Dubai

About:

Dubai is located on the Arabian Peninsula off the Persian Golf, and lies within the Arabian Dessert. It is part of the United Arab Emirates. It is a modern city. While it does have oil reserves, this is fairly moderate by Arabian standards. Still, the country is more prosperous then what its oil production would suggest. 

According to the "About Dubai Screen" which was a publication about Dubai on-board my Flight on Emirates Airlines, Dubai's wealth stems from something bigger then just oil wealth. Their wealth stems from their openness to the west and the ease at which foreigners to do business within this Country. According to my husband Arvind Jujare, when those in the Middle East want to do business with the West they go to Dubai, and when those in the West want to do business with the Middle East, they go to Dubai.

My Expediences:

To be clear: I have never actually visited Dubai. I have, however, been through their airports numerous times going between the U.S. and India. 

The last time that I went through the airport was on December 30, 2014 on my way back from India. We left India on time, but due to fog in Dubai we were not able to land on time and ended circling the city for a good hour and a half. During that time I got to see the landscape of the Arabian Desert that surrounds the city. As we came in, I was able to get a pretty good view of the city, including the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world. If you look very closely in the first picture I posted you can see it rising out of the fog that had earlier prevented us from landing.

Normally when I go through the Dubai airport it is at night, and so not only to I not get a good view of the city and the area that surrounds it, I also do not get a feel for what the airport is really like during the main portion of the day. 

The first time second time I had come through here I was really surprised at how many men tried to enter the women's restroom. While I was taking a bathroom break, a man tried to escort several women he was with. He had a brief argument with a security guard before being chased out. I sat across from this restroom while waiting for my flight and saw at least three other men try to enter, some of them had clearly just been confused as to which restroom they were entering, but at least one other also tried to escort their harem of women in.

This last time was much busier. I had not had time to check out what was going on with the restrooms, but I did not notice any men trying to enter.

Food:
I did not eat anything while I was at the airport, but there are a variety of places to eat that fit a Westerners pallet. There are cafes that sell coffee and sandwiches, and bars that serve pizza and beer. It would not be Dubai without some air of decedents: there are upscale restaurants here, including a caviar bar. 

New Year's Eve 2014:
On new Year's eve most of us go out to a party, or stay at home and watch the ball drop on on t.v. that takes place at New York's time square. This year, my friends and I watched the New Year's eve event taking place in Dubai. 

We started watching the ball drop in New York time square before changing the channel; when we changed the channel we were amazed. The show started with a dazzling water fountain display that dwarfed anything you might  see  in Las Vegas. When watching it I turned to my friend and said: "You know, they are in the middle of the desert and look what they are using their water for". 

After the water show was over attention turned to Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the word. It was lit up with what must have been hundreds of thousands of LED lights. These were synchronized to music and 500,000 fireworks that exploded from the side of the sky scraper (Johanson). I kept hearing my Indian friends say, "I know someone who is there". 

One of my friends turned to me and said, "I half expect the building to launch from the ground" (Pai).

"It probably would have been less expensive if it had." I replied.

The first time the show  was put on, in December of 2013, it cost $6,000,000 U.S.D. While it is a fraction of the cost India used to send a craft into Mars ($74 million). They really could have sent the building into space with the $6 million price tag. 

Work Cited:
Emirates Airlines. "About Dubai". Retrieved: December 30, 2014.

DowntownDubai. "Downtown Dubai New Year's Eve 2015" Streamed: 31 December 2014. Retrieved: January 17, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aJPgGXRaFE

"Dubai". Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 17, 2015. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai

Johanson, Mark. "Dubai Fireworks 2014: The Record-Breaking Display By The Numbers". Published: 01 January 2015. Website: http://www.ibtimes.com/dubai-fireworks-2014-record-breaking-display-numbers-1524204 Retrieved: 17 January 2015.

Jujare, Arvind. Personal Conversation. January 2015.

Pai, Siddharth. Personal Conversation. 01 January 2015.

Park, Madison. "India's spacecraft reaches Mars orbit... and history", CNN. 24 September 2014. Retrieved: 17 December 2015. Website: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/23/world/asia/mars-india-orbiter/

Bangalore, India

Bangalore:

Motorcyclist with a small baby
strapped to his chest.
By: Leah Harrison

This past Christmas holiday, I visited my in-laws in Bangalore, India. In general, I usually feel pretty safe here. In the past, I have always been hesitant to go out on my own. When I walk or take an auto (or cab) someone in the past has always come with me. This time was slightly different. 

This time I had a little shopping to do early in the morning before many people got up. On my own I was able to walk down the street to buy things like milk and soft drinks. I also took a walk around the block and took walks in the park. Of course, this was early in the morning before too many people were out. If it had been later in the day I probably would have been more hesitant; by mid-day traffic gets so bad that I fear crossing the street by myself.

