Wanderlustress

Mmmmm.....Conte's

Had another pre-birthday celebration tonight with 10 of my work colleagues from the university. This time, pizza and beer at the mouth-watering, craving-satisfying, Conte’s Pizza!!!. Mmmm……..

'Tis The Season

Once November arrives, it seems the holiday festivities whirl in, too, and catch me unprepared...NOT this year. I just came home with a case of my favorite wine, 2000 Châteaux Mongravey Margaux...mmmm.....

Already, three bottles will be given away this weekend, and two the next. Luckily, they always accompany good food, great friends, a loving family, and the occassional treat-myself-down-time-bottle at home!

Green Curry and Peace Corps Safety

Can't sleep again. My house smells like green curry. My stomach is growling, mouth's watering, and it’s not the usual deep sleep drool either. Oh, how I wish...

It may be due to the spate of of discussions in the Peace Corps discussion group about volunteer safety. The October issue of Jane Magazine has a less than balanced article about the incidence of sexual assault, rape, and sickness among female Peace Corps volunteers. Yeah, I know, highly reputable and worthy reading, right? It's shoddy, biased reporting, but it got sent around to the discussion group and is scaring half the women applicants to death about serving. Family members of applicants and volunteers get a hold of this stuff and (rightfully) go off the deep end. Granted, there are significant dangers when going into war-torn, poverty-stricken regions of the world. And we should not, and for the most part, do not take the potential risk for granted when we apply. We are smart, young (save myself), adults, and not the naïve, helpless nymphs the article portrays female volunteers.

Indeed, the Peace Corps can be more responsive in mitigating risks, but no one can guarantee absolute safety in most of the locations where Peace Corps volunteers go. Women are harassed in the First World countries just as much as in the Third World. Physical assaults hidden behind closed doors and muffled by social stigma occur in our very own neighborhoods.

As for illnesses and tummy aches, I used to get sick every time I went to Bali on a 5-Star holiday, as well as on safari in Namibia. It’s the nature of the microscopic beasts! Everyone has to use his or her own judgment about these things and practice what they have been taught by the Peace Corps. It is the way of life, being a stranger to new organisms.

A returned volunteer who served in Cameroon said it best in her response to the article, "...Peace Corps Volunteers don't serve in Epcot Disneyworld". Oh, how I wish…

Now, where’s that curry?

Dinner for One

After being hungry for hours, I walked into the kitchen and found myself flouring chicken fillets with Turkish roasted chilies I brought back from Istanbul in July. The red and black flakes are less spicy than they are fragrant, infusing a bouquet from the fire fueled by Istanbul breezes.

The fillets joined the already caramelized garlic and shallots in a pan luxurious with olive oil. The bittersweet morsels quickly seared onto the chicken, crispy and piqued with flavor. To that, I finished off some left over sun-dried tomatoes and simmered it all in a basil pesto. Capellini never had better company.

I was half tempted to call a dear friend over to join me, especially when I opened the Bordeaux. But I resisted in better judgement of recent emotional revelations this dear friend had for me. I can't reciprocate in kind.

Tonight, its dinner for one.