February

Here is my tentative schedule for the month. With all the new things happening in my life, I may not be able to keep up with it as well as I did last month. Note: Countries I focus on day to day are subject to change depending on things going on in my life.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year:

I would like to start out today by wishing everyone a wonderful new year. Today is the Chinese New Year, and what better way to celebrate then exploring Chinese culture. Unfortunately, I will not have time to write a long post, but do not worry, I will do more on China later. I plan on celibrating by watching Disney’s “Mulan”, and by reading the book, Lon Po Po, a children’s book which is basically the Chinese version of “Little Red Riding Hood”, except having three little girls instead of just one.

I will be travelling, so I plan on eating at whatever Chinese restaurant I come across in the Detroit airport.

The Chinese new year is based on the lunar calendar, so it is often called the lunar New Year. The festival itself is actually 15 days long, and is accompanied by a flower festival. The day is steeped in tradition, that includes fireworks and gift exchange.

Book:

As a child, China was a place that fascinated me. As lame as it may seem, I often noticed the Chinese Tourists that frequented the amusement parks in my hometown of San Antonio. Imaged what China must have been like, though I had very little to go on when I was young. One of my first encounters with anything real from the China was the book. Illustrated in beautiful pastel, “Lon Po Po”. Like “Little Red Riding Hood’ there is a big bad wolf. The girls find themselves up a ginkgo tree, and have to trick the wolf in order to get down.

Experience:

After reading this book as a child, I wondered, what is Gingko? It is actually a fruit. I bugged my mom so much with questions about the fruit that my mom finally went out and bought me canned gingko. It was sweet, tasty and soft, but with very little meet surrounding the hard pit at its center.  

Work Cited:

Bancroft, Tony. Cook, Barry. “Mulan”. Disney. Copyright: 1998.

“Chinese New Year”. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year#Greetings. Retrieved: January 31, 2014.

Young, Ed. “Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story From China”. Published: 1989

Rwanda

Rwanda:

Two weeks ago, I did a post on Malawi, a country along the great rift valley. This week, I looked two countries North of Malawi to Rwanda. Unlike Malawi, the country is relatively educated. School is free for all children, though many choose not to go due to costs of books and uniforms that are not included in the “free education.”

Movie:

What most people know about this country comes from the movie, “Hotel Rwanda”, which depicts the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis, but Hutus extremists. In this slaughter, over 500,000 people perished. To put this in perspective, this was about 20% of the population (Rwandan Genocide).

The movie itself follows a hotel manager who reluctantly showed bravery in a time of extreme adversity. Throughout the movie, we see cases of extreme violence perpetrated towards the Tutsis from the Hutus extremists. It shows how the U.S. and other foreign powers were hesitant to get involved, and how this factored into the punishing situation.

The movie creates the impression that the differences between Hutus and Tutsis was entirely created by Belgium colonists. It states that the colonists would check the height and skin color of the Rwandan’s, often resorting to measuring the width of their noises to determine whether or not a person was Hutu or Tutsi. However, the actually origin of the two social classes is not as clear as what the movie suggested. According to Wikipedia, no one knows how the distinction came about, though there are two theories. The first, is that they were two tribes, meaning that the distinction is actually one of race. The second is that difference is one of class, where different tribes slowly mixed and later split apart, distinguishing themselves by social class. Wikipedia does not mention the split being caused by European colonization.

Food:

According to Wikipedia, people here only eat meat a couple times per month. This is more often then what would be eaten in Malawi, but it is still fairly low. Telapia is eaten fairly often as a source of meat. Still I chose to eat an African dish that comprises of chicken. The dish is called Chicken Muamba. The dish itself actually comes from the Congo, one of Rwanda’s neighbors. I washed this down with Tuskas beer, which was imported from Kenya, which is not too far north east of Rwanda.

Here is how I made my Chicken Muamba:

Ingredients:

2 chicken thighs (Skin on/ bone in)

2 cups water

1 onion (sliced)

1/4 cup chunky peanut butter

1 tablespoon cooling oil ( I used grape seed oil)

4 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cloves minced garlic

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. chili

1 tomato chopped

½ thyme

1 bay leaf.

Salt to taste:

Directions:

1.      Place all the ingredients in a crockpot except the oil and onions. Turn the crockpot on high.

2.      Sauté the onions in the oil until they turn slightly translucent. Add this to the crockpot.

3.      Let it stew in the crockpot for 6-9 hours (about the time you’re at work).

Work Cited:

George, Terry. “Hotel Rwanda”. Released: 2004.

“Rwanda” Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 31, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda

“Rwandan Genocide” Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 31, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide

“

India and English

India:
Because I am married to an Indian, I often find myself learning about their culture and eating Indian food. A few nights ago, I was at a small get together with a few friends. One topic came up  that really touched me.

My new friend moved here from India a few months ago, and was astonished by the lack of knowledge people knew about her home country. She was at a doctor’s appointment, and her doctor was amazed that the report from her last doctor’s report from India. The report was in depth, technologically advanced, and in English. “I didn’t know that they had the technology to do these tests in India, her doctor told her, and it’s amazing that it is in English.” The doctor had told her.

“What other language would it be in?” My friend asked.

“How could this doctor not know that India has such medical equipment?” She asked us later. She had been shocked that her own doctor did not realize that much of India speaks English, or that people had little knowledge of modern India.