Coffee:

By: Anand Jujare

By: Anand Jujare

There are many great places to get a good cup of coffee in Bangalore. Many restaurants and cafes serve it. There is a place called Cafe Coffee Day. This would be equivalent of our Starbucks. They are on every corner, they serve pastries along with a wide variety of tasty coffees. They are at airports and malls; we even came across a coffee day in the middle of nowhere when on a road trip the first time I came to India.

On this last trip, my husband, brother-in-law and I had decided to go out and get coffee at a nice hotel, but we instead ended up in the first Starbucks in Bangalore right before closing time. It was the biggest one I had ever seen. It was two stories tall, and the dining area upstairs was spacious, and empty. 

Tables on the 2nd floor of the
 Starbucks in Bangalore.
By: Anand Jujare

My brother-in-law, Anand Jujare, told me that in order to open this, Starbucks had to team up with an Indian company. This company is Tata, you know the company that makes cars and has taken over Jaguar. 

Benches on the 2nd floor
of the Starbucks in Bangalore.
By: Anand Jujare

When this first opened, my Brother-in-law told me, the line for Starbucks ran around the building. That's a lot of waiting just for a cup of coffee. Starbucks here is not just coffee though, coming here instead of going to Cafe Coffee Day is also a status symbol.

The Bombing:
Why did we decide to go to a Starbucks as opposed to checking out the hotel, an experience that would have been more unique for me, and reminiscent for my husband, Arvind. The answer, we were somewhat afraid to venture too far from home that night.

Earlier, My in-laws and I went to a Mall to have some amazing Chinese food. We did a small amount of shopping afterwords and then drove home. I took my daily (while there) afternoon nap. When I awoke around 8:30 pm there was breaking news. A bomb had just exploded in Coconut Grove. If we had been a few hours later going home we would have passed right by it on our way home.

One person was killed and another had been injured in the low intensity blast. It was on crowded stretch of road, and no one took responsibility for it. 

It was suspected that the culprit was an ISIS sympathizer, since their had been threats before after an arrest was made linked to ISIS.

Police barricades on the road the night of the bombing.

One of my husband's friends, who owns a bar in Bangalore texted my husband, basically telling him that they had kicked someone out of the bar earlier that week for suspicious behavior. Basically, a man was in the bar, not buying anything and looking under tables. They escorted the man out and alerted other bars in the area to look out for this suspicious person. Another bar in the area responded that they too had seen the same person doing the same thing. They too had escorted this person out. None of the bars informed the police.


Police Vehicles outside of
 Starbucks in Bangalore,
 letting people know to get off
the street

The roads to Starbucks were blocked by police barricades. Police were telling people to get off the streets. We stood outside of Starbucks and saw four police vehicles go by. Each one letting people know that it was unsafe to be on the streets. 

This was not the first bombing Bangalore has seen, and by contrast the damage was quite unsubstantial. The first time I visited Bangalore I visited a mall within walking distance of my in-law's. A month later I heard that a bomb blasted through that building. The target: a political figure who was shopping there. The political figure was fine.

These bombings however are a stark reminder that the world is unstable. So much for feeling safe in Bangalore.

Work Cited:
Jujare, Anand. "Picture of Starbucks", "Polices Vehicles", and "Road Blocks". 28 December 2014.

Jujare, Anand. Personal Conversation. 28 December 2014

Jujare, Arvind. Personal Conversation. 28 December 2014

Wake Up. "Bangalore Bomb Blast on 28 dec 2014". Posted on: 28 December 2014. Retrieved: January 19, 2015.Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHWfl9L2sKU

Tibet

Introduction:

I have always found Tibetan culture interesting. I first found out about there culture as a child while in a museum. The exhibits lead into a gift shop, where tourists could buy things that were related. There was incense, and prayer wheels and chimes. I asked my mom if I could buy something, but she told me it was all over priced. She however, purchased a book for herself: The World of Tibetan Buddhism, by the 14th Dalai Lama. 

Tibetan Prayer Wheel.

Later, I found myself in a small town's antique shop just North of San Antonio. The place was quaint, and surrounded by a small garden that seemed like one from a British Novel which was filled with crape myrtle trees with lilac colored flowers. In one corner of this small shop were small crafts from different countries. Again there was a small gong, and a prayer wheel and incense. The shop keeper came over and showed me the gong, which was bowl shaped and came with a wooden mallet. She showed me that it was actually a singing bowl. As one rolled the mallet around it would actually make a high pitch ringing sound. 

I begged my mom for this. She looked at the price, and shook her head. I continued playing with the singing bowl, before moving on to the prayer wheel. After I was done playing with the prayer wheel my mom moved in and picked it up and looked at the price. She then looked at the price of the incense that I had been sniffing earlier. She picked both of these up and brought them to the cash register. She told me she would give me these much appreciated gifts after I finished that weekend's chores. I still have the prayer wheel, which has a prayer inside that spins. When you spin it, it is supposed to be like saying the prayer that it is written on it. 

