Some fellow globe-trotters

After utterly screwing up the making of guacamole today (I'm still not entirely sure where I went wrong) I abandoned Mexican cuisine all together and dined on Indian for my supper. While at the grocery store, I picked up some naan bread. Once I began eating it, I thought, Ah! this is like the chapati I had in Tanzania! It was then that I realized I must have more. And more. And the most cost effective way to have more is to make more yourself. So I look up "chipate recipe" on google. But it's really spelled chipati. So I get no results. But I find this awesome website. About this really cool sounding film. That has been shot all over the world. So I start reading the blog and these people seem cool and they have fun adventures. And all of a sudden, I wanna be back in Africa so badly! Or globe-trotting. Or just be out of the US for awhile. But I'll just have to live vicariously through chapati. You should check out their website, Unveiled Studios, especially all you film productiony inclined people. And if anyone talks to them, tell them how you found them. And tell them I'm single.

Squeaky clean and minty fresh

For lack of a better way to fill the void left in my life by a canceled pathophysiology class, I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you about my soap. I'm not talking about just any old soap here. No no no. You won't find this stuff in CVS. This is 100% organic, fair trade, and environmentally friendly. I ADORE this soap. I've never been much of a product loyalist before but let me tell you, sister, I have seen the light! Did you know that your soap has crazy petroleum derivatives in it? Ew. I know what you're thinking. You must give me the name of this wonderful product. Well....I will! It's Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. And the stuff is amazing. The company calls it 18-1 soap. But there are tons of ways to use it. So far, I've used it on my body, in my hair, and on my teeth. I can't say I recommend it on the teeth unless you're in a pinch. That was a weird experience. And it was a pretty ok shampooing experience. Other uses I have not tried but would like to include: laundry detergent, dish soap, produce cleanser, and general household cleaner. I will also definently be taking it on my next camping trip because...it's one soap that does everything you could possibly need and yet is environmentally friendly. It helps to fulfill my deepest fantasy of becoming a hippy. Anyway here's the website. I bought my soap from drugstore.com where it's just a smidge bit cheaper. But you can buy it on Bronner's website by the GALLON. I don't know about you, but gallon definitely says good to me.

Diamonds Simply Aren't a Girl's Best Friend

Ever since my trip to Tanzania and rooming with my dear friend Kim, I have become very convicted about diamonds. Blood diamonds. Conflict diamonds. Diamonds in general. They're so...artificial to me. We've created this equation that says man+diamond=happily ever after. The sad fact is that in many diamond producing countries man+diamond=death, starvation, relocation, or suffering. I know that I would not want to walk around with something on my finger (especially not if I live in Africa someday) that symbolizes generations of pain and suffering and white domination. Not to mention the fact that diamonds are not even that rare or that valuable. Debeers just holds back their stock to drive the price up. If you've ever had any doubts on the issue just check out this article on allafrica.com. You can find out more about the movie at its official site. You can also get more info from Amnesty International (just type conflict diamonds into the search bar on this site and you'll get even more results) and Global Witness. Law & Order even touched on this issue in last season's "Solider of Fortune" episode. This is truly a human rights issue that affects every one of our lives. We do have the ability to make a change in people's lives. I know it's a lot of links but click them! Do the research. Be informed. Make a stand. Whatever you decide to do, don't be content with ignorance.

Experiments in the Kitchen

Ever since moving into my new apartment, I've vowed to be a more adventurous cooker. It's hard sometimes. The last thing I feel like doing after class is making myself food. I'm always hungry and tired, but somehow I make it. The latest in the series of "food purchases to broaden my culinary horizons" was tofu. It was on sale. I like sales.

I used my tofu in two grand experiments. The first was a stir-fry. I sliced the tofu into thin strips and then sauted it in some butter and spices. Then I dumped it into a frozen veggie stir-fry mix and added tequila lime marinade. It was good. The tequila lime was a little over-powering and salty. I should have cut it with some water or juice or something. Or maybe just used less.

