The Great American Stay-cation 2010- Portland

Swirls of coffee seeped into the tunnel of light in Portland airport as I navigated through the multicultural crowds trying to find a way out and into the breezy Oregonian weather.

Lisa and Anika pulled up in a grey sedan and away we went for a slow food Portland lunch. Lisa had tuna melt with bacon. I had a pulled pork sandwich with applewood cheddar and jicama fennel coleslaw... Mmmm-ey.

After lunch, we rocked out to Seattle, which had amazing weather, winds were dancing around us, lifting up our wispy hair and doing dips with it, sun was pouring into give our faces this radiant glow you get after facials or good sex. We sat out on a balcony overlooking the Pacific, a cozier cuter less crowded version of Cape Cod and sat with old friends and new enjoying bloody marys and cold beers.

After a lengthy porch session, we piled back into the sedan and headed for Lisa's sister's house in Tacoma, which overlooks a beautiful inlet where you can often see Orca whales wandering in and out of the bay.

Sat out on the porch, drank some wine and fell asleep to the whispers of pines tickling each other. The next day, hugely involved family, perpetuating the American staycation vibe, we went to a all-state summer track and field meet for family members of all ages followed by an upscale version of Pizza Hut and then, a sleepy eve.

On day 3, we rushed back to Portland for some shopping and bbq comfort. It's always great to meet your friend's good friends. It makes you understand your relationship with that person better and also, makes you see the growth that they've done without even knowing the half of things.

Portland is a beautiful city. however, I feel I might have gotten a somewhat bias opinion being there in the 3rd week of July, probably infamous for being the best week of weather all year long. Nonetheless, I loved the fact that most of the people there were my age and I didn't feel old or like a huge chunk of my generation had moved out of the sticks desperately seeking culture... The food and wine scene is probably what would suck me in. On the contrary, the necessity of a car and mediocre weather, even though the city is stonewashed in greens, would make me doubt putting it in the top 5 places to live if I ever moved back to the good ol US of A...

Summer swept away: part 1: Return to Kimchi-land

I think it's been about 6 weeks since I got on that plane to leave Dubai, tears overflowing on my warm face, confusion dancing in circles around my head and my body saying "Please, go easy on me this summer."
Seeing good friends often means great catch-up chats, some good runs, a pile of helpful advice and humongous hugs, healthy right??
It also means good food, copious amounts of wine, bad food and all in that fantastic decision making order...
I started in Seoul, arrived on my friend Peter's doorstep around 7:00 pm and was promptly poured a glass of Chilean red (ugh) and pulled upstairs to the sea of green that surrounded his lofty apartment atop Namsan hill. Because it was summer, you could smell the pork and beef galbi in the air, the garlic hanging off people's balconies to keep the mosquitoes away and the green, moist dewish smell that summertime often produces from a combination of deciduous and coniferous forests intermingling.
My nose and stomach were both highly influenced by these smells and we decided promptly on galbi dinner. We pulled up to the local family mart ( a Korean version of 7-11) and came across 4 more friends, Mirrell, Jerry, Charles and Jackie. We drank beer on the porch and watched the world cup game. Only at convenient stores in Korea do they cater to the local communities urges to sit and drink beer on the stoop. In fact, they built a sheeshy oak porch to provide a place to chillax... We headed down to the galbi lady and I was equally impressed by the Koreans' kindness when the restaurants literally fought over who would host us for dinner. This is particularly funny considering we had two dogs joining us. It was nice to be in a place that was done. A city where people want your business and your company and realize that people live their lives with their dogs and their alcohol... A city where the main physical construction taking place was on the outskirts of town in slight expansionist movements. And where the construction in town was both artistic and social, with young Korean artists opening up bars sporting drinks in plastic bags and eclectic electro French music.. A place where you could see all those foreigners that they'd brought in the last 20 years were beginning to influence Koreans in their internationalism and yet, the Koreans were rubbing off on the foreigners too in the sense their patience was growing bigger and their eagerness to communicate and develop their cross cultural understanding more.

