As you read this I am slowly making my way to Chitwan to bask in the tropical, humid, and hot jungles of Nepal.  If it makes you feel less jealous of me, you can bet that I am likely dripping with sweat, stickily uncomfortable while crammed into a small car with a dozen other people, and perhaps even stuck on some mud track somewhere either due to a road bloackade and protest or a landslide which has wiped the road clean away!  But your jealously is not about to detract from the single most exciting thing in the past 4 months:  I am about to ride an elephant 🙂

• Falafel.  In efforts to expand my culinary repertoire I embarked on the ambitious and satisfying task of making falafel.  Mashed chick peas with spices, cilantro, grated carrots (my own addition for extra veg), sesame seeds, garlic and onion fried up in small patties to golden brown then stuffed into a warm, fresh, hand-rolled tortilla and topped with grilled paneer and a cabbage, carrot, and tomato salad.  Intense flavours and soul-satisfying textures.  A meal to remember!  And stunningly, uses all the same ingredients as my curry dinners but tastes totally different.
• Culinary basics.  I have come to the conclusion that much of the worlds unique culinary flavours are still based on the same core ingredients.  I made a mexican, indian, and middle-eastern fare this week and used almost identical ingredients for everything – flour tortillas/roti, beans, tomatos, coriander, various veggies, garlic, onions, chilies, and rice!  By varying the spices slightly and cooking them in different ways, the result was 3 very distinct meals.  Kudos to our great agricultural forebearers who cultivated such adaptable, hearty, and basic ingredients that find themselves on tables all over the world.
• Dark Was the Night.  This week a friend received one best presents to ever be sent – a teeny tiny USB key filled to the brim with new music!  While we sometimes feel utterly and incredibly connected here it is impossible to keep up with everything.  In my life, pop culture is floating adrift – I can keep up with news from home, the lives of friends and family, even what is happening at UBC in Student Development!  But music, movies, and tv are lost and I admit that I miss these things.  So this week, I soothed my musical ear and found one album that both musically and philosophically I resonate with.  A collaboration of various artists which supports the Red Hot Organization, an international HIV/AIDs charity organization.  Take a listen and soothe your soul.
• The hopeful corner of my mind where future dreams are stored. I had a moment today where I once again contemplated a dream that I have carried for about 15 years.  I tucked it safely away with confidence that I would revisit it some day.  And I haul it out, turn it over, and try it on again (to see if it still fits).  Then I tuck it away again waiting for the right moment to tackle it.  Well, today I pulled it out and indeed it still fits…in fact it may fit better now that before!  Hurrah! I got all queasy and flushed thinking about it…it feels like it might just be the right time to embark on it and I can hardly contain my excitement.