The truth is, India was once a British colony, so a high number of people speak English. Business and politics is often conducted in English. The doctor had been impressed with how well she spoke English, and she had to explain to the doctor that she had been speaking English most of her life.

I told her, she might want to get used to it. People here often do not hear what is going on halfway around the world. Due to lack of media coverage, we often don't know which countries have been advancing well and which ones have not. To many people, the only thing they know about India, comes from the movie “Slum Dog Millionaire”, which does a great job representing the millions of poor in the country, but does not show what is happening with the huge population of middle class there: their advancements, their social life, and education.

Movies:

Most movies that make it to the U.S. from India are in Hindi, the official language of India. However, occasionally I come across some very good movies in English, such as “Deli Belly” and “Everybody Says I’m Fine”. The one that I watched today, is the later. It is about a hair dresser that can read people’s minds when he cuts their hair. Often, he uses this ability to find ways to help his clients.

The movie was not great, but it was entertaining. It is not exactly a Bollywood movie, the producers were Canadian, but the movie takes place in Mumbai, and has an all Indian cast. Unlike most Bollywood movies, it skips the common dance numbers typically seen in Indian films. This shortens the movie quite a bit. The plot is easy to follow, and it gives a good perspective of what middle class people really are like in this country. If you have not seen an Indian film before, I suggest you start with a movie like this one.

There were a few scenes, that you would never see in a true Bollywood movie, such as the scene where the hero gets romantically involved with one of his clients. While it does not show anything new for an American audience, it is much more suggestive then what you will ever find in Bollywood, due to censorship issues.

Food:
I started off my day with some yoga. I followed this with a mango smoothie similar to an Indian drink called mango lassie- normally produced from a thick buttermilk and mango juice. I followed this with Indian tea, which is steeped as a loose black tea with the milk (instead of adding milk afterwards).

For dinner I am making a lentil and kidney bean curry that I will put over basmati rice, a rice that stems from the Indian subcontinent. Many people today in India are finding it harder and harder to afford to eat this highly fragrant rice. Though the rice is long grained and white, but it has a fairly low glycemic index compared to jasmine and American long grained rice.

Work Cited:

Bose, Rahul. “Everybody Says I’m Fine”. Released: 2001.

Boyle, Danny, Loveleen, Tandan. “Slumdog Millionare”. Released: 12 November 2008.

Deo, Abhinay. Verma, Akshat. “Dehli Belly”. Released: 2011.

Barbados, St. Vinccent and the Grenadines

Caribean Islands:

I woke up this morning and realized that I had two Caribbean countries scheduled in a row, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. So I am rolling this post into one- the Caribbean Islands. First thing that I did this morning was go for a swim to celebrate, which was hard to do when it is seven degrees outside. True, the pool I use is indoors, but I still had to go out in the cold with wet hair afterwards. I then had a nice tropical fruit smoothie followed by watching my movie about the location. I based my research on the two countries mentioned above.

Both countries fell under British rule until the mid 20^th century. However the demographics of the two countries are slightly different. Barbados has a high percentage of people from India, where as the majority of people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are former slaves of African descent. English is widely spoken in both places; however, people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are much more likely to speak a dialect of creole in casual conversation with family and friends.

Food:

Both places had black eyed pea dishes. Black eyed peas and rice seemed to be a common dish for both, so that I what I decided to make. I could not find a beer made in either, so I bought Red Stripe, a common Jamaican beer. For tomorrow I have a Caribbean rum that I plan on mixing with Pineapple Juice. Since Barbados has such a high Indian population, roti and other flat breads are commonly eaten with the meals.

The recipe I used for the black eyed peas and rice is here: http://globaltableadventure.com/2010/05/16/recipe-peas-n-rice/

Movie:

The movie that I chose to watch was filmed in both Barbados and Grenada, a separate country from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The movie is called “Island in the Sun”, a British movie set on a fictional Caribbean Island. This movie came out in 1957 and for the time, was highly controversial. The movie’s main theme is that of mixed relationships between blacks and whites, and there struggles with it.

The movie itself follows three different couples (4 if you include one that is already married). Two of them are couples that are black and white. One where the man is black (woman white) and the other the opposite. In the first case, the man is trying to get into politics and is seeking to represent his island people, where the woman’s family had owned a plantation on the island 100 years prior. In the end, one of the couples goes off together and the other split apart, feeling that their differences are just too much to overcome.

At the same time, two of the characters find out that they are 1/32 black, though they do not look it. The discovery comes in the form of a newspaper article. The brother and sister are forced to reflect on their own lives, and what it means for them. In the woman’s case, it threatens to put an end to her plans of marring a titled British official, thus polluting the bloodline.

The movie also touches on politics common to many of the Caribbean Islands, where a minority of British rule over a people they don’t necessarily identify with.

My Thoughts

As many of my readers know, I am married to a man from Southern India. When I got married to him, no one even batted an eyelash, as far as I can recall. True, I was once questioned about whether it was a good idea to think about dating him when I was first considering taking our friendship to the next level. However, this was before any of my family met him and found out what a wonderful guy he is. By the time I got engaged to him a little less than two years later, he was already considered one of the family. The issue of a mixed marriage, or having mixed children was never an issue.