Interesting moments from the trip include:
a) the 15 minute cappucino experience, brewed by candle light and frothed milk made by banging the metal milk kettle against a wooden block in a sort of modern hand dance show...
b) watching the US get into the final 16 in the world cup at 1:00 in the morning and feeling that national American energy (I don't usually embrace it, but this was a magical moment)
c) fighting with pajon lady about there not being enough seafood in her pancakes.. Nothing good comes out of being out at 5 am on a Thursday morning
d) catching up with old friends and new, seeing how lives can remain the same in some ways and dramatically change in others, with categories such as work, love, money, dreams, etc
e) eating probably the best sushi I have had since leaving Korea, gotta love chumchi wae... thanks Charles.

Overall, it was wonderful to be back in Korea, to see friends that I haven't caught up with for 4 years, to be surrounded by people who love and know you inside and out especially when I was coming down from the high of leaving Dubai and to be in a place that celebrates the world cup as if God had come down and thrown a crazy and miraculous party...

I am not sure I will ever return but I am happy to say that it was a part of my life and I highly recommend anyone going to visit or live because the people are raw and rude and feisty and ferocious.

Annyeounghi- gyeseyo for now Korea!

The 50 things I will and won't miss from Dubai (in no particular order)

1. the people that I have met from around the world that have helped me grow, challenge me daily and represent a broader spectrum of careers and countries than any other place I have lived.

2. the February-April sunsets on the beach, reddish-orange skies every night.

3. Lamb chops, tabbouleh and baba ghanoush

4. My students and their dramatic interpretation and dances to the "tabbouleh song."

5. Karama curries

6. Drives to Barracuda, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujeirah-- Camel crossings and dust storms...

7. Rock Bottom, Rattlesnake and Jebel Ali club, trashy bars being a commodity instead of high end ones like in Tulsa.

8. Ladies Nights at Nelsons..

9. Lulu Hypermarket, the world's greatest grocery store, laser light show and you can pretty much find everything in the world you need there..

10. No left turns????

11. Safety, being able to walk down the beach and leave your bag.

12. the sandstorms where you cannot even walk outside without sunglasses.

13. the tall, attractive array of men from around the world.

14. Being surrounded by some of the world's most beautiful people (motivation to stay fit)

15. the warm water beaches

16. Being a 5 minute drive from the beach

17. January-February race months in the UAE

18. Creek Strider mornings- justification of my binge drinking later in the day

19. Interesting taxi cab conversations

20. zen yoga classes

21. Sumo Sushi delivery

22. Random home delivery services: pharmacy, soda water, etc.

23. Living down the road from some of the world's most interesting architectural projects: Burj Al Arab, Burj Khalifa, the World project, Palm Jumeirah

24. the spices

25. Bur Dubai

26. Cheap flights to almost any country in the world and decent travel times.

27. summer shopping sales

28. Runs around Safa park

29. Opportunity knocks- being able to dream up and do anything if you wanted to stay here.

30. Dinner club

31. Irish village beers before flying out at the DXB airport

32. the Coldplay concert in Abu Dhabi, rain; giant yellow bouncy balls, multi colored paper butterflies: MAGIC

33. late night calls from boys only rivaling university days

34. Fun and frequent stories like McArabia (oh, Kristen)

35. bottles of vino with the girls: Kristen, Tara, Carrie, Kate M, Kate D, Becky and more..

36. Some good gigs: 2 Many DJs, Basement Jaxx, Plump Djs, etc.

37. Lime-tree cafe; yummy goodies.

38. Mall after mall after mall after mall

39. dodgy hospital experiences :(

40. random parking tickets with absolutely no proof

41. runs in Media City

42. Satwa area, a little bit of culture in plastic heaven

43. My neighbors who return baking/ cooking favors equally

44. the lack of local produce

45. A spectacular group of colleagues I have learned from enormously

46. Drinking cocktails on my lil' balcony

47. The views from the freakishly high buildings.

48. Sajid's cooking

49. long drives on the highway in the ford focus

50. not knowing whether the city will be here in the next 50 years but at least having been a part of its craze now..

