Seeing the life behind the face

A reminder that reading is one response to the events around us, because reading encourages empathy:
"If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in."
Frederick Buechner in Whistling in the Dark

"Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one novel that has helped me discover what life may be like for other people. It's the story of a Nigerian student who comes to the US, and her Nigerian boyfriend who makes his way to London. Thoughtful insight into the experience of race, immigration, and culture.

What books do you recommend?

English as a foreign language-part two

I've been to England before but 
never visited British friends there. So I didn't know that there are no restrooms in England. 

Instead they have:

which sounds slightly vulgar to my ears. 

Fortunately there are other options:

and

Speaking of English as a foreign language

Stonking--used to "emphasize something remarkable, exciting, or very large"

as in "Mathilda is stonking show". 

Contest for most amusing name

Every time I look at a map of England I get a smile on my face. Who thought up all these names?

Or how about Ducklington, Filkins, Minchinhampton, Wotton-under-Edge, Chipping Sodbury, Wooton Bassett, Curbridge or the more prosaic Chimney?

What's your favorite English town name?

London wins

November 2 and London wins the 'earliest Christmas decorations' award.  Guess that's what happens when you don't have Thanksgiving to decorate for first. And yes, they were playing Christmas music.  

Sunday Special: love of the world etc

An interview with Stephen Colbert on his faith, humor, and Screwtape's letters

Notable quotes from the interview:

"Logic won't lead me to God but my love for the world will."

and 

"Doing something with joy doesn't make it easier, but it makes it better."

 Stephen Colbert

Driving lessons

Imagine these men throttling full speed at you. It's what I feel every time I get behind the wheel of my car.


Now watch this video clip which gives a brief glimpse into the chaos known as 'driving' here.
How to drive in Morocco



Part two will include

• how to handle oncoming traffic...in your lane;
• buses with dozens of battle scars;
• how to squeeze six cars into two lanes at a traffic light;
• the length of yellow lights [2 seconds];
• and pedestrians who cross without looking, and who are very careful to avoid using the crosswalk,
• preferring instead to cross at a random point along the street,usually five feet away from the next pedestrian.

Lovely limes

I love to eat locally – and therefore seasonally – as much as I can. 

Long before this was fashionable, in the previous century when scraggly tribes of hippies still roamed the land, we belonged to a food co-op in Ohio and enjoyed local cheese, fresh-milled grains, and the bounty of little farms and backyard gardens. 

Here, on the northwestern tip of North Africa, I still eat locally. Most of the time this is by necessity rather than by choice, not that I'm complaining for, as we all know, fresh picked fruits and vegetables and just slaughtered meats taste like no other.

However – (there's always a however) – there are a few delicacies that are normally unavailable here. One of these is the lovely lime.

(You know this one is local because of it's less than perfect appearance) 

Although we live in a Mediterranean climate, this fruit seems absent from the local orchard repertoire. Limes are only for sale sporadically and when they are we happily buy as many as we think we can use. More accurately, as many as Jack thinks he can use in his seasonal gin and tonics. 

Occasionally we supplement this hit or miss supply with a bottle of lime juice without worrying about its provenance. 

Truthfully I can't remember where I bought this bottle: it could've been here, it could've been in Portugal or Spain or I could have even brought it over from the states. 

I would have assumed that the limes came from the states, or possibly from Italy given the brand-name of Sicilia.But what I didn't expect was this:

That's right. This lime juice squeezed from "real" limes (one wonders what an unreal lime is like!) is a product of Peru.

But it gets worse.

Bottled in Switzerland. Truly it boggles the mind (To say nothing of the juice's passport). This lime juice has traveled to three, possibly four, continents. 

The one minuscule speck of light is that I don't think the whole limes were transported, only the juice concentrate.

 At any rate, it's not surprising that our chief lime taster, Jack, said this lime juice just didn't make the cut.

The solution is simple: buy more fresh limes when they are available and freeze the juice in our freezer (manufactured somewhere in Eastern Europe--but that's another story...)

Today is brought to you by the letter Y

This morning 

   

a bug

 in the stairwell 

Wonder where Z is...

Geography lesson courtesy of the US State Department

Another world map and another chance to guess what group Morocco is placed in. This time the map is courtesy of the U.S. State Department's U.S. Embassy locator.)

Africa? That would be most logical since Morocco is on the continent of Africa.

Europe? That would be a little less logical but Europe is just 9 miles away, a hop, skip and a jump across the Straits of Gibraltar.

No, Morocco is part of the Near East, which Mr. Wiki says is a geographic term for Western Asia. Hmmm. 

 The Encyclopaedia Britannica, the UN, and the National Geographic all place Morocco outside of the "Near East".

My vote would be the Western Hemisphere. Why not? The U.S. is only 3381 miles away while Oman is 3909 miles away.

The joys of an ex-pat community

Enjoying my first cup of Argentinian tea.  

Thanks Geri and Gustavo!

Air conditioning Renault 4-style

Open right window:

Open left window:

Apply stiff breeze:

Presto. 

CSA Moroccan-style

This week's local CSA (community supported agriculture): $11 worth of the Mediterranean's finest fruits and vegetables bought at the neighborhood  stand around the corner. 

All grown here and in season. Yum. Time to get creative in the kitchen.  Or maybe I will eat them raw (except for the eggplant and green beans of course.)

