillea, and white frangipani. There are sparrows, doves, what I think are mynah birds, and random skinny cats. Also strangely familiar are the previously mentioned Seattle's Best Coffee, Cold Stone Creamery, and Subway Sandwiches.

On the novel side, I smell an herbaceous green that they grow along the walkway. I see date palms and the remnants of dates that litter the sidewalk. Across the way are the domes and minarets of mosques. I see Arabic archways that have a gothic look and knotwork that could be Greek or Celtic to my eyes. (Hmmm, I wonder where that pattern originated?) The people are an interesting mix from South Asia, the Philippines, other Arab countries, and "Western" countries.

(I'm including the fountain just because I like the way the photo turned out. Having fun with the Hipstamatic app for iPhone. I'm sure I'll tire of it at some point.) :)

Emirati Coins

2011-08-31T09:35:00.000+04:00

I thought it would be fun to share some shots of a couple Emirati coins. I was intrigued by the coffee pot and oil derricks depicted there.

Walking in Abu Dhabi

2011-08-26T11:44:00.000+04:00

For the past two or three months I'd been walking 10,000+ steps a day and it felt good! I also got accustomed to a daily walk with my dad on one of Vancouver's (WA) nice paths while I was home. So, I wanted to find a way to keep it up.

Since arriving in Abu Dhabi, I've tried several different approaches to get my steps in. My first attempt last weekend was an outdoor walk starting at 8:30AM, full-steam ahead. Ugh, that didn't end well--nausea and exhaustion. The heat index was over 100°F by the time I got back!

We've taken a couple of walks in the evening. There's a nice breeze along the Corniche, so better, but still extremely sweaty. We used the exercise room together one evening. There are different hours on different days for the different sexes plus some co-ed time when we can exercise together. But even if you figure the schedule out, they limit time on the machines to 30 minutes. Plus, no fresh air or variation in scenery.

The best option I've found so far is getting out the door by, or before, 7:00AM and walking more slowly than usual--it's relatively cooler, there's still a breeze, and I don't wear myself out in the first 2 miles. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll keep it up!

Abu Dhabi: 1st Impressions

2011-08-23T19:46:00.000+04:00

One thing I'm enjoying in Abu Dhabi, as I did in Thailand before, is the juxtaposition of familiar American or Western brands with local culture and language. I'll probably post lots of photos of signs in Arabic and English like this one of Cold Stone Creamery. The words in Arabic are just transliterated, not translated, so it's spelled out "c-o-l-d s-t-o-n-e c-r-e-a-m-r-y". (The 2nd 'e' might be an unwritten short vowel.)

During the holy month of Ramadan people break their day of fasting with an Iftar meal after the evening call to prayer at sunset. In Abu Dhabi many people go to elaborate buffets at the hotels. Various restaurants also offer Iftar meals including, apparently, KFC. (Sorry for the poor quality. Still getting the hang of my phone camera.)

And finally, if you're really homesick, there's always Seattle's Best and Cinnabon at the Corniche (just down from Cold Stone).

Abu Dhabi Settling In

2011-08-21T06:53:00.000+04:00

I arrived in Abu Dhabi Tuesday night and started work Wednesday and Thursday. I mainly worked on getting checked in and learning the layout of the place. I'm enjoying getting to know my colleagues. I had a little interaction with the front office, even, which made me feel useful. This week, I need to get down to spending some money before the cutoff date and want to start sending out introductions to my regional colleagues.

This weekend I did my first Abu Dhabi mall shopping and bought a couple of abayas for my trips to more conservative places. Fortunately, I had more experienced friends to guide me and to bargain in Persian/Farsi. I'm holding off on buying a very fancy one (read: bedazzled!--All my Irish dancer instincts came into play when I realized the Swarovski possibilities!)

We ate at a tasty Lebanese place on Friday night and then made a visit to their bakery where we bought a number of little cookies stuffed with dates--excellent date-to-cookie ratio on the mahmool.

Yesterday, one of my colleagues hosted a wonderful, abundant iftar dinner. I think there might have been a whole lamb involved! We started with savory samosas and a delicious pigeon soup with orzo, had rice with a flavorful mushroom ragout with rosemary, tender lamb, an Egyptian eggplant dish, meat pie, salad, angel hair with basil, hummus and baba. Much later, when we were able to think about food again, there were amazing homemade mango and chocolate mousses, fruit salad with lots of berries, and our host's famous carrot cake. Surprisingly managed not to stuff ourselves completely.

Fortunately, I'd gone on a four-mile walk earlier that day. Although, that was ill-advised. Just because you can walk in 90+ temps in DC, doesn't mean you can do the same here. I started out at 8:30 and came back an hour+ later feeling ill. I'd better learn to start slow and build up!

So, I'm happily settling in, arranging things in the apartment and figuring out my job. Most importantly, I'm reunited with Chuck and Bianca. Life is good!

Portland Eatin'

2011-08-12T07:44:00.000+04:00

My purpose in coming home was to spend some quality time with my family. So, my dad and I have taken a long walk every morning; my mom and I have gone shopping and visited with family friends; my sister and I whiled away a day together; and I've seen various nieces and nephews. Knowing me, you know that restaurants have played host to as much of this bonding as possible.

Some highlights:

Laurelhurst Market Restaurant
While I'm not a meat-eater and the emphasis of the place is on steak, I thoroughly enjoyed this dinner with Carolyn and Lou and sampled or consumed larger quantities of:

a cocktail with Calvados, citrus, mint, cucumber soda, and a touch of cream--sounds questionable, tasted incredibly refreshing
fresh peaches with prosciutto topped with pistachios (and olive oil?)--eliciting groans of delight
flavorful heirloom tomatoes with good olive oil and salt
moules frites Belgian style with beer and mustard served piled together and topped with rich aioli
a glass of my new favorite Austrian wine, Grüner Veltliner
crepes with chocolate and hazelnuts and some cherry deliciousness
a Spanish dessert wine, Alvear Pedro Ximenez de Anada 2008 related to that wonderful stuff we had in New Orleans. This one much lighter, but still satisfying.

Mindy and I had a lovely lunch at McMenamin's Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, a new McMenamin's to me. We sat outside Imbrie Hall in the cool of the garden. There was a fire going in a large brazier that lent a whiff of nostalgia for family camping trips and s'mores. We sipped iced tea and shared a basket of fries and I had a salad with tender greens topped by goat cheese and poached pears. Good thing I didn't see this offering while we were there...

There was also a return trip to Vindahlo with Stephanie on my agenda. There we enjoyed:

the Jamun Daiquiri of rum, blackberry puree and St. Germain--deliciously tart
crispy papadum in their tangy tamarind sauce
onion pakora
the musts of garlic naan and mint chutney
sabzi--summer squash and zukes with garlic
And their delicious Tandori Prawns

To wrap up the evening, we had scoops of caramel ice cream with salted chocolate at Ruby Jewel on Mississippi. Delicious, but the large hunks of brownie-like chocolate were a little too salty. I might have preferred it if the chocolate and salt had been more evenly distributed.

Naturally, I've had a Gardenburger with special spread and a Chocolate Monkey Smoothie at Burgerville.

My folks, Mindy, and I had lunch at Grant House yesterday. We sat in the garden of the 19th-century house and watched bees buzzing about the lavender flowers in the sun. The best part of the meal was the dessert--we shared a caramely bread pudding, a blackberry crisp, and a blackberry lavender sorbet.

Today it was lunch at Hoda's with their amazing bread--so flavorful, warm, a little soft, a little crisp. I had a tangy lunch of fattoush salad and lemony lentil soup. I later topped it off with my favorite cake, my mom's poppy seed cake made with pudding and sherry. Mmmmm.

Love+Food=Happiness

My Favorite Things...