One of my aunts married a man from Jamaica, years earlier. They had three wonderful, intelligent daughters who I absolutely adore.  The movie got me thinking about them. What struggles did they avoid by being born in the 1980's instead of the 20's? Unlike the woman who is 1/32 black, they have always known what there background is. None of my cousins had any trouble finding husbands, but the movie reminds me that there situation could have been much different for them half a century ago.

Work Cited:

Barbados. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados. Retrieved: January 20, 2014

Hays, Alfred. Waugh, Alec. Rossen, Robert "Island in the Sun". Copyright: 12 June1957. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aqpCjPGero Retrieved: January 20, 2014.

"St. Vincent and the Grenadines". Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines. Retrieved: January 21, 2012.

Tennessee, USA- Martin Luther King Day

 

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is Martin Luther King Day, and Martin Luther King was born in Georgia. So why am I writing about Tennessee? This is because Tennessee is where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

Everyone knows who Martin Luther King Jr. was. Every year we have a day celebrating his accomplishments. From childhood we were told what a good man he was, and how he lead the non-violent movement towards equality  We have all seen video clips of his “I have a dream speech” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UV1fs8lAbg ), and if you haven't, you can play it here.

So why was Martin Luther King in Tennessee? I knew that he was protesting unfair treatment of African American's but was the smaller cause that brought him to that particular place? The answer: Garbage, or be more precise, the unfair treatment of Garbage workers. At the time, garbage workers in Memphis, Tennessee were all African American, and all there supervisors were white. These garbage men worked more than a full time job, yet their pay was so little that many of them still had to be on welfare. Added to this was the fact that they only had 15 minute lunch breaks, unsafe working conditions, and no bathroom breaks. The protests ignited after two workers were killed by being smashed within the compacter of a garbage truck (Bausmam). This protest is what lead Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, Tennessee, the place where King was assassinated.

Book:

The book I found was in the Children's section of the Library, "Marching to the Mountain" by Ann Bauman. She does a great job in showing the conditions of the worker, who was involved in the situation, who was involved with trying to change the workers conditions, and how Martin Luther King Junior got involved.

Food:

Today's menu includes soul food and traditional southern food. For breakfast I had a bowl of grits. Dinner is greens, mac and cheese, and black eyed peas.

It is amazing how much of the food that we think of as Southern food has similar African recipe counterpart. Almost every African country has recipes for greens, and beans. In Malawi, they even had grits, called "ngaiwa phala". So far, the only thing that I am making without an African counterpart, is my Mac and Cheese. I have yet to find this when searching for African recipes.

Movie:

One of the movies that I found about Tennessee is “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock. It is the story of a poor black boy who finds love and acceptance in the home of a well off white family. The movie shows Michael, the poor black kid, improve in school and in football, which finally leads to his acceptance into college.

The movie has racial themes. Leigh Anne is criticized by her friends for taking in such a large African American youth, who question whether it is safe for her to do so. The NCAA question whether or not the family has Michael’s best interest at heart, claiming that they only took him in to benefit there college football team. In the end the family gets to legally adopt Michael.

Experience:

Last summer I got to spend a few days in Camdem, Tennessee, which was my first visit to the state. We stayed at a small resort, called Birdsong on Kentucky Lake (part of the Tennessee River). In the resort is a freshwater pearl museum, because the lake is the only place in the U.S. where freshwater pearls are cultured. Dotting the sides of the road were historical sites that memorialized significant events that occurred during the civil war.

I road in the car with my stepmother, on the way down there from Michigan I got to hear all these stories about my step mother’s family. My favorite of which was this one:

Story:

My step mother’s great aunt was living by herself, her children having been grown, in a small house that had a crawl space under it. The crawl space was big enough for animals to get under. Her great aunt had noticed that this family of cats had moved in under the house. So she decided to try and get these cats into the house. She fed them outside, but only one of them would come up to the steps to eat. Since it was the biggest, she decided this must be the daddy cat. She called up one of her nephews and told him that she was trying to get this cat family inside. He advised against this saying: “Why do you want to bring feral cats in? They’re not going to make good pets.”

By the nephews next visit she still hadn’t gotten the cats in the house. The great Aunt called her nephew over to the door. “Ssh!” she whispered motioning for him to come to the door, “the daddy cat is right outside.”

He took one look at that “cat” and screamed: “That’s not a cat, that’s a skunk. You have skunks living under your house. You have to get your cataracts taken care of.”

Now the great aunts daughter, my step mother’s aunt laughed when she heard this story, because it was so funny to her: “Mama” she said, “how can you not tell a skunk from a cat?”

Years later this same aunt, that made fun of her own mamma, was living by herself alone.  She knew my stepmother was a librarian, so she called her up and asked her if she knew anything about the duckbill platypus. My step mom told her the little she knew, and then asked “why do you want to know about the platypus?”

“I have one living under my house. I didn’t know what it was when I first saw it, but I looked it up at the library and the only thing that looks like this creature is a platypus. That must be what it is.”

“You mean the famous Tennessean platypus Auntie?” my stepmom teased, know that there was no such creature living in that state.

“Oh, I’m sure it is a platypus. It looks just like the picture in the book.”

My step mother called one of her cousins to check it out and to see if they couldn’t put something up around the house to keep animals out. Her cousin went under the house. He saw two beady eyes. This must be Auntie’s platypus. The creature charged at him, but ended up running past him and out from underneath the house.

“There it is! There it is!” cried my stepmother’s aunt, “There’s the platypus.”