About Tibet: 

Most of Tibet is technically part of China, though it used to be its own autonomous country which had bordered China and India in the Himalayas. A majority of its people practice a unique form of Buddhism which is specific to the region, and is lead by the Dhalai Lama, who is thought to be a sort of devine king. Each Dhali Lama is thought to be the reincarnation of the previous Dhali Lama (Anantharaman).

Art:

Amitayus Buddha Thangka.
San Antonio Museum of Art.

The region has a rich culture of art. Ranging from flags, to sand mandalas, to statues, to ink on cloth.

Last November I was lucky enough to go to the San Antonio Museum of Art. This museum has art from around the world, including Tibet.

One of the pieces was the Amitayus Buddha Thangka.This one was pigments on cotton from the late 18th century. 

The Tibetans are also famous for there sand Mandalas. These are "cosmic diagrams" that are made up of "concentric circles and squares representing the symbolic home of a deity. Mandala[s] are used as a tool for meditation and aid in spiritual development" (San Antonio Museum of Art). 

Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala,
 by: Drepung Loseling Monks  of South India,
San Antonio Museum of Art, 2001

The one here was actually made at the San Antonio Museum of Art in 2001 by Tibetan monks. It is made of pigmented marble sand.  The sand mandala is not supposed to be permanent. The colored sands are not glued down. In fact "its ultimate function is to represent impermanence". "Permission to preserve this mandala was granted by His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama" (San Antonio Museum of Art). 

This particular piece is one of only four to be preserved in the U.S. and is only one that is a Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala.

Food:

Late last month, I found myself sitting in a small cafe/ shop in India, called Ants. I had a British breakfast, complete with scrambled eggs, chicken sausage toast, baked beans, and a coffee. This might not seem like a typical start to a post. This breakfast in no way is similar to a traditional breakfast you might eat in Tibet.

The food I had was great food that made the meal about Tibet, it was the conversation I had while eating it. 

The Person:

Aravinda Anantharaman is an Indian Writer and Editor. When we were on our way to Ants I asked her what she had been up to recently. She told me that she had been helping to work on a project to help bring books to Tibetan Children. When I had not been talking with the intention of posting about her in my blog, but what she was talking about fascinated me. To be clear, I did not take notes on the conversation, but I can convey the general jest of what we spoke about.

Basically, the group that Aravinda had been working with had been trying to write, publish, and distribute books for Tibetan children. There were many challenges with this, she tells me. For one thing, there are two languages that the Tibetans speak, with multiple dialects. There are two written Tibetan languages, one of which is more complex then the other. The one that school children learn is the less complex, but it is harder to convey information through, since it was not meant for the type of stories they are trying to create. So the first challenge was picking a language to write in. If the language they had picked had been English, Aravinda tells me, she would actually be able to write and edit some of these books, but since they had not chosen this language to publish in, it limits her to only helping this project in other ways.

Aravinda Anantharaman,
 Preatam Koilpillai and their son Gawa.

Another challenge this project faces is funding. The target audience is fairly small. Most of the readership is limited to Tibetans, and for the most part, the distributors will only be able to get the books to Tibetan refugees now living in India. This means that there is little if any money in this for people like Aravinda who are working on this project. Still she rather be doing this then some of the more lucrative things she could be doing with her time. 

Aravinda Anantharaman is really dedicated to the distribution of children's literature throughout India, not just for the Tibetans exiled to India, but for all children in India. You can tell just by talking with her that there is a special place in her heart for the Tibetan people, and that is a big part of her life. 

Book:

I downloaded the Audio Book, The 14th Dhalai Lama: Buddha of Compassion, by Aravinda Anantharaman, the writer I had eaten Brunch with. The book is a Non-fiction work that talks about this current Dhalai Lama,  the 14th Dhalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. The book tells the story of this Ddhalia Lama's discovery, childhood, empowerment, the Chinese takeover of Tibet, and his exile of the Dhalai Lama.

According to this book: the Dhalai Lama had been born to Tibetan peasants. He was discovered by Tibetan monks who believed he was the reincarnation of the 13th Dhalia Lama after he identified a rosary of that Dhalai Lama. After more tests were given, he was taken to a monastery, and then later to the palace where he grew up. At age 15 he became the leader of his people. As Communist China prepared to take over Tibet, the Dhalia Lama went to China to try to resolve the issue peacefully. However, His Holiness became disillusioned with Communism. China's take over of Tibet was thus not peaceful and many, including the Dhalai Lama left in exile to India. 

This is a great book to get the basics about the Dhalai Lama. It is short and concise and contains a lot of great information on not just the current Dhalai Lama but modern Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.

Short Film:
Aravinda Anantharaman's Husband (and my cousin in-law),  Preatam Koilpillai, has also been very involved with the Tibetan exiles in India. In 2010 he produced a short film called Passport Photos. This is a documentary that features young Tibetan exiles who are living in India. Through this 15 minute presentation we get to see the struggles that these young Tibetans go through as a people whose home has been stolen from them.