2011-08-12T04:47:00.000+04:00

So excited to find Raspberry Tart jam by the Mountain Fruit Company (Chico, CA) at Zupan's today! It's so tangy and delicious and--I hope I'm remembering correctly--not nearly as sweet as most others. Yea!

Rio Mar

2011-08-03T16:18:00.000+04:00

I found the description of what Michelle, Stephanie, and I ate at Rio Mar in New Orleans earlier this summer. I had meant to blog about it, but since it's moving day, I'll keep this simple. It was amazing food!

peppers stuffed with crawfish
grilled toast points with goat cheese and port reduction
grilled peach salad with goat cheese
ceviche
house salad with manchego cheese
black drum fish with eggplant and green beans

I don't think I'd ever had grilled peaches before. So...very...delicious!

Some Spanish Wines...

2011-08-03T07:29:00.002+04:00

Went to a wonderful tapas restaurant, Rio Mar, when in New Orleans. The wines we had were excellent and included:

The Kite Man is Back!

2011-07-29T14:55:00.000+04:00

Thanks Jason Rouse the Kite Man is back! Take a look at the old PSA on Vimeo. My hero! And thanks to Angela, who found my blog entry "The Kite man Wouldn't Approve, and left the link.

July Reading 2011

2011-07-24T18:19:00.001+04:00

24 July 2011
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Isabel ponders guilt and shame and struggles with her own insecurity as she makes her way about life in Edinburgh with Jamie and Charlie. But despite the usual misunderstandings, all is well in the end.

20 July 2011
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book like I loved Sea of Poppies. The characters are so rich and complex. You get to know them over the course of several decades which mainly pass in a small hospital/health clinic in Addis Ababa staffed by a mix of locals and expats (Indian and British) and run by a nurse/nun. Children are born, grow, and change, their lives evolving with the times from the 1950s to nearly the present. They are surrounded by the loving, extended family of the hospital. It's a story of love and loss intertwined with medicine as administered in the field. Some of it is hard to read about.

I don't want to give anything away by describing the characters because I was pulled in by the story unfolding from the start. But so you know, it does come full circle in the end.

14 July 2011
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A mind-blowing story ranging around the Pacific in turns from the 19th century to the interwar to 1970s California to the future, the far future and back to the past. Intriguing and in the end, indescribable.

View all my reviews

A Taste of Brooklyn

2011-07-20T04:18:00.001+04:00

Saturday, I found the farmers' market next to our hotel, so I got a tasty baguette and some blueberries (actually from drugstore across the street) and tea for breakfast. We walked down to the Staten Island Ferry and took it out past the Statue of Liberty and back. The weather was gorgeous and the crowd international. We heard French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and several other languages being spoken around us. I almost turned to the French people to thank them for that nice statue.

After our ferry ride, we took the subway into Brooklyn and wandered around Bedford Ave in Williamsburg. We stopped first at the Bedford Cheese Shop where Chuck pursued his never-ending quest for that aged provolone with a lemon and then at La Nonna Pizzeria Trattoria Paninoteca for lunch. Chuck had a slice of Sicilian-style pizza and I had a delicious salad with slices of grilled portobello and chicken, blobs of goat cheese and a balsamic reduction.

After lunch we made our way to Tip Top Superfine Fabrics where we spent a pleasant hour or so selecting delicate linens, fine wool, and cool cotton shirting for desert-weight-wear. When we had spent quite enough, we met Sarah and Dave for a drink or two in Williamsburg.

Then onward to Roberta's where we all met with another friend for fresh bread and house-cultured butter (seriously...and seriously tasty) and excellent coal-fired pizza ("no substitutions or special requests" or as I think of it, "shut up and eat your pizza"). I had the White and Green, simple, but so good with arugula, mozzarella, parmigiano, and lemon. They also made a refreshing dark'n'stormy.

After dinner, we met more folks and sat in the garden of another bar sipping and storytelling under a huge tree hung with red Chinese lanterns. I was wiped out, so had to call it a night early.

...It's a hellavu town!

2011-07-20T04:15:00.000+04:00

Chuck and I caught the Vamoose bus up to NYC with Sarah on Friday after class. He found an awesome, modern hotel (more on that later) and after we checked in Sarah led us to Cafe Mogador in the East Village.

First impressions:

the cars (on this part of the subway at least) are clean and modern, although the subway stations were steamy.
Taxis here are cheap (esp. compared to those in Arlington, VA!)
the skirts worn by young women on a Friday night in the city are shorrrrt and the heels are high.
New Yorkers seem to love their dogs as much as Parisians.
I prefer the neighborly town houses and lower buildings to the skyscrapers downtown--they're on a more human scale.

The food at Mogador was delicious! I had the lemon and olive chicken (my go-to Moroccan dish) with fluffy cous cous. Chuck got veggie cous cous, Sarah had falafel and hummus, and we shared some haloumi and roasted veggies. Dave joined us later and shared in some French rosé before we all headed home about 1AM.

Week in Review

2011-07-11T14:52:00.000+04:00

As I'm getting ready to leave Washington DC and have a little more free time since passing my Arabic test, I've started doing all those things I've been meaning/wanting to do like see more live theater and get to the drag brunch at Perry's.

Last Monday I walked with friends to the Iwo Jima monument to watch the fireworks. What a spectacular show! They started off with cascades and explosions and colors, layer upon layer, and didn't let up 'til the end. It was impressive! I definitely exclaimed "OOOooh" a lot!

This weekend we met up with friend Cathy for dinner and Arabic practice (at Agora) and as we made a stop at Mr. Yogato afterwards, a woman came in asking for directions to a local theater. She was going to see the musical "Spelling Bee". Well, as Cathy is a known bee-planner and I'm a hopeful, we knew we had to see it.

Saturday, we had a lovely brunch at S & B's house. The table groaned with delicious cheeses, fresh berries, home-made jams, Middle Eastern spreads, olives, smoked trout, a fluffy frittata, etc. It was so relaxing to sit with them and their neighbor in a beautiful old dining room and let the conversation flow.

Then after my last visit to my favorite hair salon (and stylist), I met up with Cathy again for our theater outing. But first we had a delicious dinner of tender, tangy salad, a sort of yin yang pepper soup with crisp brussel sprout leaves, hand-rolled pasta with speck, garlic and a touch of cream, accompanied by a beautiful, dry rose at Posto.

Then we wandered back towards Dupont to the Church Street Theater. It's an intimate venue which worked well for the show. It was funny and endearing and we had a great time. Each 'contestant' had a personal quirk, but it was balanced, they weren't all over-the-top. And the audience members who were pulled in to the bee did wonderfully--and the blocking for them went surprisingly smoothly. It really worked!

I'll have to write about the drag brunch in a later post...

Blog Analysis by Wordle

2011-07-06T05:09:00.002+04:00

Well, this word cloud by Wordle, based on recent blog entries, gives a good indication of my thoughts in recent months....

Thinking About Thinking

2011-06-30T14:25:00.000+04:00

I’ve observed before that I’ve never thought so much about the way my brain works as I have while studying Arabic. I had another a-ha! moment recently about my thought processes.

At the beginning of our language study, we took a number of tests to determine our learning styles. When I met with the learning consultant, she said something like, “based on these results, I know that your brain probably takes in things that you aren’t even aware of. For instance, you probably noticed this Buddha calendar on my desk, but didn’t think about it.” And I had. Huh.

This got me thinking. I am an orderly person. I am a ‘J’ on the Meyers Briggs Scale (Judging: “you prefer a more structured and decided lifestyle”). I’m a front-row-sitter, t-crosser, i-dotter. Sometimes my husband or friends will tease me about the methodical way in which I do things.