“That’s not a platypus! That’s a skunk!”

Video Clip:

I thought I would end this post with some humor. One of my favorites is from Epic Rap Battles: "Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr. Epic Rap Battle.

 

Work Cited:

Bausum, Anne. Marching to the Mountaintop. National Geographic. Copyright 2012.

Bird Song Resort. http://www.birdsong.com/index.php. Copyright: 2014. Retrieved: January 20, 2014.

"Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr. Epic Rap Battles" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6G6CZT7h4k . Retrieved: January 19, 2014.

Hancock, John Lee. "The Blind Side". Copyright: 2009.

Harrison, Connie Parker. Personal Conversation: August 2013.

King, Martin Luther, Jr."I Have a Dream". 28 August 1963.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UV1fs8lAbg. Retrieved: January 19, 2014


 

Georgia

I went to an all girls high school, where I was on our school’s swim team. We practiced with our all boys sister school. One day a new boy showed up with a thick accent that I could not place. When I asked him where he was from, he told me Georgia: “Couldn’t I tell from his thick southern accent? ”He proceeded to try and convince me that he was from the state of Georgia. It wasn’t a Southern accent, so I pressed him further. I finally got out of him that he was from the country of Georgia, in the former Soviet Union. I dated this guy for about a week.

In college I met a group of Russian girls and I told them that I dated someone from Georgia. “Oh” one of them said, “We don’t like people from there. They’re pompous jerks.”

I didn’t get it, my friend wasn’t a pompous jerk. He was a nice quiet guy. However, I figured there must be a reason they thought this.

The summer after I graduated from college, the 5 day war broke out between the two countries. The dispute was over a small bit of land that lies between the two countries. The Georgians had no chance of winning, leaving many Georgian civilians dead or wounded in its wake. Since then, the war has been covered in short documentaries and the film, “5 Days of War”.

Food:

I chose to make potato pancakes and stuffed cabbage for dinner. Neither of them turned out as well as I would have liked, and so for this reason, I will not be sharing the recipes. The “pancakes” tasted good, but I lacked a crucial ingredient that made them pancakes. The cabbage was stuffed with a mixture of barley and boca meat substitute and then topped with tomato sauce. The stuffing and sauce was good, but the cabbage didn’t cook well.

Work Cited:

Harlin, Renny. “5 Days of War”. Copyright:2011.

 “Georgia”. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country) Retrieved: January 19, 2014. “Georgia VS Russia BBC Documentary Movie”. BBC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39hL-jj6QVg. Retrieved: January 19, 2014.

Tunisia

Tunisia:

If the country Tunisia sounds familiar to you, it is because it had been in the news three years ago. Remember the Arab Spring? Tunisia is where it all started. The uprising quickly spread through much of North Africa before spreading to the Arab Peninsula.

Tunisia itself is located in North Africa sharing a border with the Mediterranean Sea (to the North), and Algeria and Libya to either side (both part of the Arab Spring).

The Arab Spring meant answering many difficult questions to American leaders: do we support the people or do we support the leadership they are trying to oust? The question stems from this: in many cases the Americans were the ones who helped get some of these dictators into power. However, the people were fighting for democracy, something that Americans believe in more than anything else. Complicating this issue is the fact that there was a possibility of the people electing into office a party that was associated with Muslim fundamentalists and Surreal Law. So what do we support? Democracy even if it means people voting for something we’re against? Democracy over a power we put in place?

Tunisians were shocked as to how many of their countrymen elected conservative Muslim politicians. The politicians in question fueled violence towards secularism, and the response: Secularism started getting a better hold on the country. Now, there seems to be a delicate balance being formed between the two sets of beliefs, meaning compromise written in the new Tunisian Constitution.

The Arab Spring was not the first time that Tunisia has seen political turmoil. Prior to 1956, Tunisia was a French colony, during this time many French and Italians were living in this country. During World War II the Allied and Axis powers fought over this Country.

Movie:

“The Wedding Song” takes place in Tunisia during World War II. While a majority of the people here are Tunisian, there are many living here from France. Two friends, a Muslim Tunisian lady and a Jewish French girl are friends, and they are both preparing to get married. The movie shows differences between the relationships these girls have with their fiancés’. The war opens hostilities against the Jews and places the two girls on opposite sides of the war.   

Food:

When I was looking up recipes for this country, I noticed that all the recipes had chickpeas. They suggested putting the stews over fine cuscus. One of the recipes that I found was for cabbage and chick peas, now I did not follow the recipe: Instead I fried up some cabbage, boiled it, and then I put a premade Indian Chickpea stew over it. It had all the ingredients from the recipe, and it looked similar to what was in the picture. Quinoa has a similar look and texture to cuscus, so I made a quinoa with chickpeas, parsley, onion, lemon juice, olive oil, and diced red onions. I washed this down with an Arab style tea.

Work Cited:

Albou, Karin. “The Wedding Song”. 2008

Beardsley, Eleanor. ‘Is This Arab Spring Country Finally Getting It Right?”. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=262357235&m=262357236. Published: 14 January 2014. Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

Tunisia. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisia . Retrieved: January 19, 2014

 

Bulgaria

Bulgaria:
Bulgaria has a rich history. It boasts many historic architecture from many faiths, including that of Russian Orthodox, Judaism, and Islam. The country itself has a rich history where people from many different cultures have come together. It borders (Ulman). Greece, yet it is a Slovak nation, meaning that its culture is a mix of Mediterranean and Eastern European (Wikipedia). (Note: this country does not boarder the Mediterranean).