Thoughts on Raw food, Thai food and on what's good for the soul....

My friend Carol, spent a lot of time in India and Thailand over the last few years and is now a raw food cook. The food she creates is beautiful to look at; healthy and has successfully nurtured a number of people who have dietary and energy issues from their eating habits either in the past or present. I think this is a wonderful thing, particularly for those who have terrible lifelong diseases such as diabetes and are able to live more satisfying lives. Do I think it would ever work for me?

The truth is, over the last 30 years, my dietary needs were most met when I lived in Thailand. Nearly, all the produce was grown within 200 km of where I was living, fish were caught daily from the Gulf of Thailand and variety was assorted. Even with the sesame oil, fish paste, lime juice, chilies and other strong flavoring agents of Thai food, I found it to be healthy, clean and delicious. It is the only place I have lived where I could eat the food all the time, crave the food all the time, and not need variety because my body was missing something.

Thai salads are often raw, mangoes, papayas, chilies, etc. Soups are made with coconut milk, chicken broth or lime juice. Noodles are often made traditionally with bones of the animals in the broth used. Rice is sticky or jasmine steamed and is usually eaten once a day but not with each meal. There are not a lot of sweets and nearly all of them involve fresh fruit. Dairy is rarely used.

Given my theories on my potential mild intolerance for gluten and a definite case of lactose intolerance, one can easily see why this is a positive diet for me. Though as I read the book, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, I also think that it has largely to do with the fact that the food was from where I lived that I felt healthy.

Living abroad and returning to the freezer stocked with frozen fruits and vegetables, jarred lemongrass and the industrial sized tub of garlic my Mother bought, hardly enchants me. While summer produce will be in full bloom and farmers' markets bustling, the United States and its constant desire for convenience, still requires a push towards making these steps towards supporting local markets and an even bigger bonus, towards improving one's health by eating local, organic, naturally enriched with vitamins of the earth food. Nonetheless, it is time for people with money to get out of a mentality of convenience and get into a mentality of healthy living. With the increase of technology and more reliance upon machines, a return to organic farming in the agricultural world, could be just what the doctor ordered in terms of raising rates of unemployment and combatting obesity in schools.

After all is said in done, I think my basis for discussion here returns to the discussion of everything in moderation. Today, I ate raw nearly the entire day; banana, apple, granola, almonds and vegan gazpacho. However, when I returned home, out of no hormonal or sad feeling or lack of hunger, I gravitated towards the chocolate cake I had made last night, took 5 bites of it and was then satisfied. Clearly, my body knew what it wanted but my mind would have fought that sensation if I thought properly about it.

Keep listening to your cravings. If we lead somewhat balanced lives inclusive of exercise, fun and generally healthy eating, those cravings will result in desire to have all three of those things in our lives regularly creating a cycle of health. Hopefully....

Blueberries and Old Sweaters

Blueberries are one of those fruits that can be so right and wrong all at once. The health benefits are outstanding. One website called them "an antioxidant powerhouse." Another vows that 1/2 cup of blueberries will provide the 3-servings of fruit you need daily. Undeniably, these little blue fruits with a unique consistency have their benefits. Nonetheless, I find that if the least bit off or in any other state then fresh or in blueberry muffins, they lose their tart and become a pure jammy sugar fruit... Blackberries have the same problem, but strawberries and raspberries hold their flavor over pastries, sorbet and jams without being too sweet, but blueberries metamorph into something completely else when they are baked, jammed and essentially bastardized.