Work Cited:

Anantharaman, Aravinda. Personal Conversation. December 27, 2014.

Anantharaman, Aravinda. The 14th Dhalai Lama: Buddha of Compassion. Published:  04 January 2013.

Drepung Loseling Monks  of South India. "Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala". Created: 2001.

Jujare. Arvind: Photo of Preatam Koilpillai and Aravinda Anantharaman. Taken 25 December 2014.

Jinpa, Thupten (14th Dalai Lama). The World of Tibetan Buddism. Published: 1995.

Koilpillai, Preatam, in collaboration with with Lingpa, Jangchup, Thardoe Lobsang. "Passport Photos". 2010. Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHRQfhUfOY. 

San Antonio Museum of Art. Art descriptions of "Amitayus Buddha Thangka", and "Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mandala".  Read in: November 2014.

Unknown: "Amitayus Buddha Thangka".Created: Late 18th Century.

Ghana and its Founders Day

Introduction:
September 21, was Ghana's Founders day, which is the same day as Ghana's first President's Birthday, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. Earlier that week I heard it briefly mentioned on NPR. I had known for a long time that one of the members of the production team at work was from Ghana, so I wished him a happy Founder's day, but I was surprised to learn that he had no idea what I was talking about. At first I thought: "This must not be a widely celebrated holiday". He gave the dates of their Independence Day and a few other holidays, but didn't know of that one.

As it turned out, Ghana had made it a National holiday in 2012, well after he had already moved to the United States.

When I first met him, I questioned him about his home life. He told me the most difficult part about coming to the U.S. was all the new laws that he didn't quite understand. For example, when he first got here he didn't realize that you couldn't just park anywhere. Here their where parking lots and no parking zones, and if you parked in a no parking zone you got a ticket. He clearly had been distressed about this.

I asked him about the languages spoken in his home land. He gave me a long list of languages and told me several of them were related to each other and several of them were not. The official language that is spoken there is English, however there are at least 10 African languages spoken by people a variety of peoples from different regional ethnic origins.

Economy:

Ghana has a wide range of ways to make money. Recently, oil was discovered there. In addition to this, they also attract people from other African countries to attend their schools. A majority of people, though make their living in agriculture. One of their main products being cocoa:

Ghana is the second largest producer of Cocoa. Recently there has been some controversy about cocoa farming in the region. One video claimed that it was being smuggled out through the Ivory Coast. There are also current allegations that many Ghanaian farmers use child labor in their cocoa production.


Work Cited:
"Ghana". Wikipedia. Retrieved: September 23, 2014.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana"


"New Reform Congregation". Ghana News Agency. September 21, 2012. Retrieved: September 21, 2014. Website:


http://ghananewsagency.org/politics/founders-day-to-be-placed-on-ghana-s-holiday-calendar-49505

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur-North America

Introduction:



I decided to focus on Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish New year) and Yum Kapor. However, being that I have already done a couple of posts on Israel I have decided that it might be more prudent to focus on a portion of the world that holds the highest percentage of Jews collectively, North America. Yes, 46% percent of the worlds Jewish population lives in the U.S. and Canada. You may then ask, why are so few of my friends Jewish? Hopefully, the answer to your question does not have to do with being antisemitic. The fact is, you may not know too many Jewish people because they only consist of a small percentage of us North Americans; only 2% in the U.S. and 1% in Canada are in fact Jewish (LeElef).





An overwhelming majority of my Jewish friends and acquaintance were ones that I have met while in Michigan- from a bacon eating roommate I briefly had in college, a sorority sister who taught me what Kosher and Proven really is, co-workers,  and former coworkers. According to one of my old high school friends of Jewish decent, many Jews came to the U.S. seeking refuge after or during World War II. Many of them converted to other religions, such as Catholicism to avoid any future antisemitic persecution, as was the case with the friend that told me this (Ohnomus).


Yom Kippur/ Rash Hashanah



Rash Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It is celebrated on the 1st day of the 7th month of the year. It is followed by Yom Kippur (10th day of the 7th month), which is considered the Holiest day of the year. Both days are considered the days to ask for forgiveness, but Yom Kippur is much more sober with its fasting, as opposed to the lavish foods like apples and honey and honeyed dates, and black eyed peas (something much of us eat for our own New Year).

T.V. Shows:



One of my favorite shows is the Colbert Report. Every year for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  Steve Colbert does a skit devoted to the Jewish New Year celebration, in which he allows people of the Hebrew faith to call in and atone for sins they committed against him. The phone number for this made up hotline is 1-800-Oops-Jew. I like this skit not because he covers small aspects of the Rosh Hashanah and celebration without going into great detail. 