Current Events:

Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the European Union. Recently, sanctions were lifted from Bulgaria allowing people from this country to find work in places like France, Britain, and Germany, sparking loads of controversy in these countries. People in France for example are worried about the influx of these poorer people taking their jobs, and Britain is worried about a sudden influx of immigration (Bilefsky) Bilefsky

“The wealthiest one-fifth of society in Bulgaria and Romania…have lower median income than the poorest one-fifty of society in Britain, France, Germany, or other wealthy European states” (Hakim).

These fears might be legitimate, or they may be xenophobic hype. The unemployment rate in Bulgaria is 7%, the same as it is in Britain. Despite the relatively low incomes, the average person here has a fairly decent standard of living due to a lower cost of living (Bilefsky).

Even though the standard of living is fine for many of those who live there, it is not fine for many refugees that have flocked there from Syria. Being a poor nation, Bulgaria lacks the resources and info structure to take in the many who have abandon their Syrian homes, leading to conditions that are just as bad as what they left behind (Hilary).

Food:

I was going to serve a few dishes tonight. One of which is a cold cucumber soup called Tarator. This will be served with bulgur wheat (made with honey and raisins, and a salad. The salad is not an actual Bulgarian recipe, but it uses many items found in the area, including Feta cheese and beets.

The recipe for Tarator that I will be using is here: http://www.food.com/recipe/tarator-bulgarian-cold-cucumber-soup-62181

 The Bulgarian Bulgur Pilaf’s recipe is here: http://www.food.com/recipe/bulgarian-bulgur-pilaf-306712

 

Work Cited:

Bilefsky, Dan. “E.U Labor Market Opens for Romanians and Bulgarians.” New York Times. 1 January 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/world/europe/european-labor-market-opens-for-romanians-and-bulgarians.html?_r=0. Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

 

“Bulgaria”. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgaria. Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

 

Hakim, Danny. “As European Barries Fall, Bulgarians Feel West’s Tug”. New York Times. Published: 26 December 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/business/international/restless-bulgarians-feel-the-pull-from-abroad.html. Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

Hilary, Cecily. “Syria Refugees Flood Bulgaria, Expose Flaws in EU Refugee Policy”. Novinte.com Published 14 January 2014. http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=157227. Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

Jane, Sarah. “Bulgarian Bulgur Pilaf”. Food.Com. Published: 31 May 2008. http://www.food.com/recipe/tunisian-vegetable-stew-54602 Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

Nelka.“Tarator- Bulgarian Cold Cucumber Soup.” Food.com. Published: 15 may 2003. http://www.food.com/recipe/tarator-bulgarian-cold-cucumber-soup-62181 . Retrieved: January 17, 2014.

Ullman, Frank. “7 Days Bulgaria”. TravelVideoStore.com.

 

USA- Prohibition Remembrance Day

Prohibition Remembrance Day:

Prohibition began in 1920. January 16, 1920 marked the last day you could buy, sell, or transport alcohol (http://everydaysaholiday.org/prohibition-remembrance-day/). The 18^th amendment banned alcohol for 13 years. This leaves a major question open, how was the roaring 20’s roaring without alcohol?

Movie:

The roaring 20’s can best be summed up in the movies/ book: “The Great Gatsby”. In both versions of the movie we see the characters drink, party like there is no tomorrow, and have affairs. People with new money were looked upon with suspicion for being involved with the illegal alcohol business. Still, the antagonist who complains the loudest about people getting rich off liquor does not abstain from the substance.

Italian Mafia:

The Italian Mafia gained power after making money off selling and distributing illegal alcohol. If it were not for this law the mafia would have had a much harder time getting to where they were at their height. Much of the history of corruption in American Big City Politics stems from the Mafia’s hand once being in government, and most people have seen its effects one way or the other.

Story I:

My father lived well after prohibition was over, in Cicero, a suburb of Chicago. He tells this story of a time when he was working for a man who needed money. The man asked my dad to go with him to a meeting. The meeting was at a nice Italian restaurant. My dad ordered a plate of pasta, and happily sat there eating it, while his boss and these two other men talked about the loan agreement. His boss was sweating bullets and my dad couldn’t figure out why (my dad was 14 or 15 after all).

During the course of the meal the two men made a vague remark about what happens when they don’t get paid back. It went something like: “XYZ factory didn’t pay us back and we took care of them.”

My dad’s boss finally took a breath after the men left, turned to my dad and said, “did you notice they were pointing guns at us from under the table the entire time we were eating?”

Of course my dad hadn’t, he would have been too afraid to eat if he would have known.

The next day, my dad heard on the news that XYZ factory had burned down. The report said that one body was found in the debris.

Both sides of my family seem to have many stories like this involving the Italian Mofia. I am not sure if it is an unusual number, but it is anything from “So and so got run out of town”, to “I found a shoe with a foot still in it”, to “The FBI was following him because he talked to the wrong elementary school friend”.

Bootlegging and Speak-Easies:

Boot legging became a popular during these times. I was on a road trip in Tennessee; my stepmother pointed out the window and said: “When I was younger you used to be able to see all these holes in the side of the hills. It is too grown over to see them anymore. Do you know what they are? They are holes where bootleggers used to hide their moonshine.”  