Anywise, so I am gearing up for another move and I came across an old sweater. The first time I saw this sweater was on my Dad growing up. I remember cold Christmases, ski holidays and amber moments by fireplaces with family friends and steaming cups of hot chocolate. This old sweater has a history though. Where it started is still unknown. It has held a smell, that fluctuates between a cedar closet and winter foods (hot chocolates, roasts, popcorn and things yummy and comforting). Last time, I was at my parents' house, I ran into the picture of my Dad and my Mom, blown up nearly poster size, black and white from Vail, Colorado. It doesn't say when it is but they look young and particularly happy; maybe, it's just worry-less. There are few lines in their faces and though the photo is black and white, the contrast of their pale but smiling faces against the snow gives them a natural hopeful glow. In this particular photo, Mom is wearing a sweater that I wore out as well. Both sweaters fit them well, exhibiting that circular cycle of fashion. Nonetheless, they have changed and nothing they wear today would fit them or their slightly more loved bodies in that way..

The sweater was around throughout my childhood. It's nordic looking with American colors red, white and blue. Somewhere in high school, when I made one of my yearly trips to the attic to remind me of my past and my parents past, I came across it again and decided to make it my own, along with my Dad's old rugby shirts and my Mom's sweater from that photo. Dad's sweater was way too big, but for a 15 year old girl with unnecessary body issues, it was one of my favorite possessions. And at a time, when Abercrombie and Fitch was big amongst high school students, it paid in coolness to have something retroactive in fashion that was real. It travelled to Russia for a cultural exchange and back. It made it all through long, frost-bitten winters filled with cross-country skiing, too many cups of spilled tea in Upstate New York. It is a sweater that represents love and experience and the passing on of different lifestyles from one generation to the next.

So, today, when I was packing and eating blueberries (hence, the random introduction), I came across this sweater. Next destination is Venezuela and this sweater, might not come in handy there. I have not outgrown it, it gives me warm fuzzies when I see it. Furthermore, it radiates love. Nonetheless, I decided it was time to pass it on, to give it a new life, to make somebody else's family warm or a different kind of family. Who knows it could be a blanket for an Indian construction worker here and eventually be taken back to his own country for warmth for another person. It is still in good shape, nearly 4o years later. So, farewell to my oversized red, white, and blue but overly Nordic looking sweater.

May you continue to make happy, spread love and keep warm.

Brunch at the Burj Al Arab

It is now 7:33 p.m.. I finished my brunch at 2:45, it was not one overflowing with copious amounts of alcohol, nor was it themed Asiatic or "all you can eat hoorah." I am still pleasantly full. I'm pretty sure I will not have to eat until tomorrow and that is in a nice way. I haven't felt stuffed at all today but no hunger since.

It was a civilized morning with friends, and a cute girl with a pixie hair cut in a black dress singing covers of Julie London and Frank Sinatra. A roller rink green and blue scheme meets r2-d2 and hideously printed carpet on the decor, but really on the 27th floor overlooking the water, it was easy to overlook such details.

In this case, persistance and positive emailing landed me with one of the best tables in the restaurant, in the corner overlooking the Palm islands and World, round, so we could all see each other's smiling faces and bellies.

We got in around 10:30 and after looking at the Russian tacky, meets "symmetrical overstimulation fit for a math book cover," we took the lift up overlooking the ocean behind the infamous sacreligious cross to the Al Muntaha restaurant.

When we walked through the small entrance which looked like computer panels from the early 1980s, I had my doubts that it was nothing but a tourist trap and became slightly nervous about the food.

Nonetheless, shortly after arrival and an ooh and aw over our corner table, some photos and ordering some $15 a bottle mineral water, we approached the buffet, which twisted and turned around the restaurant.

Of course, there were the normal stations of any high end buffet, seafood; complete with a sushi station, gawdy ice sculptures of koi fish, oysters, lobster, mussels, etc. but at the end, laid a little booth on the end where the chef would prepare a platter with 8 different types of fancy caviar around the edges and small blini waffle pancakes alongside creme fraiche made the whole thing extra better.