Tonight's tofu experiment was much more brave. I decided to make tofu parm. I crumbled up bread and mixed it with flour and spices and then coated the sliced tofu in it. Problem one arose in that the bread was too big despite my best efforts and didn't really stick to the tofu. So I decided to pre-bake it for like 10 minutes to get that nice crunchy coating. This did not work either. So I went ahead and dumped on the sauce, added the garlic, sprinkled on the cheese and baked it for about 20 minutes. The finished product was...nothing like chicken parm. But it wasn't bad either. It just kind of tasted like sauce and cheese with some mushy stuff. Almost the same consistency as mozzarella. So yeah. It really wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd use that procedure again. Next time, I think I'll stick to the established recipes for first tries.

Consumerism

I have never been much of a fan of capitalism. Or at least not lately. But I'm a lousy socialist sometimes too. But whatever my econmic tendencies are, I found Marshal Brain's post, "The Price of Things" to be a real eye-opener. In it, Brain helps us to see the discrepancys in what we pay for the products we buy. He wants us to "calibrate your 'price gauge' with the prices of some common objects from everyday life." Just think of all the captain's chairs Martha Stewart could have by now....

Sin Never Tasted So Sweet

Presently I am sitting in a chair, relaxing. At 8am on Saturday. Why? Because they're paying me! That's right I'm working. I'm doing a one-on-one which means I sit with a patient for 12 hours. And they were kind (or maybe crazy) enough to give me a laptop. And when given a laptop and nothing to do, I will always choose to update my blog. I have nothing to do because my patient is sleeping. Not because I'm a slacker. So don't even think it. My patient did ask me if he could go to Club Mystique though. So maybe my day will get more interesting...

How could they?

Immigration is a very politically, and sometimes emotionally charged issue in this country. I know how I feel, and I'm sure you know how you feel. But regardless of how you feel, this article has to break your heart. I'm afraid that as a nation (and when I say nation I mean white nation) we're starting to become almost fanatical about preserving ourselves from the outside invaders. And we're willing to go to great lengths to remove them. Personally, I just don't see the harm that these people, illegal or not, have on our nation. They are simply looking for the same thing we all are. A better life for themselves and their children and their families. And they work harder then any of us ever have to get it. Yes, I suppose they do sometimes but a strain on our social services system, but if we all weren't such tight wads and looked out for the good of our fellow man as we should, that wouldn't be such an issue. I read another blog on this article in which the author was cheering the increase in wages. But what about all those business that are going to have to close now because they don't have anyone to buy their products? I'm not an economist, but I don't know how anyone could possibly look at this as some sort of victory. What happened there is a tragedy. It's sad, it's awful, and it makes me want to cry. Just another reason I'm not proud to be an American.

I heart you!

I heart you. . .South Jersey because gas is $2.25!

Boogie down

Friday has finally arrived! And Friday means...no classes! I've never had Friday's completely off before. And I'm totally loving it. I got up late, made waffles, and am currently relaxing on the couch. I really needed it. I've been trying so hard to catch up on my reading. I literally have hundreds and hundreds of pages of reading to do every week. It's slightly...overwhelming. But I think now I'm only a week behind instead of two. Now that's progress.

Now that I'm pretty well settled in to my apartment, I'm still absolutely loving it. It's just so peaceful and comfortable and homey. It still needs some stuff (such as a light in the living room and perhaps some chairs on the balcony) but it's practically perfect. I went home last weekend and it was so hard. I got all weirdly emotional when it was time to leave. Such a dork.

Despite all the chaos of this program, there is one bright spot. Dr. Sam, my pathophysiology professor. He's one cool dude. I love his class. He's so funny and it feels like being in a real class in contrast to some of my nursing classes which have been a little like...fluff. But Dr. Sam...he's from Egypt. And he has this awesome accent. And every time he says enzymes it gives me chills. I have to get some audio of him up here so you can understand what I'm talking about. Anyway, he's awesome.

On Saturday, I'm going down to Atlantic City with my roomie and some of her friends. It should be a pretty interesting time.