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/full-episodes/4jd61g/september-24--2014---bill-cosby



The T.V. show "Raising Hope" also had a Jewish Episode (Season 3, Episode 21) Burt Mitzvah, the musical. In that Episode Burt's parents tell Burt that they just found out they are Jewish. Burt and family take this new self identity on with full force.The family tries to learn as much as they can about their new found religion, so that he can have a Bar Mitzvah. After a lot of hard work he is finally ready to "become a man" only to find out that his family's new identity was a clever lie his parents made up for their own selfish reasons. My favorite part is when they're is a musical number on how to make a sader dinner. 


Radio:

Of course North America does not just consist of the U.S. and Canada. NPR ran a story summarized here: Recently, a small sub-sect of the Jewish population, Lev Torah,  moved to Guatemala after being driven out of Canada. They were driven out of Canada after accusations of child abuse arose. However, Lev Torah is also having problems fitting in with the locals of their new home.

For the full story click on the link:  http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/09/10/347123746/dogged-by-controversy-a-jewish-sect-is-on-the-move-again


Please Note: I am not trying to make the Jewish People look bad. It is not like these are the same Jews most of us see on T.V., at work, or in school on a regular basis. This is a small sect, that is not representative of the entire North American Jewish population. The piece goes as far as implying that Lev Tohor a Jewish based cult. 


Food:

I started the Rosh Hashanah morning having apples and honey. For a snack I had dates, and pomegranate seeds later. Finally, for dinner, I ate the same black eyed pees dish that I had made in my New Year's post back in January. Some times when I make this dish I put in turkey ham. However, you have to pay attention to whether or not the turkey ham is Kosher if making it specifically for a Jewish friend or Holiday. However, not pork (ham or otherwise is appropriate to celebrate a Jewish Holiday. That is never Kosher. If you add the turkey ham, don't have a dairy product with it, since that is also not Kosher; Jews can only have meet or dairy in a single meal, never both. If a meal has neither meat nor dairy it is called proven. 


Conclusion:

I wanted to leave you leave you with one last thing, a fun video I found on Rosh Hashanah where this guy sings about the holiday, acapella style :

Work Cited:


"All About Rosh Hashanah" YouTube. Posted: September 18, 2014. Retrieved: September 28, 2014.



Gorbin, Eyal. "Burt Mitzvah". "Raising Hope". Season 3, Episode 21. 28 March 2013.



Ohnomus, Rebecca. Personal Conversation. December 1, 2013.



LeElef, Ner. "World Jewish Population". Website: http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/world-jewish-population.htm. Retrieved: September 27, 2014.



Robins, Ted. "Dogged by Controversy, A Jewish Sect is on the Move Again". National Public Radio. 10 September 2014. Retrieved: Sept. 28, 2014. Website: http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/09/10/347123746/dogged-by-controversy-a-jewish-sect-is-on-the-move-again



"Rosh Hashanah". Wikipedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah#Symbolic_foods. Retrieved: September 28, 2014.



"Yom Kippur in 60 Seconds". YouTube. Retrieved: September 18, 2014.



"Yom Kippur". Wikipedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah Retrieved: September 28, 2014.

Oktoberfest-Germany

Fall Festival:

Last Tuesday was the first day of fall, and fall means fall festivals! One such festival is Oktoberfest. While this festival started out in Munich, Germany it now is a popular festival that is held around the world.

Last weekend I enjoyed an Oktoberfest celebration held in Peoria, IL. We had a really good time drinking dark German style beers. Igor, mentioned in one of my posts on Mexico, got back to his Aztec roots by building a pyramid... out of beer cups.

The question was raised, “why are we in Peoria holding Oktoberfest in September?” Are we so naïve in the America to not realize that Oktober should be in October? The answer is no. Peoria's festival actually coincided with the start of the one in Munich, the main difference in timing being duration. This year in Germany, the festival started September 20^th, but it doesn't end until October 5^th. Peoria's was just over one weekend.

T.V. Shows:

The T.V. Show that I watched for this does not seem obvious, “Futurama” Season 7, “Tragedy on a Bun”. In one episode Fry and his associates at planet express go to Oktoberfest. Fry went thinking it would be just as it was in the late 1990's, an excuse to drink lots of beer and perform the Chicken dance. He finds instead that in his new time, 1000 years later, that Oktoberfest has turned into one of the worlds most formal events celebrating German Culture. There is beer tasting, where people spit out the beer as not to get drunk. Disappointed, Fry proceeds to embarrass Leela by acting like a complete doof, drinking all the spit out beer and sporting a chicken hat.

Sometime later in the show Fry ends up bumping his head, causing him to loose his memory with the result of him believing that he is a Neanderthal. Leela ends up believing that she has eaten Fry in Bratwurst form. From here a war between Neanderthals and “modern humans” breaks out, pitting Leela and Fry against each other.
Tragedy on a Bun: After Leela eats Fry, she tries to erase all her memories of him.