But I realized, that my thoughts actually flow in a very non-linear way. If I tell a story, I really have to focus or I’ll go off on all sorts of tangents. If I’m talking to my sister, our conversation flows freely into and around all sorts of topics and others have trouble following along.

I believe I keep lists and sit in the front row not because my brain works in an orderly fashion, but because it doesn’t. My brain leaps from one subject to another. If I sit further back in a classroom, I get distracted by other things going on around me. (This made me think about K. when he first got his hearing aid and didn’t know how to filter out other people’s sounds. He couldn’t focus.) I realized that I sit forward as a coping mechanism.

Regarding list-keeping, if I don’t write down a to-do list, I’ll either forget to do something or will obsess about remembering everything I have to do to the detriment of other activities, like sleeping. Also, if I don’t write down the key points of a presentation, I won’t remember to give them.

This was another A-ha! I went to a brown bag presentation on strategies for succeeding at language testing. The instructor told a story of a woman who just couldn’t get past the 2+ score to 3 in speaking French until she learned to present her assigned topic in an orderly way.

First, I realized this is why I got a 2+ and not a 3 in French and second, I realized that in conversation I have a very fluid, possibly chaotic style, whereas a presentation needs to move from A to B to C for listeners to follow. In my French test and my first couple of Arabic assessments I sounded something “there’s A and then there’s M, oh, and don’t forget about K.”

Giving a formal presentation or writing a paper, I know to:

Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Tell them.
Tell them what you told them.

But doing this on the spot, in five minutes, in a foreign language was a challenge. Now aware of this though, I was able to practice creating orderly talks on the fly and inserting verbal cues for my listeners to follow. One learning consultant suggested to Chuck that he present his talk as if reading a PowerPoint outline out loud.

So, in my last few weeks of class, every Arabic presentation began “I am going to speak about blah. I will focus on three points about blah. 1. X, 2. Y, 3. Z. Firstly, I will talk about X…” Clearly, these are useful phrases for formal speech anyway, but they also helped me pass my test.

All of this to say, don’t judge your Js as I judged myself. Even if they’ve never articulated or realized why they do things this way, they may have developed these coping skills for good reason. A-ha!

Cashion's Place

2011-06-19T16:00:00.000+04:00

Last night we went to Cashion's Eat Place over in Adams Morgan with Cathy and another friend of hers in town doing research on sabbatical. (I wished we'd let him talk more so we could have heard about his research.)

The restaurant was kind of loud with the strong hum of voices and an eclectic soundtrack playing in the background. The service was attentive. We ordered a cold tuna salad and "Steve's Asparagus with Cherry Tomatoes, Fava Beans, Vermont Chevre, Red Pepper Salad, and Lemon-Oregano Dressing" to share. Whoever was at the salt station last night was a little over-enthusiastic. Fortunately, they brought us a new plate of tuna, unfortunately, they didn't salt it at all and there was no salt on the table. (I think they thought it was the dressing--no, it was the person sprinkling profuse amounts of salt on everything. The asparagus and my salad were salty, too.)

I ordered a Moscow Mule. Refreshing, though a little sweet for my taste. Chuck and Cathy ordered margaritas with mint and cherry, yum! I had the "local mixed greens with duck confit, aged Pipe Dreams Fromage goat cheese, jalapeno-strawberry jam and mustard balsamic dressing." As our server said, "the jam sounds busy, but I really like it." I ate it enthusiastically, especially with their awesome, crusty bread on the side. The bread was a major highlight. I washed the rest of dinner down with a glass of beautiful, dry Adelsheim Rosé of Pinot Noir.

Chuck and I shared a veggie plate with farro, some tempura onion rings, and other stuff. But the best part of dinner was the dessert! The four of us shared a raspberry-apricot puff pastry tart with ice cream and a and a strawberry roulade with a blueberry coulis and something creamy, I believe. Delicious and super tangy. At first I was disappointed that they had an entree with rhubarb, but no dessert with it, but the desserts--esp. the tart--were in the spirit of rhubarb's deliciousness.

Fearless Critic, our food bible, rated the food a 7.5 and gave 9.something to the atmosphere. I didn't pay much attention to our surroundings, actually, but the service was excellent and the food was very good.

Test Prep

2011-06-18T16:14:00.000+04:00

Before the test I needed to get my self seriously psyched. So, I prepared in a very structured, somewhat ritualistic and superstitious way. Naturally, I'd studied like crazy leading up to all of this, but in the last few weeks I had to rein in the urge to learn new vocab. This was the time for reviewing what I had already studied/learned. I knew having fewer words at the ready was better than having many words but not being able to produce them. But it was hard to change gears after so many months of trying to absorb new material every day!

I also worked on strategizing for the test. I practiced giving very structured presentations so that my testers could follow a logical progression (this is something I messed up on my French test and I wanted to get it right this time). I practiced coming up with those structured presentations on the fly like I knew they would ask me to do. "Here's a topic in English, you have five minutes to prepare in Arabic." I practiced asking questions and politely asking for clarification or repetition. I worked at skimming in reading, focusing on getting the gist and looking for the 5 Ws--this was a challenge, we'd gotten used to reading every single word. (I wished I'd had more time to work with Media Arabic, a great guide to critical reading!)

I decided a few days before that I wasn't going to listen to the uncertain messages from my brain, but I was going to think about all the positive and encouraging things my husband, friends, and instructors had said about my Arabic. My plan was to channel their confidence and positive energy when I went into the test. I wasn't going to think about scores or requirements, but I was going to go in there and do my best.

The day before the test after class I followed my instructor's advice and didn't do any more language study. I went for a couple of walks, took my belly dance class, watched TV, had a glass of wine, ate a good dinner and went to bed at a decent hour. All things to calm my nerves and create the best possible mental and physical state for the test. The next day I went in for only an hour of class just to warm up in speaking.

Before the test I ate some snacks, listened to some of my "Happy Music" on my ipod (the Overture to "Much Ado About Nothing", "I'll Fly Away", "Music for a Found Harmonium"), I even did a few Irish dance steps in the ladies' room to work out some nervous energy.

I took several things in to the test with me for good luck. I wore my hamsa necklace. I've worn it a lot this year and decided I would imagine that it had absorbed all the Arabic I had learned and wearing it would anchor all my grammar and vocab during the test. I took a good luck stone from my learning consultant and what I had decided was my lucky eraser--it had also been with me this whole time and has erased so many mistakes. Finally, I took a picture of Chuck with me so I could pretend that I was speaking to him and not be intimidated by native Arabic speakers.

All this mental preparation paid off in a relatively calm and positive experience. It helped that my testers were very encouraging and friendly. As I had been told, they really were on my side and wanted me to succeed. And as everyone had also told me, the test freakin' flew by. And then...it...was...over.

نجحت في إمتحاني

2011-06-18T16:00:00.001+04:00

I passed my Arabic test this week. After 9 1/2 months of study, it still hasn't sunken in that I'm done. Not done with Arabic, but with the language program that has been constantly on my mind all this time. I got a 2/2 as I'd hoped I would. That is, I have "Limited Working Proficiency" in both speaking and reading Arabic. (See more on the Interagency Language Roundtable site.)

My position is 'language designated' and required a 2/2, but I wasn't so sure I'd get it after hearing my friends' experiences on the reading portion of the test. They said things like, "the reading portion is f*!@ing hard" and "the articles I got were impossible." So, getting articles I largely understood and then getting my score was a huge relief!

My testers said, "you earned it!" "you're good at reading" and of course, "الحمد لله" ("Thank God").

Arabic is considered a "Super Hard" language. (Chinese is too, but I put it in its own category of Super Duper Hard, being tonal and having a character-based alphabet rather than a phonetic one like Arabic and English.)

For me the difficulty to Arabic, once you get past pronouncing letters we don't have in English, is the sheer size of the language. This must be what it's like to learn English as a second language vocabularywise. You can use 10 words to mean any one thing and the same word can mean 10 different things (or 38 as is the case with ظهر, check it out.)