The Importance of Being Ernesto

Now that I'm all settled into my apartment and (FINALLY) have internet, I get to update! Our move-in day was awful. We didn't end up getting in until 5pm. Christine got in an accident, I was so stressed and grumpy from the Complex just not calling us ever to tell us we had our CO...but once we got in it was ok. Verizon lost our account so our DSL didn't work and they were like well it'll take two weeks to get the account in so we can turn it on...and we're like UNACCEPTABLE. So we got cable. Finally. Yesterday. Most of the weekend was spent moving, unpacking, cleaning, and organizing. Did I mention the HURRICANE? We moved all our possessions in a hurricane. And our apartment is fabulous. I should not have even worried about it. Everything is working out great. Someday, once it's all really nice, I'll post up some pictures. I love my room. I love it, I love it, I love it. Roommate things have been perfect and she has some crazy friends whom I've met.

Living here is crazy sometimes. When we go downtown, it's like driving in to another country. The area we live in is predominantly Hasidic Jew and Mexicans. It's a very strange combination. You drive downtown and there are people everywhere walking and running and riding bikes. Except....they have on black suits and huge hats and prayer fringes hanging out. Everyone that doesn't fit that description and isn't a woman with an insane number of children in tow, is standing on the street corner, waiting for someone to drive by and yell out a job so they can get a job for the day. It's very differant and sort of endearing in a bizzare way. I've never gotten so many dirty looks from people while driving. I think it's the blonde hair. Or the fact that people just happen to run into the middle of the street frequently and then look at you as if Hello! How could you have the nerve to DRIVE ON THE ROAD? *Glare* I've only almost died twice. The weirdest is when the men push back their little curls so that they can LIGHT UP THEIR CIGARETTES. So strange. Today, we went into town to pick up plans from a building company for a friend of my roommates. The company is owned by Hasidic Jews. We walked in and everyone immediately turned and stared at us. We stood there. Someone finally looked us both over and asked if they could help us. Christine told them what we were there for. The girl looked at me and said "And you are?" I was just like...uh I..uh..with her! So we stood there again. Everytime someone walked by the window they stared at us and gave us the once over. I squirmed. Then from behind the conference room door came a whole line of men, who all glared at us. And finally we got our stuff. Then we high-tailed it out of there. The whole thing was slightly surreal.

Class has been very high-stress. Everyone FREAKS OUT at the drop of a hat. The "adult learners" in our class panic, freak out, and ask a bajillion pointless questions and tell stories. I'm like SHUSH just let the Prof lecture! I mean the poor Prof couldn't get through more then a bullet point without being interupted by a whole class discussion. It was driving me nuts! Plus out professor freaked out when we had a conflict with a room and went on a whole tirade about wanting to our PDA's to have sex with her PDA. I'm glad I don't have a PDA to "share fluids. The nursing professors are like...too nice to keep control. Today we had a Doctor for Pathophysiology and he kept wonderful control of the class. And things went smooth and questions were appropriate and moderate. It was lovely and normal and lectureish and I finally took notes. It helped so much. But I have SOOO much reading to do. Ok but I'm done whining now.

Pet Peeves

Pet Peeves. . . . People that can't spell my name.

My name, for every one's information is spelled the CORRECT way. Caitlin is an Irish name that is not pronounced like it is here. It's more like Cathleen. Anyway, it's not some bastardization of Kate and Lynn. It's it's own unique name with it's own unique spelling. Then, the 80's has to come along and suddenly everyone gets together and decides to name their children normal things but spell it all screwed up. So now you have Kaitlyn, and Catelynn, and Katelin, and I'm like SPELL IT RIGHT! So now, my perfectly normal, spelled correctly name is an anomaly. And everywhere I go people spell it wrong. Because their niece or their granddaughter, or their cousin spells it Caitlyn or Kaitlynn and of course you must too even though it's completely WRONG. So when that happens I smartly respond, yes well I spell mine the traditional Irish way. Because it's an Irish name. And I look Irish. And it's better. One C, two I's, no E's or Y's. So bite me.