Next, there was an area of Indian food, which was pleasant, but not what I personally come to buffets to eat. It often makes me too full, so I usually leave this out of my buffet routine. Nonetheless, I tried some aloo mutter (potatoes and peas) to keep with my analysis of the entire dining experience. It was pleasantly light and more yogurt based then weighed down by the heaviness of ghee.

There was a continental section with some delights such as sun-dried tomato gnocchi bowls, soy-saffron salmon and a number of other combinations. Again, if I am at a buffet, I prefer to eat the more fresh options or the ones that are prepared at stations for you. Hone in on the pan-seared foie gras station. Sadly, this was my very first stop, toasted brioche, pan-seared foie gras, cinnamon-apple compote and parsnip paste. Yum!

The cheese spread looked like something out of a trendy cheese store in New York city. Nothing too risky or outrageously stinky but presentation sweet on the eyes.

Finally, the most impressive spread of all, were some of the beautifully created desserts. Kiwi-apple mouse balls covered in green chocolate, the cliche but crowd pleasing chocolate fountain, strawberries and cream, wrapped mango creamed chocolate cakes, Sicilian lemon goodness (that reminded me of Amalfi).

All in all, definitely worth the 395 aed to spend a morning with good food, good friends and a great view. A recommended must-do upon an adventure to Dubai.

Hospital mishaps

Another Saturday afternoon and I ain't got nobody, more like and "I am quarantined in my apartment..." Annoying is an understatement. Well, since I have arrived back from Italy, life with love, finance and work has been going fairly well but health wise, I have taken a bit of a nosedive.

It started after Italy and me being a slight hypochondriac, I got quite paranoid about the chest pains and numbness I was experiencing. Because I am a little bit of a spaz, I thought that excessive consumption of red wine, taking birth control the last 3 months and history of stroke in the family was a justified reason to go to the Cardiologist, and he didn't completely rule me out either. He suggested we do an EEG, EKG, stress test and some cholesterol blood work to see what was going on. Today, I learned that my heart is in good shape for the moment (knock on wood) but I was the first person in 27 years to pass my cardio medical imaging test with an A++, staying on the treadmill, a whopping 21 minutes and my heart rate was still not 80%. Now, when I am training properly, I can run 12 km in an hour, so this was not that hard for me, but by the end of it, I was nearly walking at a 90 degree angle with incline which made it a little challenging... Nonetheless, this little heart of mine did shine for today which brought a smile.

The other medical mishap was a viral eye infection that I have had the last 5 days. I went to one doctor first and unfortunately, it did not redeem my lack of faith in Indian doctors, because the first day she misdiagnosed me, the second day she misdiagnosed me and the third day, she called me and wasn't listening to what I was saying but was reading the results of some test that was completely irrelevant. Now, my eye issues were not easily identifiable, it took two other doctors a detailed debate over what it could be, potential treatments, etc. and luckily there first guess was right.

Nonetheless, the whole thing got me thinking when the original Indian doctor called me and didn't even apologize for the mistake. I was quite rude and felt bad about it at first, but I thought about the time someone called me out for not doing my job correctly and it was annoying at first, but I needed to hear it. Last year, I wrote "this is unacceptable" early in the year on one of my student's workbooks because his handwriting was a disaster. Little did I know that he had some occupational problems with writing and had an ongoing struggle and was oversensitive to the issue because he did genuinely try. I apologized to my student directly and realized that a big part of my job is seeing the smaller details before you apply the bigger picture rule.. Funny, how that analogy totally parallels what this Indian doctor should have done with my eye. She was generalizing and if I would have continued to go to her, god knows how long it would have taken her to figure it out. But mostly, I wanted her to say I am sorry for not being right and I apologize for the amount of pain I caused you.

Good healthcare is a right, not a privilege but lately it seems like you can only have this right if you are privileged. The world needs to make life accessible so that we can live, eat, drink, play, learn and work peacefully and without danger or potential harm.

Something that we all need to start working towards*