Then there's the knowledge that you are learning Modern Standard Arabic, the language used by academics and newscasters and once you get to post, you're going to learn the 'real' language as used in daily life. They'll understand you, but you may not understand them (at first, anyway). Hey, as long as I get points for trying or even the 'isn't she cute speaking super formal Arabic' response. [I sometimes imagine catching a taxi and sounding something like, "good sir, wouldst thou convey me to yon hostelry where I may partake of the comestibles" although I don't think it's quite that bad.]

Last night I asked Chuck how long it took for the realization that he was done with the program to sink in. He said, "about a week." It's hard to believe this all-consuming experience is over....

April Reading 2011

2011-06-18T14:51:00.000+04:00

8 April 2011
Somehow I missed posting this before...

Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times by Margaret K. Nydell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was helpful in understanding how people from Arab countries view westerners and our culture, politics and international relations. It also gives a brief overview country by country of events historical and recent and political and historical differences between those countries.

View all my reviews

June Reading 2011

2011-06-11T15:49:00.000+04:00

11 June 2011
I picked up the June issue of National Geographic this morning and devoured most of it in one sitting. I really miss reading for pleasure! I think I've neglected it in favor of keeping up with Arabic and the news and wrapping up lots of administrative details for our upcoming move. It feels good to be back to normal and I even have some material I can discuss about the birth of religion for Arabic class on Monday.

7 June 2011
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The continuing story of some of my favorite people in Edinburgh with new developments for Bertie, Antonia, Bruce and others. I was feeling stressed and a little down lately and I think one reason was my neglect of leisure reading. It was a good book to pick up after a reading hiatus--fun to read and affirming the general goodness of humanity.

View all my reviews

Another Fun-Filled Weekend

2011-06-07T14:13:00.000+04:00

Last weekend was a fun one. We met Sarah and Cathy and her visiting friend Sarah on Friday evening at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden for Jazz in the Garden. We brought cheese, fruit, olives, crackers, hummus, tapenade and sipped wine under the trees all while enjoying the sounds of Mark Prince. We even worked on some Arabic flashcards. Then Chuck and I walked home to make it a 10-mile+ day!

Saturday evening we went to MC&SQ's for dinner and had a lovely time over chicken tacos and shandies talking about travel and theater and their upcoming wedding. I also made a pitch for Oregon for their honeymoon. :) We shared some nice desserts from Whole Foods and then watched part of "State Department File 649" which I must own. It's hilarious and a well-meant, if completely ridiculous, tribute to the people of the Foreign Service.

Sunday morning I bought the last two copies of the Washington Post from the neighborhood paper box and pulled out the booklets for the Post Hunt 2011. I carefully read it and perused all the ads in case they came into play. Last year we did the hunt with Molly and some of her other friends and had a great time, even in the rain. This year we were lucky to have her in town again (fresh off a plane from Fiji).

We met up with Molly, Cathy, Sarah, and Surin and got started. We listened to the clues from the stage then marched off in the direction of the Washington Monument. Thinking we might have a solution, we headed towards the Newseum to get our next clue delivered by an acrobat/contortionist. Things went downhill from there. We made our way up Pennsylvania stopping for the next several clues. They were so cryptic that by the time we got to the Old Post Office we were thoroughly discouraged.

After some discussion, we threw in the towel and went to lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill. We'd never been before. It was in a huge, but somehow cozy old building. We sat in the back area that has a lot of glass and natural light filtering through. I had a delicious spinach strawberry salad with a crispy crab cake on top and a pomegranate mojito. Chuck got the generous cheese plate and some soup. Molly tried the strawberry French toast. Surin had seafood empanadas and we all (except Chuck) shared some calamari. There weren't a ton of veggie options, but it was all very good.

Saying goodbye, Chuck and I walked to Trader Joe's then caught a cab home with our groceries. Then I was in for the evening and ready to hit the books. I'm currently a big fan of Media Arabic and hope it will help me learn to skim rather than read every word (with my lips moving).

Feeling Girly

2011-05-29T16:53:00.000+04:00

For a long time I wasn't feeling my femininity. For one, for the last 4 or 5 years I couldn't comfortably wear skirts. And for another, a certain physical feature that leaves little doubt of my gender discouraged me from adding frou frou and ruffles for fear of looking silly. Most clothing seemed to be made for a slender silhouette and not for us hour glass types. Look at most clothing catalogs and you'll see what I mean.

I loved my scarves and my rings, but most of my wardrobe languished in frumpiness. Then, I took some advice from "What Not To Wear" and bought some very flattering wrap tops (at Ross, no less). I lost a little weight. Last summer, the skirt issue was solved allowing me to add comfort and femininity to my wardrobe at the same time. I rediscovered the joy of bags thanks to Eve VanDalsen.

Then I started my new job and found a renewed interest in shoes. I had been wearing "practical" shoes for years to save my feet for/from Irish dancing and I was convinced there was no such thing as a comfortable heel. Happily, Naturalizer proved me wrong.

I'm enjoying dressing up again! And it feels good. I'm looking forward to giving away some of those old, frumpy things and finding a balance between owning too much stuff and enjoying my wardrobe choices. It's a nice challenge to have.

Set Dances

2011-05-24T06:35:00.001+04:00

For future reference, the sets I danced in Saturday were, I believe:

Connemara Reel
Ardgroom Polka
Waltz (a couple of waltzes, not the set)
Clare Mazurka Set
Monaghan Set
Ballyvourney Jig
Clare Lancers (which had lots of swings, fun!)

Break in Blog Updates

2011-05-24T06:21:00.001+04:00

I apologize for recent inactivity on the blog. I have an Arabic test on June 16th. I propose to resume regular posting after that.

This weekend was sunny and beautiful. We walked all around Clarendon and then up to 2Amys by the Cathedral. After a lunch of fabulous pizza (vongole for me and ST, margherita for Chuck), a generous cheese plate (sheep ricotta with chives, sovrano, and gorgonzola with honey) and salad, with a little rosé to wash it down, we visited the Cathedral. We wandered around and looked at the glass and the little chapels and crannies before taking the elevator up for some great views out over the city. Then we walked home stopping at Dolcezza for their amazing gelato (Argentinian style). We shared a scoop of Valrhona chocolate and another of lemon ricotta cardamom and ST shared his chocolate and blood orange gelato with us. So delicious!

Sunday I worked on Arabic, had a couple phone conversations from across the continent and around the world, and went to a ceili with another Bangkok friend. This was my first ceili in ages! This group does set dancing rather than "ceili" dancing, so the patterns were new to me, and the style of the steps, too. (See a description from a Seattle-area group.) Fortunately, it was a welcoming group of regulars including a number of instructors. There was excellent live music and a lot of fun!

Dearborn Food

2011-05-10T15:04:00.000+04:00

One of the highlights of our visit to Dearborn was the excellent Arab food. Naturally, it was served in large quantities. Every lunch and dinner we faced tables groaning with food--chicken, lamb kabob, tabouleh, rice, fatoush, garlic sauce, bread, hummus, fries, the usual suspects. Each time there would be subtly different spices or an especially tender bite. It was delicious! Oh, and did I mention the sweets stuffed with nuts and dripping with honey?!

I decided this would be a test run to help me set a routine for traveling for work. My new job may be as much as 50% travel. Logically, I cannot enjoy Arab hospitality everyday and maintain a healthy weight without a strategy. So, here are some takeaways.