This was not the first time that I saw things from the time of prohibition. My parents used to take me to a restaurant when I was a child that we found out had once been a speak-easy. The restaurant was way out of the way, which was probably perfect for avoiding attention from the police. Most speak-easies were not necessarily out of the way. Some of them had store fronts with back doors, where the bar was or a trapped door where the alcohol was kept.

Food/ Drink:

Since prohibition is so tied into the Italian Mafia, I thought I would make Italian food. I made spaghetti in a mushroom sour cream sauce with a side salad.

Of course, one has to drink on this day, but I was not about to try moonshine (a legalized brand) on a weekday. I did find a brand called Batch 19, which claims to be a “Pre-Prohibition Style Lager.” It’s made by Coors Brewing Corporation. It did seem to have a hardier taste then the traditional American Lager, with more hops. It is not as hoppy as an IPA, allowing one to still taste the malt flavor.   

 Work Cited:

Burns, Ken. “Prohibition”. Copyright: 2011.

Clayton, Jack. “The Great Gatsby”. Copyright: 1974.

Luhrmann, Baz. “The Great Gatsby”. Copyright: 2013.

“Prohibition Remembrance Day. Every day’s a holiday!. Published: 16 January 2012. http://everydaysaholiday.org/prohibition-remembrance-day/. Retrieved: January 16, 2014.

Acknowledgements:

Stories were taken from:

Jeffrey Harrison

Connie Parker Harrison

Malawi

Malawi:

Malawi is a very poor African country located in the great rift valley, on the east side of the continent. To the east is Lake Malawi, one of Africa’s great lakes. It was formed by the great gouges in the earth formed by the great rift, a geological formation created by plate tectonics.

Film:

If you would like to know more about the Great Rift itself, I would suggest the documentary: “Discovery Atlas: Uncovering Earth”, season 1, episode 1: “The Great Rift Valley.” Here they cover the natural geology of the region, human’s prehistoric ancestry in the region, culture, and European conquest. It does not limit itself just to Malawi, but it does give a sense of this part of Africa.

Book:

I have not finished my Malawian book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, but I find the book quite fascinating. The book itself is a biography/ autobiography about a Malawian boy who grew up believing in strong African Magic. Armed with only a love for technology, an ability to read, and books from the Library, William was able to build a windmill that gave electricity to his people.

The book is 270 pages long when you include the Epilogue. When I first read the back  panel of the book I thought to myself, how could they stretch the concept of this book to such an extent, but I am glad they do. This book is not just about building a windmill, it is about growing up in Malawi, overcoming obstacles, and self-discovery.

There is a lot in this book about Malawi that you cannot find by going through the Wikipedia. For instance, in one page, I was able to learn: People have cats as pets, but “In Malawi only dogs have names”, and that Malawian “Chiefs usually dressed like businesspeople, never with feathers and hides”(Kamkwamba, 16). In the book, they discuss the food they eat, the beer they drink, the way woman are treated differently than men, hunting, farming, and going to market, all through the eyes of one young man.

Food:

In the book the author mentions that some people may only get to eat meat at Christmas. Still the author talks about eating fried goat with fried potatoes, and hunting for wild birds, which he then cooks and consumes. He talks about how one of his favorite foods is dried fish with tomatoes, and that a staple of their diet is are two dishes made from Maize. One is ngaiwa phala, corn porridge that is basically grits, which is eaten for breakfast. The other is nsima (similar to fufu in other regions of Africa and the Caribbean), a corn dough with is eaten with stews (Kamkwamba, 68). Much of these stews are either beans or mixed greens, such as pumpkin leaves, cabbage, rape, Kale, etc.

For my dishes I chose to make ngaiwa phala and “Basic Vegetable Ndiwo” (sautéed greens), which I found on in the following website: http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/learn_about_malawi/volunteer_life/recipes.html

I also made tilapia. There is no mention of this fish being eaten in the book or on any of the websites. I did find out that this fish is in Lake Malawi and other east African fresh waters, and that there are efforts to start fish hatcheries in Malawi for this particular fish. Since there was no recipes, I just had to wing it.

Games:

I have this game board at home that my aunt purchased for me when I was very young. I had seen this game on one of my favorite childhood movies, which had taken place in Kenya. When I saw it at a fair trade store I had to have it. I never knew what the name of the game was, but at some point I learned the rules of the game, and would play against my sister and parents. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, they play a similar game called “bawo”. According to the book:

“Bawo is a mancala game played with marbles or seeds on a long wooden board lined with holes. Each player had two rows of eight holes each. The object is to capture your opponent’s front row of marbles and prohibit him from moving.” (Kamkwamba, 62)

This is not quite the same as my game, where each player has one row of five holes, but it is similar. I have found directions for this game which is below.

Work Cited:

“Favorite Malawi Recipes. “Friends of Malawi”. http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/learn_about_malawi/volunteer_life/recipes.html. Retrieved: January 15, 2014

Kamkwamba, William. Mealer. Bryan. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Copyright: 2009.

“Malawi”. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawi. Retrieved: January 15, 2014

“Mancala- The African Stone Game”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwYCKr0Apa4#t=87. Retrieved: January 15, 2014

Morgan, James. “Fish farming in Malawi’s dustbowl”. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7683748.stm. Published: 28 October 2008. Retrieved: January 16, 2014.