Movies:

Since the festival that I am writing about started in Germany, I thought it would be appropriate to write about a movie that took place here. This weeks movie is “Monument Men”. This movie is based on true events, that became a book and then later a movie.

The movie takes place during World War II. A ragtag team of intellectuals end up in the army with the goal of recovering some of Europe's best art, which had largely been stolen by the Nazis. Nazis are threatening to destroy the art if they lose the war. Not only is this group in a race against the Nazis, they are also in a race with the Russians who are also try to get the art, but for just themselves.

When the movie was over, I asked my husband, how bad would it be if the Russians had beat us to much of this art? Would it have been threatened to be destroyed, too? We concluded that while it would not be in Europe and America's best interest for them to get the art, it would not have been nearly as bad as Germany destroying it. While Russia more then likely would have never chosen to share the art with us or display it in where it is accessible to many of us, it would still have been cherished by the Russians and displayed so the Soviet Public could enjoy it. They may have turned into our enemy after WWII, but they still held culture in high esteem.

Food:

I did not actually eat the food at the food at Oktoberfest. They had the traditional brats and sourcrout, which wouldn't surprise anyone, along with pizza, pretzels, and funnel cakes.

Instead, before going out to Peoria, I made chicken and apple brats which I pan fried.

Work Cited:

"Monument Men". 2014
"Oktoberfest. Wikipedia. Retrieved: September 25, 2014

"Tragedy on a Bun" Futurama Season 7. 2012

New York

Lighter that I purchased while visiting the Statue of Liberty in 1999.

For 9/11 I wanted to do something that reminded me of New York. 9/11 meant different things to different people. It brought out the worst and the best in people. For some, it brought out a sense of patriotism; some people felt more united with their follow Americans. In some people it brought out racism, which caused them to fear, or distrust anyone who was Muslim or Middle Eastern. I remember some people had really wanted to bomb the crap out of Afghanistan right away, and others didn't want to do much at all.

I was in high school when I first heard the planes crashing into the towers. For me the day was filled with stopping classes to watch developments on TV. The city I was in, San Antonio, TX was supposed to be one of the most likely places to get attacked in the U.S at the time. I knew this, and I remember looking out of the schools window, which looked out on down town San Antonio, and I wondered, "what's next? Could something like that happen here? Could the Tower Of America's get hit?"

One of my favorite stories of 9/11 is my Brother-in-law's story. Anand was working in New York, and was running a little late for work. I want to point out that he did not work in the Twin Towers, but he did work nearby.

News of the event made it all the way around the world, and his family back to India grew worried. They tried frantically to get a hold of him from Bangalore, but of course, the phone lines were all tied up.

Meanwhile, back in New York Anand was able to see the smoke in the sky pouring out of the towers. He passed by an electronic store. This store was giving away its video cameras. They explained to him that this was far too important of an event not to document. Anand took video of the towers, and the immediate aftermath.

Anand had to walk home. On this long an arduous walk he ended up losing the camera. So no one he knows ever got to see the video.

Anytime my husband sees footage of 9/11 he wonders: “Is that the footage my brother recorded?”

Anand did not stay in New York too much longer. One day, not long after 9/11 Anand went out with one of his friends who was Muslim. His friend ended up getting harassed. Anand stuck up for his friend, and the stranger ended up punching Anand. This was the deciding factor that sent my brother-in-law back to India.

Food:

My step mother used to work in Marketing for a firm in New York. On 9/11 I asked her which restaurant reminded her the most of New York. Not 9/11, just New York. Her Answer Antonio's. Antonio's is an Italian Restaurant, which reminded Connie of a similar one in New York. In New York she would walk into this place and all the wait staff would greet her by name; she went there that often.

They would take her to a table in the back where some of the staff would sit and chat with her.

Antonio's feels authentic. We don't go there often enough for the staff to recognize us, still the staff is friendly and welcoming, though sometimes a bit ditzy.

This time, I got the gnocchi primavera. This is not exactly on the menu, but the menu makes it clear you can request any sauce with any pasta (or Gnocchi). The gnocchi is very good, but the standards have either beef or pork in them, which are two things I don't eat. My favorite sauce that I have had with the gnocchi the Pesto with Pine nuts. Of curse I have tried other things, like their pizza, and there chicken Marsala, which were both great, but thus far the Gnocchi Al Pesto is my top recommendation (After some of their great deserts of course).

Work Cited:

Antonio's Cucina Italiano website: www.antoniosrestaurants.com. retrieved 9/11/2014.

Harrison, Connie P. Connie living in New York. Conversations: 9/11/2014 and 2012.

Jujare, Arvind. Anand's 9/11 story as told by Arvind Jujare

"Mad Men". Season 3 Episode 12, "Grownups". November 2009. 

"Mad Men". Season 6 episode 5, "The Flood".  April 2013.

New York

Lighter that I purchased while visiting the Statue of Liberty in 1999.