Focus on the salad and taking smaller portions of other things
Graciously accepting sweets doesn't mean you have to eat them all
Pack workout clothes and find a treadmill/pool as soon as you arrive
Make time for exercise (even insist on it)

I don't know what a typical day will look like, but if this is what I'm going to be doing half the time, I'll need to have some routines to stay sane and healthy. So far, I haven't heard much about what my colleagues do, but it's a comfort to see that they all look pretty fit. :)

New Castle Wedding

2011-05-10T14:26:00.002+04:00

Patrick & Allison's Wedding
Originally uploaded by hewy

Two Fridays ago, Chuck, Surin and I drove up to PA for Patrick and Allison's wedding. We got to New Castle in time to hang out with the gang that evening and get to know some of their friends from Chicago.
Saturday, we got up and, after a hearty breakfast, headed down to the hall to help set up. DeAnna had applied her creative vision and as the morning wore on and more people filtered in (we were not the earliest), it all came together pretty quickly.
By 1:00 or so 22 tables for six were topped with table cloths, candles, wine bottles with origami bird arrangements and custom labels, draped with cloth napkins and sprinkled with coordinating curlicues. The head table, gift, cake and cookie tables were draped with cloths, wound with lights, and skirted and DeAnna's beautiful flower arrangements were strategically deployed. Uncle Bruce had built a bar sufficient for the embarrassingly large quantity of alcohol (we did have plenty left over at the end).
We eventually lured some folks away to Nahla's where we shared an assortment of tasty Syrian dishes including veggie kibbeh, fatoush, chicken, hummus, rice, grape leaves, tabouleh, baba ganouj and sleek (a mix of bulgar, onions, greens, with lots of lemon). All with a side of creamy garlic sauce and pepper rings. I even managed to squeeze in a nap before we headed to the hall again.

The ceremony was outside in a little gazebo and we were so happy that the weather cooperated. It got a little chilly as they began to take pictures. But everyone was dry and happy. And aren't they a lovely couple!
(How I ended up anywhere without a shawl, I don't know, but I stayed chilled until the dancing started. Dancing to the rescue!) We visited with family and friends around the hall. We had fun explaining New Castle and American wedding traditions to Surin and made sure that he got up for the Chicken Dance with everyone. :)
It was a success and a real group effort. That's one of the things I enjoyed the most about our own wedding--everyone pitched in to pull it off. That made it even more special.

Arabic Immersion

2011-05-05T16:57:00.000+04:00

We've had some amazing experiences on our Arabic immersion trip so far. Once we get back and I have more time, I'll report in-depth, but I thought I'd post some highlights.

The best experiences so far, and the best opportunities to speak Arabic, have been our dinner with a group of impressive Arab-American business women, a morning with Arabic-American high school students (again, an impressive group of accomplished people!), and a discussion group at a Chaldean Christian church where we were very warmly received.

It was challenging with our limited vocabulary and Modern Standard Arabic compared to their extensive vocabulary and knowledge of dialect. But it was so rewarding and they seemed thrilled that a group of non-Arabs were so set on learning their mother tongue.

We also had the opportunity to speak on two Arab-American radio shows and be interviewed on TV! Very exciting (and intimidating)!

We've had an incredibly packed schedule (entirely our own doing), but I feel like I've gained a much better understanding of the Arab-American community, it's diversity, and its accomplishments. And it will be wonderful to be able to speak knowledgeably about the topic with Arab people overseas.

Wedding Debrief

2011-05-01T17:31:00.000+04:00

I watched the royal wedding with Amy and Janine on Friday and helped with Chuck's brother Patrick's wedding in New Castle, PA on Saturday. I'll report in detail when I have more time! Both were beautiful!

Songkran in Silver Springs

2011-04-19T01:42:00.000+04:00

Yesterday we rode the Metro out to Silver Springs to join in the Songkran (Thai New Year) celebration at their local wat or Buddhist temple. They had all sorts of food booths many of whose offerings were listed only in Thai. It was wonderful to be surrounded by the sounds of the Thai language again and to feast on fried bananas, larb, khao soi (noodle dish from Chiang Mai), and the most delicious mango and sticky rice I'd had in a long time. The long line for the mango attested to its tastiness.

We visited the Buddha for our day of birth (I was born on a Friday, Chuck on a Saturday, and ST on a Sunday, so we have the weekend covered) and tried to conjure up how to say each day in Thai--Arabic keeps crowding out what little Thai I had.

The sun was out and although things were a little soggy from all the rain on Saturday, it turned out to be a beautiful day. Later in the afternoon, I took a walk up to Washington Blvd and picked up my new glasses and sunglasses. I'm liking the progressive lenses so far. Thank goodness, since these were the most expensive glasses I've ever purchased!

April Movies

2011-04-19T01:10:00.000+04:00

We saw two Egyptian movies last week as part of the DC International Film Festival, "Hawi" and "The Traveler". Neither was to my taste--they were slow moving and neither tied the story together very well. "The Traveler" had been edited poorly--whether or not one section was intended to be a flashback, it messed up the continuity of the film.

But it was interesting to hear Egyptian Arabic and to see what we could understand--not much, although more in the 2nd film than the first. We noticed that they used "مصر" (Egypt) to refer to the city of Cairo like we'd been told they do. We recognized a lot of greeting words and other common expressions, so that was encouraging. I think we'd understand the accent and pick up the dialect words if we lived there and were immersed in it.

We also just watched "Serenity" which was the follow on movie to "Firefly". I loved the story and the characters of the series. I wish it had stayed on longer than a single season. It imagines life as it would be if humans were forced to leave earth and expand to other planets--life on the outer planets is a lot like it was on the Western frontier, laws are a leetle more flexible out there.

O, Agora!

2011-04-18T06:06:00.001+04:00

We've made a couple of visits to Agora in Dupont lately with friends. They serve Turkish food so the menu offers familiar Mediterranean elements--tomato, eggplant, sheep/goat cheese, roasted red peppers, cukes--arranged in creative ways. Everything I've had there has been delicious. And I love the small plate/mezze style of dining that lets you try a variety of dishes. The price to portion ratio also seems to be more generous than Zaytinya. (I like the more intimate atmosphere at Agora, too, over the large, noisy, but also tasty Zaytinya.)

Last night we sat at the bar and chatted with the bartender. He makes a mean cocktail including the Sarasin that I ordered. It involves Grey Goose, limoncello, triple sec, and fresh ginger. Friend C. got the (also delicious) fig delight. As we started in on the food, I ordered a one-ounce taste of the Gruner Veltliner. I love that you can try an ounce of any of the by-the-glass wines for $1 and proceeds go to a local no-kill animal shelter. Better and better!

To eat, we had the htipiti, beet salad, piyaz, borek, mucver, alabalik, delicious Ottoman rice, and possibly some other things. Check out the menu and descriptions on their site. It was a whirl of delicious tangy-ness sometimes nicely set off by the sweetness of dates or a tomato jam. Seriously yummy.

Sunscreen Ratings Part II

2011-04-18T05:52:00.000+04:00

Last year I read the Environmental Working Group's 2010 Sunscreen Guide and decided to sample some of the highly rated ones. I didn't much like the water-resistant Badger product I tried, but then moved on to Devita.

Since late July I've been using the Devita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF30 on my face and neck everyday. The EWG reports rated it among the best SPF moisturizers. I like how it absorbs into my skin and doesn't leave a shiny or greasy residue. Although it's sunblock is based on zinc, it doesn't seem to turn white when wet like others I've used in the past. It comes in pretty, narrow glass bottles that makes it easy to recycle, but challenging to get that last little bit of sunscreen out of the bottle.

On warm and sunny days, I coat my arms in Devita Solar Body Block SPF30. (For good measure, I sometimes use their Evening Nutrition Moisturizer at night to battle the dry air.) I also often wear a hat or use an umbrella in the sun and just picked up my new sunglasses at the eye doctor. So, I'm getting set for the desert.