Slee, Mike. Spillenger, Paul. “Atlas 4D: Uncovering Earth” Season 1, Episode 1. “Great Rift Valley. Discovery. Copyright: August 2010.

“Tilapia

Middle East

Middle East:

Last Monday, I found myself in Dearborn, Michigan, after an interview I had in Detroit. I knew that my blog schedule showed that I had to focus on the Middle East, and I couldn’t have been in a better place to do it. Dearborn is said to have the largest Middle Eastern populations outside of the Middle East. Here, it is not uncommon to see woman wearing the hijab (head scarf) accompanied by long bearded men.

My Step Mother, who works for the Dearborn School district often tells me about the Islamic community in her school. I asked her one time, do conservative Muslim girls go to prom? Her answer: “Absolutely!” She explained that they often wear the same big colorful dresses many other typical girls wear. They might find classy ways to cover their arms and hair, but they still go. They have fun; they dance, but there is one major difference. In many cases they are not allowed to have dates. Instead, they often go with their favorite group of female friends.

I had chosen this day to cover the Middle East because it was the first of two days of Mawlid, the day many Muslims Mohammed’s birthday. Muslims around the world celebrate this holiday in different ways (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mawlid-2014-muslims-observe-prophet-muhammads-bday-photos-1432088). The holiday itself is fairly controversial, Mohammad never celebrated his birthday nor did he encourage others to do so.  For this reason some sects of Islam disapprove of the celebration.  

Movie:

My favorite movie taking place in an Islamic country is “Persepolis”. The animated feature takes place in Iran. The young girl finds herself in the middle of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The once modern country quickly gained fundamental Islamic. All the sudden she finds that she has to wear the hijab in school, is being taught fundamental ideas, and that alcohol is being banned. She often lands in trouble when she does not follow all the new rules now imposed on her by a country that has always been her home.

Book:

If your knowledge of Islam is limited, one of the books that is the most comprehensive about the religion is “Mohammad: A Story of the Last Prophet” by Deepak Chopra. It tells the story of Mohammad without being preachy about the religion itself. The goal of the book is informative. It is not trying to convert anyone. The book even helps explain some of the darker and more controversial views of the religion. It does not go into how to treat woman or why some Muslims treat woman like they do. It does go into Muhammad’s marriages, the support he got from his first wife, and the trails he had to go through, throughout his life.

Food:

 I found myself in a small Lebanese restaurant in Dearborn, called Shawarma place. From outside, it did not look like anything special, but the décor on the inside was pleasant. I ordered myself Chicken Shawarma. The meat had been marinated well and there was a lot of it. It came with salad, rice, and baba ghanouj. The Fattoush salad which had a strongly vinegar rich dressing was topped with pitta chips, and the rice was seasoned well. Baba ghanouj is a creamy dip with eggplant as one of its ingredients.

I wanted to bring some food home for my husband, so I ordered to go a similar plate of Shawarma meat, with hummus, a paste made from chickpeas. I also ordered stuffed grape leaves (rice wrapped in pickled grape leaves).

Work Cited:

Chopra, Deepak. “Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet”. Copyright: 2010

Harrison, Connie. Personal Conversation. 2012.

“Mawlid 2014: Muslims Observe Prophet Muhammad’s B’day”. International Business Times. Published: 13 January 2014. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mawlid-2014-muslims-observe-prophet-muhammads-bday-photos-1432088 . Retrieved: January 14, 2014.

Paronnaud, Vincent. Satrapi, Marjane. “Persepolis”. Copyright: 2007.

 

Pictures by: Arvind Jujare

Thailand II

Thailand:

Children’s day was celebrated in Thailand last weekend. Due to travel I was not able to write about it. I did however research the country. Children’s day is celebrated in many nations around the world, but many of these fall on different days. In Thailand, it is always the second Saturday of January. It is a day to remember the wellbeing of children around the world. In Thailand, many people take their kids out to have fun. There is a Thai saying that goes, "Children are the future of the nation, if the children are intelligent, the country will be prosperous."(http://www.swp.in.th/childday.html).

Current Events:

There has been much protest in Thailand in the last few months, resulting in violence and rioting. The protests are aimed against government corruption. In particular, the people want to, “rid Thailand of the influence of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the older brother of Yingluck”, who is the current prime minister. Many people believe that she is a puppet for her brother (Olarn).  

Movie:

The movie that I watched was “Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior”.  It is a martial arts moving which highlights Tony Jaa’s Muay Thai kick boxing skills. The plot: After a special budha head (or Ong-Bak) and the villages poor box is stolen from the Ting’s village, Nong Pradu. The protagonist himself has promised his master never to actually use the Muay Thai skills that were taught to him. The village decides that they must have the amulet back.

The thief is the Don, who serves a gang. Ting works with two others: Humlae, a man who is in a lot of debt with the wrong crowd and a young woman who races motor cycles. Together they go into the Onk-Bak underworld, where they discover drugs, underground fighting, and much more theft of priceless Thai artifacts. Though hesitant, Ting is forced to his Muay Thai skills to defeat the gang.

Food:

I had very little time to prepare a Thai dinner, and there are really no good Thai restaurants here in Peoria. I made Thai TV dinners. One was a green curry and the other a red curry. I could hardly taste the difference between the two. Honestly it would have been better if I had gotten Thai noodle soup from Noodles and Company here in Peoria.  