There's no taste like home

You can travel the world over but you won't find ice cream like this:

We had Cotton candy, Salted Caramel Chocolate Pretzel, Raspberry Chunky Fudge and Peppermint Glacier (white mint, chocolate chips and junior mints). I had a taste of the Bourbon Caramel Pistachio Brittle too. Amazing flavors and absolutely scrumptious. 

Hands down Massachusetts has the best ice cream anywhere!

Temperature Vermont-style

Looking from both sides now...

Cartoons by John Atkinson

http://wronghands1.com

Is your income more than $37k?

Congratulations. You're rich. A household income of $37,000 a year puts you in the top 4% of earners in the world.

Up and away

What the summer looks like in an ex-pat community:

 Theme song for the month? 

"Leaving on a jet plane" of course.

Guarana Antarctica!

It's always fun to try new things, and last night I had my first Brazilian soda at the  Restaurant Les Epices on Avenue Atlas.

It turns out that guarana is a climbing plant and its seed extract is used in drinks.  From there I learned (thanks to Ms. Wiki):

•Brazil is the third largest consumer of soft drinks in the world,

•this particular brand of guarana soda, Guarana Antarctica, is the second best-selling soft drink in Brazil (behind Coca-Cola), 

•and that only three countries produce it. 

I wasn't surprised that along with Brazil, Portugal is one of those three countries. But Japan as the third did surprise me until Ms. Wiki reminded me that Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside Japan. Considering USA's melting pot status, I think that would be a Quiz Night-worthy question. 

Another Quiz Night-worthy question is why this restaurant serves a Brazilian soft drink--it specializes in Central and West African, Indian, and Mexican cuisine, and Ms. Wiki says Guarana Antarctica is only available in 20 countries and none are in Africa (nor India or Mexico). 

Oh, and yes, I liked it--an apple-esque flavor I'd say, with hints of grape notes.  

Swimming in the deep end

"A discouraging word from a well-meaning adviser: 'Ooh, that’s very brave of you – are you sure you won’t be in over your head?'
...Swimming works better when there’s more water than there is swimmer. Ever try swimming in the shallow end, where the water is not over your head? Very difficult. At best, clumsy. Worse, you could be at risk of crashing your head into the bottom of the pool...

...Of course, all of this assumes the ability to swim, float, and tread water. Basic skills are necessary. But, simply put (and without metaphor), in the real world, when you want to grow in a particular area, you have to try stuff that feels risky, that pushes you past your place of comfort. Experience has to begin somewhere. Every expert at one time was a newbie, at one time took that first floppy fish dive out into deeper waters."
Kelly Belmonte

You can read the whole thing here.

Time to sing "Does anybody really know what time it is?"

I got up early this morning, probably woken up by the call to prayer coming in over the loudspeaker (it's not called loud for nothing). I checked the time on my itouch and groaned. Way too early.

I got my laptop to check email and do a little surfing. Suddenly I thought I had entered a time warp. 

It seemed like an hour had vanished. (I took this picture seconds before I took the itouch screen shot.)

Well, I did what anyone would do. I googled the time. 

(Don't let the minutes fool you. I took this one first.)

Whew. Trusty Google comes through again. Or did it???

I decided to check the top six search results just to be sure. 

(Time to sing the chorus to the Chicago song "Does anybody really know what time it is?)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Yes, it's a tie. And then our clock chimed. 

Someone must have gotten mixed up. Because tomorrow at 2 AM Daylight savings time ends here. (Ramadan is coming and for a month the clocks will be in regular time before turning back to Daylight savings time. Anyone confused yet?)

So now you may think that settles it. Except I haven't forgotten what happened here two years ago when the government postponed the fall time change 15 hours before it was scheduled to take place.    

Let's just say I'm glad I don't have a plane to catch this morning. 

And one thing I do know: it's time for some coffee.

Mad, mad, mad, mad men

Mad Men gone amuck:
“Who are you not to be great? You! The imagination of a brilliant child and the powers of an ancient god.
Who are you to be ordinary? You, who can rescind life or raise the dead.
Who are you to be afraid? You who can serve as judge and jury while hoarding infinite lives.
Who are you to be a slave to the past? You who can travel time like the oceans and rewrite history with a single word.
Who are you to be anonymous? You, whose name should be spoken in reverent tones or terrified whispers.
Who are you to deny greatness? If you were to deny to yourself you deny to the entire world. And we will not be denied.”
Advertising copy...for Sony PlayStation

I have to admit though that I'd love to walk through my day like the last twenty seconds of the commercial.

The Serenity Prayer uncut

The full version of the Serenity Prayer:

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.

Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,

not as I would have it.

Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,

and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen"

Reinhold Neibuhr

The first Sunday special: Simon and Stott

Kim Lawton: "(Paul) Simon says he’s fine with not knowing the answers, but he has sought input on his questions. He has spoken with the Dalai Lama, and he once spent hours talking with British evangelical theologian John Stott, who died last year."

"I talked about everything that was on my mind about things that seemed illogical, and he talked about why he had come to his conclusions and I think both of us enjoyed the conversation immensely. And I left there feeling that I had a greater understanding of where belief comes from when it doesn’t have an agenda." Paul Simon

"One small step for man..."

I wonder if Neil Armstrong's wife ever said that to him.

Crushed milk carton

Trash can

Distance between carton and can

Foot pedal on the trash can

Next up: the distance between my dirty plate and the dishwasher. What keeps me from spending two more seconds to put it into the dishwasher???