Fun with Arabic Idioms

2011-04-16T16:59:00.000+04:00

This week, I put together a PowerPoint presentation of Arabic and English idioms for our classes that gather together on Friday mornings. It was fun to see which idioms our languages share and to hear from our instructors which are the most popular across the Arab world and which they've never heard of.

One thing we learned was that the value of a bird in the hand is not consistent across cultures--English speakers will give it "two in the bush" whereas Arabic speakers find it's worth (more than?) "ten in the tree".

Chuck and I had bought two books of Arabic and equivalent English idoms, The Son of a Duck is a Floater and Apricots Tomorrow, at the suggestion of one of our instructors. (Son of a Duck... uses a difficult to read Arabic font that is challenging even with the transliterated hints below the text. This was improved in Apricots...)

I made slides of the sayings with the English translations and equivalents (sometimes debated) given in the books. I selected idioms that used words we mostly knew already (at the end of Rotation 4) and added hints for some of the others. I also threw a few English idioms in to entertain/challenge the native Arabic speakers in the room and finished with a song of English idioms from my childhood. It was a hit!

I had meant to include what is apparently a Koranic reference to "Trust in God, but tie your camel," but forgot. See an explanation of its origin at the site called Tie Your Camel.

BBC - Travel - Abu Dhabi: The city of superlatives : Luxury, Abu Dhabi

2011-04-13T23:18:00.000+04:00

Another story to add to info on Abu Dhabi, thanks for PT, BBC - Travel - Abu Dhabi: The city of superlatives : Luxury, Abu Dhabi

Jacqueline Novogratz: Inspiring a life of immersion | Video on TED.com

2011-04-10T17:05:00.001+04:00

I'm feeling a sort of synchronicity of TED Talks lately. They seem to be everywhere. Just listening to some of these speakers makes me take a deep breath. My heart feels big and my perspective pulls back from the narrow focus of daily tasks. They make me think about possibility, about the things I really want to do and be.

This morning, I caught up on Juanita's blog and was reminded of the mental/spiritual (can't think of precisely the right word) weight of our stuff. And of the relief I feel every time I lighten my load of belongings. It made me think of all of our stuff in storage and what I value there, which things I'll be happy to see again come August (hope this is a smaller category) and which I might easily let go (hope this is larger).

Then I watched this talk by Jacqueline Novogratz about people taking a risk and making a difference in the world. And it got me thinking about what I might do. I always think of "making a difference" as making some huge grand gesture. I feel envy and so much admiration for people who've devoted their whole being to something--thinking of people like Juanita or Greg Mortenson (or maybe not Greg Mortenson).

But then I remember that what seem to us like small gestures can make a big difference in people's lives, too. And how joining together allows us to make a bigger impact--I see friends like KM & AM giving to Kiva.org or Philanthroper and Jennifer going to Haiti. I start to think about how I can live my ideals and how it might even be possible to draw that deep satisfaction from my job. (Always chasing that dream.) The idealist-librarian wakes up inside me and wants to empower people. Now, to channel that energy...

More Fun with Arabic

2011-04-09T15:57:00.001+04:00

I decided to document some of my favorite Arabic study sources that are freely available on the web. The ones I use the most are:

Reference Tools

Google Translate: it's not perfect, but is steadily improving. I use it mostly to aid in comprehension and take a grain of salt when looking for a new word from English to Arabic. I also use it to get the gist of full articles by pasting the url of a news story into it or taking Google Chrome up on its offer to translate. I often listen to its pronunciation of words which isn't bad. It also has a cool iPhone/iPod Touch app with which you can speak an English word (or type it) into the device and it pulls up the Arabic word.

Podcasts & More

UN Radio Arabic: source of my favorite Arabic podcast--15 minutes of daily UN related news in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It's wonderful for listening comprehension and you can look up Arabic transcripts of each story in the archive by date to capture common expressions or turns of phrase or check your understanding. Great for government related vocab and current international events. I put it on my iPod and listen to it on my daily walk, sometimes several times.
NHK Arabic News: nice, slower 15-minute, Modern Standard Arabic broadcast from Japan. Includes international and Japanese news.
AlJazeera: offers a number of audio and video podcasts on different topics, mostly news, some religion and other.

Video & Print News

BBC Arabic and CNN Arabic: reliable news sources with an international focus. Benefit of being able to review same/similar stories in English to familiarize myself with an issue. Video, audio, and text for reading. See also BBC Arabic on YouTube.
AlJazeera (Arabic): Very different from the less emotional AlJazeera English. Naturally has a strong focus on the Middle East. Also good for different perspective on same story. See also AlJazeera on YouTube.

Other

Global Language Online Support System from the Defense Language Institute: similar to some of Scola's by-subscription offerings. Choose a language, choose a level, choose a topic, and you get MSA audio with transcripts in Arabic and the option to see the English side-by-side. I haven't used this yet to see all the features. I'm told if you sign up online, you can also take some tests to get an idea of your reading or listening comprehension level.
IIP Digital in Arabic: from the Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Arabic-language site of articles, audio, video, texts & transcripts, and photos.

Word Processing [Do we still call it that?]

Google Docs: my current program of choice, also conveniently in the cloud, for typing in Arabic. The punctuation doesn't work well, but it does connect the letters correctly and make a pdf in case you need to print it out. I also use it to compose a blog post and then paste into blogger.

Abu Dhabi Info

2011-04-08T14:23:00.000+04:00

Browsing around the web for other info this morning, I ran across National Geographic's Abu Dhabi pages. If you want a brief overview with lots of photos, this is the place to go. They also offer "10 Cool Things About Abu Dhabi" and "10 Abu Dhabi Must-Dos".

Apparently (just yesterday) the New York Times published "36 Hours in Abu Dhabi" which I'm looking forward to reading. Lonely Planet's AD page has a new feature in Beta that highlights favorite blogs on the topic along with their usual reliable info. And naturally, you can visit Abu Dhabi's own official travel page.

Bangkok Redux

2011-04-05T17:00:00.001+04:00

As I mentioned, we had a party on Saturday in honor of ST's arrival for a fellowship in DC. We knew a number of colleagues from our Bangkok days (can I start referring to it as a time period?) were in town. So, we extended the invite to a number of friends and waited to see who could make it.

We ended up with good representation from the EXO office with Chuck and four others, three former PDOers including me, and a surprise appearance by a former member of our Bangkok Afghanistan office. We also met some new-to-us-formerly-of-Bangkok folks.

We enjoyed the company of some of our more recent colleagues, too. It was especially fun to hear tales of Yemen from someone currently working there. Perhaps I'll get to see it for myself! And we got the details from a Cairo-evacuee, too.

We anticipated more wine drinking--Have the Clapping 153rd's numbers dwindled so far? We'll just have to have another party, I guess...

Jerusalem Restaurant, Falls Church

2011-04-05T16:34:00.000+04:00

ST arrived from Thailand Friday! We helped him adjust to local time by getting a Zipcar and running some errands together. We kept him awake and we all got some grocery and household shopping out of the way.

The highlight of the evening was an unintentional feast at Jerusalem Restaurant in Falls Church. We walked in to a pretty full restaurant, but they moved one of the regulars to make a place for the three of us.

The website declares: "Jerusalem Restaurant is where Muslims, Christians, Jews and others enjoy the foods of the crossroads of the world." The atmosphere was like a cozy family restaurant and the presence of actual Arab people was a good sign. We certainly felt welcome.

We had ideas of ordering a light meal, but once we got started, we ended up with the vegetarian combo platter, a chicken shwarma plate, fattoush salad, and some little spinach pies. I washed it down with traditional mint tea.

The ful was delicious and tangy. The falafel had a nice crunch, it was moist inside and flavorful, but not heavy or hard--perfect. The hummus, baba ganouj (according to my companions), mujaddara, and grape leaves were all of superior quality. The chicken was tender and good. The pies might have been slightly underdone to my taste, but were tasty anyway.