For 9/11 I wanted to do something that reminded me of New York. 9/11 meant different things to different people. It brought out the worst and the best in people. For some, it brought out a sense of patriotism; some people felt more united with their follow Americans. In some people it brought out racism, which caused them to fear, or distrust anyone who was Muslim or Middle Eastern. I remember some people had really wanted to bomb the crap out of Afghanistan right away, and others didn't want to do much at all.

I was in high school when I first heard the planes crashing into the towers. For me the day was filled with stopping classes to watch developments on TV. The city I was in, San Antonio, TX was supposed to be one of the most likely places to get attacked in the U.S at the time. I knew this, and I remember looking out of the schools window, which looked out on down town San Antonio, and I wondered, "what's next? Could something like that happen here? Could the Tower Of America's get hit?"

One of my favorite stories of 9/11 is my Brother-in-law's story. Anand was working in New York, and was running a little late for work. I want to point out that he did not work in the Twin Towers, but he did work nearby.

News of the event made it all the way around the world, and his family back to India grew worried. They tried frantically to get a hold of him from Bangalore, but of course, the phone lines were all tied up.

Meanwhile, back in New York Anand was able to see the smoke in the sky pouring out of the towers. He passed by an electronic store. This store was giving away its video cameras. They explained to him that this was far too important of an event not to document. Anand took video of the towers, and the immediate aftermath.

Anand had to walk home. On this long an arduous walk he ended up losing the camera. So no one he knows ever got to see the video.

Anytime my husband sees footage of 9/11 he wonders: “Is that the footage my brother recorded?”

Anand did not stay in New York too much longer. One day, not long after 9/11 Anand went out with one of his friends who was Muslim. His friend ended up getting harassed. Anand stuck up for his friend, and the stranger ended up punching Anand. This was the deciding factor that sent my brother-in-law back to India.

Food:

My step mother used to work in Marketing for a firm in New York. On 9/11 I asked her which restaurant reminded her the most of New York. Not 9/11, just New York. Her Answer Antonio's. Antonio's is an Italian Restaurant, which reminded Connie of a similar one in New York. In New York she would walk into this place and all the wait staff would greet her by name; she went there that often.

They would take her to a table in the back where some of the staff would sit and chat with her.

Antonio's feels authentic. We don't go there often enough for the staff to recognize us, still the staff is friendly and welcoming, though sometimes a bit ditzy.

This time, I got the gnocchi primavera. This is not exactly on the menu, but the menu makes it clear you can request any sauce with any pasta (or Gnocchi). The gnocchi is very good, but the standards have either beef or pork in them, which are two things I don't eat. My favorite sauce that I have had with the gnocchi the Pesto with Pine nuts. Of curse I have tried other things, like their pizza, and there chicken Marsala, which were both great, but thus far the Gnocchi Al Pesto is my top recommendation (After some of their great deserts of course).

T.V.

I once asked my step mother if she liked watching Mad Men. She told me that she had watched it once r twice, but she really felt that the show hit a little to close to home for her (in regards to her advertising career in New York.

I myself really like this t.v. show. It is a work of historical fiction that spans from the start of the 60's to the late 60's, and covers such historical events as assassination of both JFK and Martin Luther King. Of course there is a lot of drama, sex, and alcohol abuse. Women were still trying to find their way in the work place as something more then secretaries, while racism and sexism still plagued the work place.

Work Cited:

Antonio's Cucina Italiano website: www.antoniosrestaurants.com. retrieved 9/11/2014.

Harrison, Connie P. Connie living in New York. Conversations: 9/11/2014 and 2012.

Jujare, Arvind. Anand's 9/11 story as told by Arvind Jujare

"Mad Men". Season 3 Episode 12, "Grownups". November 2009. 

"Mad Men". Season 6 episode 5, "The Flood".  April 2013.

Mexico

Buenos dias y como estas? This is something that I say almost every single day. I don't speak Spanish, at least now well. Many of the people that work on the floor with me are from other countries, and some of them are from Mexico.

A few months ago I started putting flags on the carts so that people could tell where the carts are in the tall stacks of boxes that are stacked in the floor place. These were high visibility flags so that people could see where the carts are between all the packs that are on the floor of the Receiving Dock.

One of the clerks had decided to place a Mexican Flag on her cart, replacing the hi-vis flag that I had placed on there. I felt that this could be a safety issue, since the flag might not be as easily seen as the hi-vis ones. The other problem was that placing the flag on her cart caused a disturbance within the work place. Some of the African Americans at work made it a race issue. They did not want these women posting a their flag, since they couldn't post a flag of the country of their origin. I don't think anyone from this company ever told them they couldn't do this. What really confused me about this was  that they were African American. What did they want permission to have an American Flag somewhere in their personal space? I believe everyone has a right to be proud of where they came from, and to show that pride. While it made me sad to tell the clerk she had to take the flag down, I was even more upset that the reason was more to do with other people's prejudices then it did with my initial concern of safety.