To drink, I had Sigha, a Thai lager that is brewed in Bangkok. If you have ever been to a Thai restaurant with a liquor license, you have most likely seen this beer. I am not a connoisseur of beer, so unfortunately, my description of the beer will most likely lack substance. In my humble opinion the beer was very simple, slightly more robust than the typical American style lager, with subtle flavor.

Work Cited:

Mohsin, Saima. Mullen, Jethro. Olarn, Kocha. “Thailand anti-government protesters continue effort to 'shut down' Bangkok”. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/14/world/asia/thailand-protests/. Published: January 14, 2014. Retrieved: January 14, 2014

 Pinkaew, Prachya. “Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior”. 2003.  

 “Thailand Festivals”. http://www.swp.in.th/childday.html. Retrieved: January 11, 2014

  

Michigan

Michigan:

I have been looking for a job since before I quit my last job. When I tell people where I am looking I tell them: “San Antonio, Houston, Denver, and Detroit.” The response is often: “Detroit, why in the world would you want to live in Detroit?”

There are multiple reasons for Detroit, primarily, my dad lives there and both my husband and I should be able to find jobs there in our field of study, but this is not the only reasons.

While Detroit itself is going through hard times: such as its bankruptcy and the decline of jobs there is many great things about the City and the state it is a part of.

Outside of the cities, away from the urban blithe lies the most beautiful woods and beached in the Midwest.  Remember the beach scenes in American Pie; those were all shot on Lake Michigan Beaches. Four of the great lakes boarder Michigan, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie, not to mention Lake Saint Clair which is almost a great lake.

There are many things to see when visiting Michigan’s great lakes: Sleeping Bear Dune’s State Park, staying in Holland Michigan, Mackinac Island, or Picture Rock are sights to see in Michigan. There is a stretch of highway called U.S. 2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula which must be one of the most beautiful drives in the U.S.

Drinks:

When you enter Michigan, from Indiana, one of the first things you might notice is are signs advertising tastings at wineries. There are many wineries in Michigan, and it is not hard to find a good one. Due to the climate, most Michigan Wineries make greet sweet white wines, and fruit wines. If you find yourself at one of these wineries be sure to try a Riesling, a winter white, and the cherry wine. Another wine popular in these parts is the ice wine. Ice wine grapes are harvested immediately after the first frost of the season, yielding a more concentrated elixir. Since a good harvest is rare, the production of ice wine does not occur on a yearly basis. Meaning, that ice wine itself is usually quite a bit more expensive than traditional wines. Expect to pay between $40 and $50 for a small bottle.

Book:

If you are interested in Detroit’s history, but you prefer a book with a plot, read Jeffrey Eugenides’ “Middlesex”, a semiautobiographical work of fiction largely based on Eugenides’ life. The book takes place in Detroit where it shows the characters through the rise of the motor city, the trials of prohibition, the segregation of the races, and the race riots.

 

The book follows three generations of a Greek/ Greek American family, starting with the grandparents. The grandparents are actually brother and sister couple from Greece who fall in love and marry.  The couple keeps their identity as brother and sister a secret in their new Detroit home. After the grandmother learns why it is so taboo for brothers and sisters to marry, she is filled with shame. She pulls away from her husband leaving a deep void in both their lives.

Flash forward two generations to one of their grandchildren.   Calliope Stephanides is grows up in what is seemingly a normal Detroit family life. She goes to school, and is the apple of her dad’s eye, but things start to change for her when she hits puberty. If you think that you had an awkward time in your teenage years, try being Calliope. She grew up thinking she was a normal girl only to find out in high school that she was actually a he. What follows is an identity crisis, resolution, and epiphany dealing with her own family tree.

Food:

For such a depressed part of the U.S, Detroit has some of the best restaurants anywhere, with a food that can fit anyone’s taste, and because the area is so depressed, the most menus are priced fairly reasonably. Though Detroit is still one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. it is heavily diversified. Though I grew up in San Antonio, Detroit is where I first tasted, Ethiopian food, Thai, authentic Middle Eastern Food, and Authentic Indian food. For those who have a pallet that does not crave spice in there food they have that, too. Many people came up from the south to find work in the emerging automotive industry a few decades before, and Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit has the highest Middle Eastern population outside of the Middle East. The result: restaurants that mix tastes from the traditional Midwest cuisine with both soul food and the Mediterranean.

If you are flying into Detroit, a few minutes away is the intersection of Telegraph Rd and Michigan Avenue. If you head a few blocks east on this intersection there are tons of restaurants: Family Café’s, Coney Islands, Greek and Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, and even Sushi. Do not be fooled by how hole- in-the-wall a few of the restaurants are, many of them are quite good.

One of my favorite Michigan Restaurants, is a good ways outside of Detroit, approaching Flint, Michigan. It is called the French Laundry in Fenton, Michigan. The menu is mostly a wide array of gourmet sandwiches  for Lunch and Dinner, and a wide array of breakfast items. This is a perfect brunch spot, in a small picturesque Midwest town. You can check out there menu on there website: http://lunchandbeyond.com/.

Work Cited:

Eugenides, Jeffrey. "Middlesex". Published: 2002
French Laundry. http://lunchandbeyond.com/. Retrieved: January 14, 2014
Pictures by: Arvind Jujare