Of course we had to top it off with a pastry--crisp layers of filo gave way to creamy filling all topped by a drizzle of sweet syrup. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now.

I highly recommend it! The price was reasonable and would have been downright cheap if we hadn't overindulged. Then, of course, we ended up spending as much again on sweets to take home for a party the next day, too.

Westend Bistro

2011-03-26T17:39:00.001+04:00

Last night we had dinner with our friends, E&D, who are about to leave for Angola. They had picked the Westend Bistro in the Ritz Carlton. It came highly rated by the Fearless Critic guide which, as you may know, is our local food bible. The place had a pleasant, cozy atmosphere (although it was rather loud). The meal was excellent, as was the company, naturally.

We ordered a number of dishes off a nicely varied menu and washed it all down with a couple of bottles of Barth René Pinot Blanc 2009--refreshing and easy to drink.

The bread was wonderful, not surprisingly for bistro with Eric Ripert's name on it. I had tuna carpaccio--lightly dressed with oil, lemon, and salt--and the Westend Salad with aged cheddar, eggs, and ham. I also shared in a communal dish of fabulous fried brussel sprouts with garlic aioli and snuck several tastes of Chuck's incredibly creamy cauliflower soup.

He had the soup, roasted mushroom and truffle grits ("quite tasty") and a plate of artfully arranged antipasti. We also nibbled on a dish of braised winter greens that no one remembered ordering, but that was happily shared. Our friends had chicken fried pork belly, shrimp and grits, the skate, and an escargot appetizer. All declared delicious.

Somehow we managed to still have room for dessert. So Chuck and I got the olive oil cake--so moist!--with lemon and mint and our friends ordered a serving of tangy passionfruit sorbet and the Westend Sundae with vanilla and (a rich and intense!) pistachio ice cream which were drizzled in lemon and raspberry. I would definitely go just for the desserts sometime, too.

We spent quite a lot on the dinner, but the Monday to Friday happy hour menu would be fun to try and wouldn't break the bank.

Visit to Eastern Market

2011-03-26T17:09:00.001+04:00

The weather last weekend was beautiful, so Chuck and I took the Metro to Eastern Market. Eve VanDalsen had a pretty new green bag that I just had to get my hands on! So, after a chat and purchase at her booth, we wandered over to the popular crepe stand.

There was quite a line, but it gave us time to peruse the menu. I ordered a ham, apple, maple, Muenster crepe and a simple Nutella one. Chuck wasn't going to partake, but once I'd gobble down the first one there was mysteriously only one bite left of the other.

After some SMS tag, we agreed to meet up with S&B at the Jefferson Memorial. So, we walked our way towards the capitol and then along the Mall. We made a brief stop at the Sackler Gallery where we knew, thanks to a tip from another friend, that they were cleaning out their bookstore with everything 75% off! $18 later with a bag full of books, we continued onward.

We had a long-winded if informative tour of the memorial then sat and visited in the sun. We eventually made our way back north for the walk back through Georgetown. The cherry blossoms weren't quite ready, but it was a lovely day, anyway. And we managed to walk nine miles!

Tourism Opportunities on the Arabian Peninsula #1

2011-03-22T14:32:00.002+04:00

We just received the Lonely Planet: Oman, UAE & Arabian Peninsula this weekend and I started browsing it immediately. One of the first destinations that caught my eye for Abu Dhabi is the Falcon Hospital. According to their website, there you can gain "deep insight into the traditional heritage of falconry [and into] falcon registration and their unique falcon passports". Plus, you get to hold one on your arm. I am totally going there.

Incredible India--Jewels

2011-03-20T19:00:00.000+04:00

Last week SZ and I stumbled (literally) upon a display of jewelry from Jaipur while searching for the restrooms at the Kennedy Center. They had some brilliant and amazing stuff just dripping with diamonds and gems. There were strands of natural pearls--not cultured, but nearly perfect ones from the Emirates' pearling days. (With the dredging of their shores, these oyster beds no longer exist.)

There were docents at hand to explain the function of the more obscure items, too. There was an apple-shaped box completely covered in rubies and bridal set made of pearls and diamonds that had a piece to drape over the head and pearls that completely covered the torso. We especially liked the animal shaped items like the parrot flagon set with emeralds and rubies. Just dazzling!

An Afternoon in Logan Circle: Salonblu, ACKC Cocoa Bar, Cork & Fork, etc.

2011-03-13T18:55:00.000+04:00

The weather was rather lovely yesterday, so I took the opportunity to walk the 2 1/2 miles to Salonblu for my hair appointment. It's so nice to have found someone (David) who understands my curly hair and is great with a cut and color! Plus, he called his Moroccan colleague over and we had a little chat in Arabic and French. (My first conversation with an Arabic speaker outside of our program.)

Afterward, I had some time to wander before Chuck arrived, so at David's suggestion I took my Kindle down to ACKC Cocoa Bar. The interior is bright with hand-painted tables and luscious red walls. The Cocoa Barkeep walked me through the menu which involves chocolate confections available as hot chocolate, iced chocolate, ice cream, or milkshake. I ordered the Lucy Ice Cream Dessert.

This fiery redhead starts with semi-sweet chocolate infused with chipotle and is topped with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

And it was good. The chili was quite zippy and caught me in the throat, but I loved the combination. I wasn't quite adventurous enough to try the Ginger Rogers which includes ginger (love), but also wasabi (with ice cream? hmm.)

Chuck and I met up a little later to continue wandering and Cork and Fork caught our eye. It's a family-owned mostly wine shop with beer and cheese and a few other things. We sampled a few wines, but especially enjoyed the rosé tasting--so much so, that we ended up with four more rosés. Each of them quite different from the others in color--ranging from a pale salmon pink to deep raspberry--and taste--from delicate and dry to bursting with fruit. They were:

Laurent Miquel Cinsault Syrah 2010
Domaine Bellevue Touraine Rosé 2010
Baudry Dutour Cuvée Marie-Justine Chinon 2009
A to Z Oregon Rosé 2010

We finished off the evening with an early dinner at Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant. I've eaten here a few times and they have a good vegetarian plate with five or six different dishes and that wonderful tomato salad. There isn't a lot of variation in spice like some of the other places, but it's tasty. And the fact that most of the other customers are Ethiopian is a good sign.

We walked home most of the way then caught the Circulator around 24th and M for a slow crawl back to Rosslyn--but at least we didn't have to carry the wine much further.

March Reading 2011

2011-03-12T15:36:00.000+04:00

5 March 2011
The Lost Art of Gratitude: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Isabel deals with the subject of gratitude and that nasty Minty Auchterlonie rears her ugly head again. Isabel gets caught up in someone else's drama, as usual, only this time it's been deliberately arranged.

View all my reviews

March Movies 2011, Part Deux

2011-03-12T15:31:00.000+04:00

This week we watched two movies on related lines. The first was "Arranged"--set in New York City, two young teachers, one Orthodox, the other Muslim, get to know each other while dealing with the perceptions of their families and the larger community. Both are in the process of having their marriages arranged and are trying to figure out their place in the world. It was sweet, not hugely profound, but a nice movie.

Last night we watched "Sabah" about a Muslim woman living with her family in Toronto. The title character has reached her 40th birthday and finds herself unmarried and caring for her mother. She takes up swimming again inspired by memories of her father and meets a non-Muslim man at the pool. Meanwhile, her family is trying to arrange her niece's marriage. Both push back against their traditional roles in different ways, but the family finds a way to stick together in the end. It was also a sweet movie with some funny points. Realistic? I don't know, but I like it when love conquers all.