Food:
I love Mexican inspired food. For this I made tomotillo soup. A tomotillo is looks like a green tomato. It has a natural wrapper that makes it look a little like a paper lamp. It is much more tart then a tomato.

Ingredients:
5 medium tomatillos
1 cup vegetable broth.
1 jalapeno
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 cup cream

Directions:
1) Cut the tomatillos in quarters. Slice the jalapeno.
2) Boil the tomatillos in the vegetable broth for 15 minutes or until soft.
3) Pure' the tomatillos in a blender.
4) Place tomotillos blend back in pot, add jalapeno and boil for an additional 15 minutes
5) Add cream and lime.

You can learn more about Hello Fresh by visiting this website: www.hellofresh.com If you sign up you can use my referral code: R27SAH.

I also made Mexican Jumble from Hello Fresh. Both the soup and jumble could be easily eaten with tortilla chips.

Finally, I had a shark bite Margarita. This was kind of cool. it was a tube of liquid that you froze and  then drank directly from the tube.

Work Cited:

"Mexican Jalapeno Jumble". Hello Fresh. HelloFresh.com

Lebanon

Introduction:

This labor day was almost a dud. I had the great displeasure of dealing with AT&T's lack of internet technicians. They scheduled an appointment for me every day since Friday, I waited around, but no one showed up any of those days: with a total wait time of 18 hours. My husband had to log into work for at least four hours some time this weekend, but since I had no internet, we could not do this from home. So on Monday, Arvind and I went to my dad's house to use his internet.

My dad lives in Dearborn, Michigan. This might be the best place to get Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food in the U.S. It has the highest number of Muslims in the U.S. Many of these people are from Lebanon.

Earlier that weekend, my husband had begged me to get him Middle Eastern food. Since one of us had to wait at home for the internet technician who never actually showed up, he told me to get it while he stayed home. I refused, because I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. (As some of you know, I don't actually live in the same state as my husband). Instead, I told him we could go together some other night. So after Arvind was done with his work on Monday we decided to eat out at a Middle Eastern Restaurant.

Food:

One of my favorites that are near my dad's house is La Pita. I had first gone there with my Dad and Step Mom several months ago. This is where Arvind and I decided to go after he was done with work.

The restaurant itself is decorate with traditional Persian Style lamps and drapes, creating an exotic ambiance. When I had gone last time with my parents, I had gotten Hummus with shawarma.

For this meal Arvind and I started with Rice stuffed grape leaves, and Batata Harra, a fried potato dish that was very good if you love garlic. For the main course I got Chicken Kafta, and Arvind got Kafta Kabob, which is made with minced lamb. The flat bread hear is absolutely awesome. It is warm and salty, and covered with sesame seeds. The lentil soup that is one of the side options is also quite tasty, and the almond rice that comes as a side dish is also excellent.

Most of the food we purchased we ended up coming home with us. Arvind was so excited about getting good Middle Eastern food, that he got much more then we could both eat.

More on Lebanon:

Lebanon is one of the countries that boarders Isreal. More then half of the population practices Islam, but there are still many people that practice some form of Christianity. While the official language in the country is Arabic, the French have had heavy influence in the area due to colonization, so many people from Lebanon speak French. (Hence why the name of the restaurant I ate at was "La Pita" instead of "Al Pita".

The Lebanese Civil war broke out in 1975 and continued until 1990. During this time many Lebanese fled to Europe and the United States. This was especially true of Christians who had been persecuted.

When I was living in Peoria, Arvind and I lived next door to an older Lebanese Couple. I once asked them how they met, and they told me that they were first cousins, but they told me that in Lebanon that was normal. They also told me that they had to take a blood test before they got married to check the likelihood of their close genealogy causing defects in their children. If certain things had showed up in their blood, they would not have been allowed to marry.

They left the country near the start of the war. Unlike many others that came here to the states, they had not been forced out. They simply left, but I was told that life was getting more and more difficult and at a certain point it just did not make sense to stay.

Movie:

My favorite movie from the war is “Waltz with Bashir”. This eye catching animation follows Ari Folman an Israeli veteran of the First Lebon War. Realizing that after 20 years his memories of the battles of Lebanon are hazy at best, Folman seeks out his fellow soldiers to interview them, many of whom are still haunted by what they witnessed so many years ago. The interviewing opens up Folman's own memories of the horrors that he was a part of, making him question what really happened to him.

Work Cited:

Folman, Ali. "Waltz with Bashir" Copyright: 2009.

La Pita: http://www.lapitadearborn.com/. Retrieved: September 2, 2014

Lebanese Flag. website: https://www.google.com/searchq=lebanese+flag&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS600US600&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_0sGVK2jHY7AggTtsYDgDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667. Retrieved: September 2, 2014. 

"Lebanon". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon. Retrieved: September 2, 2014.