Long Walks and Good Wine

2011-03-06T18:15:00.003+04:00

Yesterday Chuck proposed that our weekend walk take us to Calvert Woodley Fine Wines and Spirits. They had advertised some great discounts on wines and liquor. Perfect, since we had promised to supply an upcoming family wedding with drinks. As a bonus, we could stop by the Dupont Circle Chipotle--the only one in the area to serve a "vegan meat alternative"--for lunch.

We exercised our minds as well as our bodies by speaking Arabic for much of the way. I brought along a few flashcards for some of my new vocab and Chuck and I asked each other questions and made sentences with them.

At the end of our 5.2-mile walk we found Calvert Woodley. We entered past the meat and cheese counter--which featured piles of cheese and a basket of miscellaneous cheese pieces for $1.49 apiece. Then the very attentive and knowledgeable staff (owners?) welcomed us and answered all sorts of questions.

Q: If I like fruity NZ Sauvignon Blanc what's a new one I should try? A: Mauta which is reasonably priced and has a subtle lime taste rather than grapefruit (but you have to look for it).
Q: What about a fruity rose? A: Try the Whispering Angel from Chateau D'Esclans.
Q: Do you have a recommendation for a wine from SW France? A: Try Calandray Reserve Cotes du Roussillon Villages. And if you don't like any of these, bring them back! We want you to be happy.
Q: We really liked the Craggy Range Riesling, can you suggest something similar? A: My favorite is the Peter Lehmann Eden Valley Dry Riesling.
Q: Do you have any Lebanese wines? I'm looking for Chateau Musar white. A: We just had a tasting of wines from Lebanon last week but haven't gotten them in yet.

Then we moved on to the rest of the store where we picked up several bottles of liquor and some wine for the wedding, a bottle of French cider (cidre, I guess), a small bottle of Chambord, a bottle of Domaine de Canton (a ginger liqueur I'd been wanting), and some of those delicious Carr's Rosemary crackers (thanks for the tip Janine!). We also tasted some orange cognac (I think)--oooh, delicious!

Dinner was made up of fresh French bread (another Calvert Woodley acquisition), unidentified but tasty cheese remnants, a salad, and a Canton-Chambord cocktail. :)

March Movies 2011

2011-03-06T06:43:00.000+04:00

I've really enjoyed having streaming Netflix. I hope we can set this up in Abu Dhabi, too. These last couple of weeks we watched "A State of Mind" and "The Botany of Desire".

"A State of Mind" is a documentary shot in 2003 in North Korea. It's about a pair of young gymnasts who put in incredible hours of practice (on concrete!) in hopes of performing for the "Dear Leader". Thousands of people work grueling hours to prepare for Mass Games held in honor of national holidays. Their work is part of the process of suppressing individual desires in order to work for the good of the group. I wondered how much of what they and their families said to the film crew was utterly sincere--as most of it sounded--and how much was saying what they had to say to get by. It was eye-opening and fascinating.

"The Botany of Desire" was a film based on Michael Pollan's book of the same name. It examines four plants that have used humans to ensure their biological success. The apples that were the sweetest were the ones animals--including people--would eat and whose seeds they would spread. The most beautiful tulips caused people to want to duplicate them. Cannabis was rewarded for producing more intoxicating resin and the potato gave Northern Europe a plant adapted to harsher, wetter climates, that allowed populations to grow where poor wheat growing conditions limited them in the past.

Shaking my groove thing

2011-03-03T14:51:00.000+04:00

I missed two sessions of Shimmy Shakedown while I was sick and our winter class session is nearing an end. So, this week I went to two classes--I wish I could do that every week! Monday, I had a great Shakedown class with Shahrzad. It was a nice combo of a little technique and really getting those muscles working and that heart pumping. I had no idea I could shake it so low that I could see my hips shimmy over my shoulders in the mirror! (Thanks, in part, to Lady Gaga.)

Yesterday we had an administrative day, so our afternoon was "free". After sitting hunched over the table, working on Arabic for 4+ hours, I decided I needed get out and move! I headed up to Clarendon for an hour of Oriental 1, also with Shahrzad--I really like her style. This class is focused more on technique and creating a solid foundation to build on. She broke down a basic undulation for us and we got it!

Just like with speaking Arabic, I'm eager to find that elegant flow of motion (or speech). Rather than seeing each element in isolation, I want to string them together to form something beautiful.

Arabic Happenings

2011-03-03T14:31:00.000+04:00

We started a new Arabic "rotation" this week. The three of us in my class are all new to each other. You never know what the dynamic will be and when your entire professional life is focused on language learning, this becomes really important. I think we'll be fine.

I was happy to see a familiar face in our speaking instructor. I'd had him before for reading and liked his style. The pattern up to this point had been three hours of speaking, listening comprehension, and grammar, then two hours of reading in the afternoon.

This time the morning consists of three hours of speaking in which we students share brief news stories--with an emphasis recently (and fortuitously?) on political, economic, and security vocabulary--daily activities, personal histories, etc. Basically, we talk about whatever we can think of to cement our vocab and properly string words together grammatically. I needed this!

You can never cover everything you want to, and I was pleased in the last round to have grasped a good amount of new grammar and to have steadily worked at listening comprehension, but it was to the detriment of fluid speech. I want Arabic to flow trippingly off my tongue. That's not going to happen without lots of practice.

To that end, Chuck and I have been speaking more together in Arabic. He's ahead of me by two rotations, but I think we've both reached a point where it's mostly a difference of vocabulary rather than basic grammar that separates our skill levels.

In reading, we're starting with the subject of culture and education--topics very relevant to my work, so that's encouraging. But as our emphasis shifts, I think they're going to expect us to retain more vocabulary. There are only so many words a person can solidly learn in a day or a week and there's always a tension of quantity vs. quality. The instructors know this and yet they can't help it, they push, push, push for more words....

Halalco and Red, White, & Bleu

2011-02-27T18:50:00.003+04:00

Yesterday we made the trek to Falls Church. We had received the announcement for a New Zealand wine tasting at Red, White, and Bleu, a shop which also has a fabulous selection of cheeses. We needed some special cheeses to take to a belated Valentine's Day dinner party anyway, and we could walk down to the nearby Halalco for a Middle Eastern/South Asian buffet lunch and some shopping beforehand.

We'd never tried the buffet. It was $9.95 a person and certainly had more food than either of us could eat. Our bread was a little late in coming to the table and I could barely finish a quarter of the deliciously warm round of naan. I had dahl, chole, salad, some tender tasty chicken, a little bit of goat with potatoes, okra, and a little bread pudding. It was pretty heavy food, but good!

Afterwards, we bought some children's books in English and Arabic, pomegranate syrup, tea, etc. then made our way up to Red, White, and Bleu. I don't know what it is about Marlborough, NZ, but their white wines are amazing! Even their Riesling, which I normally don't go for, is fruity and has that tang that balances the sweetness. And don't get me started on the Sauvignon Blanc--my absolute favorite white since our visit to NZ in 2008.

We ended up with two single vineyard 2009 Marlborough whites from Craggy Range--the Riesling from the Fletcher Family Vineyard and Sauvignon Blanc from Te Muna Road Vineyard. We also rediscovered the P.K.N.T. Silver Collection Carmenere 2009 which I became a fan of last year.

Then, it was on to the cheeses. Our final selection included Kerrygold Aged Cheddar with Whiskey (my favorite of the bunch, sharp and crumbly, with a melt-in-your-mouth richness), Cypress Grove Midnight Moon (a firm and flavorful aged goat cheese), a tasty Manchego (sheep), and Cherry Glen Monocacy Silver a very soft ripened goat cheese (its blooming rind gave it some kick). We served them with some fig/almond cake. Yesterday evening our friends created such special dinner--Everything! the amazing food, the place settings, the flowers--I was pleased that we hit the right note with the cheese.