Cafe @ MindSay 
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Here is a picture that my friend Valerie, who works at Lonelyville Cafe, took of me and Tim in the Lonelyville Cafe garden. Today we went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and took pictures. We asked a couple of people to take our picture together, and I took some closeups of the giant lily on a lily pad in the lily pond and some other flowers. I can't wait to get them developed and loaded on my computer!
So, I have to admit that things are a little strange around here now that my parents have come and gone. It was weird to speak all English with them the whole time and even weirder when I would find myself speaking French to them on accident. Like, I would be speaking to a French person at a hotel or restaurant, and then I would turn to ask my parents something to tell that person, and I would ask them in French on accident. It was very bizarre.
What’s even more strange is trying to come back to live with Akila and tell her the things that happened over the weekend. I start to tell her the story, which was really funny when it happened, and then I realize that I have no idea how to translate it into French. Panic mode. So I continue to tell her, but some of the meaning is lost in translation. I get my general point across, but it’s not as good as the original. I think it’s really hard to translate direct quotes from stories. And obviously it’s very difficult to translate sarcastic ideas or slang terms. So, since my stories were lost on Akila, I figure I will share them with my English speaking blog readers.
Ok, so we went to an outdoor café in Paris just to get some drinks and have a rest. My brother, Austin, who is ten years old, insisted on ordering Coke Blak of all things, which is a coke and coffee mixture. So, he ordered the Coke Blak, which I tried and secretly loved, and decided that it was “strange, but good.” He tells me that it has a strange flavor and that he’s pretty sure if he burps, it will taste like coffee. He said that he made this conjecture based on a previous experiment he did using vanilla coke, which produced a burp that smelled like vanilla. (Ok, so he didn’t use the word ‘conjecture.’) Anyway, he proceeds to gulp his Coke Blak and turn to my dad and burp in his face. He says “Dad, can you smell what’s in my Coke?” and my dad says “Is there poop in your Coke?”
The next day, I was in the hotel room with the family, and we were just laying around talking before we went to bed. Austin has been pretty good about learning a few French words and phrases like ‘thank you’ and ‘hello’ and so on. He also asks me to say what I am going to say to him in French and then translate it into English which is really cute. Especially when I say something first in English and then in French and he says “translation?” even though I’ve already given it to him. Anyway, we were laying around and Austin says “hey mom…do you know what my favorite part of my body is?” and my mom politely plays along with whatever joke he is about to make and says “what??” Austin replies gleefully “my merde sortie!” At this point, I start to laugh a bit, and translate for everyone this new phrase which literally means “s--- exit.” Hahaha.
My brother will probably kill me for sharing these stories, but he’s so hilarious, I couldn’t help it. I’ll have to reassure him when he’s a teenager that these stories are cute (even though he’ll hate the word cute) and not embarrassing at all. I’m sure I have worse ones, but you won’t get to read them unless my mom starts a blog or something. I’m not about to share them! I miss my family already!!
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Blend all ingredients. Fill mini-muffin cups full.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.
Healthy Ice Mocha Cappuccino........Goodness this looks "AWESOME"!
Without Blender: Fill a tall glass ½ full with vanilla Soy milk. Add 1 pouch of Gano Café Mocha or Gano 3 in 1 and mix vigorously for 1 minute with a wire whisk or similar utensil.
Add ice and top up with more vanilla Soy milk. Let chill for five minutes then drink and enjoy! If you have a blender handy, its even easier to make and you can make a large batch for guests. They’ll love it!
If you’d rather use real milk then just add a few drops vanilla extract. Great on hot summer days, ¼ the cost of some Coffee Bars and its much better for you!
Fast Delicious Morning Breakfast
In a blender combine 1 cup of cold milk or soy milk with 1 raw egg (or egg substitute), 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder, 1 sachet of your favorite Gano Beverage (Gano Café 3-in-1, Gano Classic [add your own favorite sweetener], Gano Mocha, or Gano Schokolade) and blend together for a great morning start!
Having been raised Roman Catholic, I have never felt like an outsider when big Christian holidays come about since American society is structured around them. For instance, when Christmas comes, it doesn’t affect my school work because I am on vacation. Along this same line, the closing of stores and restaurants on Easter does not even cross my mind since I am at family gatherings all day. Not inconvenienced by these holidays, I fail to notice how much the daily schedule of my society is really affected. This perspective has all changed this past week though.
With Ramadan having begun at the beginning of the week, I have been put on the other side of the fence. Not being Muslim, I have seen how much a society restructures its daily schedule to accommodate the arrival of a major religious holiday. Just to give you the basics of Ramadan, it is a month long holiday where Muslims are required to fast from sunrise to sunset. Throughout this period of time they should also find themselves in deeper reflection and reading the Koran more often. Because of this and the fact that the vast majority of people in Jordan are obviously Muslim, every single restaurant and café is not open until about 7pm as they would more than likely lose money during the day if they were open.
Walking from class into Abdoun Circle for lunch on Sunday, the first day of Ramadan, was certainly a rude awakening for me as every place was closed. Even McDonald’s! Many of the other conveniences that I have taken for granted as the part of my daily routine in Jordan have also disappeared. Out of all of these, getting a cab is probably the one that stands out in my mind the most. Between the hours of 6 and 7pm, everyone is home for iftafar, the huge feast that occurs each night at sundown. Due to this daily ritual, from 5-6 everybody is whizzing home, and from 6-7 the streets are absolutely barren.
The clattering of silverware against plates and lighted crescent and stars are the only sounds and sights you will hear and see if you walk the streets of a neighborhood during this time of the day. As you can imagine, trying to hail down a cab to take you to an internet café can be a little bit of a challenge; therefore, I have to take this into consideration now when I decide at what time I would like surf the web and Skype.
While Amman is dead from 6-7, the city sparks back to life once dinner is over.
Probably due to the fact that they can now eat, everybody really enjoys themselves after dinner. Compared to the first month that I was here, I have seen many more people on the streets during weeknights. Many companies, especially the cell phone ones, have stations set up along the street where anybody can have free food courtesy of them (as you can see, the commercialization of religious holidays is not solely an American phenomenon).
Deciding to experience the festivities of Amman’s Ramadan nightlife, I went out with one of my brothers and his friends to hang out at Pasha, a chic Turkish bath that had been turned into a very cool café for the month of Ramadan. And let me tell you, this place was definitely hopping. By the way everyone was dressed and by the way males and females were sitting together in mixed groups, you would have thought you were in an American club. Throughout the café, the Arabian pop music of artists such as Nancy Ajrum, Eleesa, and Asala was vibrating off the walls. This was definitely the most lively night since I have been in Jordan, and I do not think it was a coincidence that it occurred during Ramadan.
There, they have coffee with toast in the mornings. Me hermana has a cafe shop down the road from her.
Sounds like my kind of place.
I spoke in Spanish to me hermana Kim's adopted mama Vicky. I think she could understand me, but the Australian accent kind of sounded really strange to her.
Spanish: Hola, me llamo Sarah, esta mi hermana Kim ahi por favor?
English: Hi, my name is Sarah, is my sister Kim there please?
I was going to say: Hola, me llamo Sarah y soy la hermana de Kim, esta mi hermana Kim ahi por favor?
Only that would have taken too long. Vicky already said 'si' y 'si' twice when I was trying to get my sister on the phone. Me hermana has a much better accent than I do. She almost sounded like a Costa Rican when she said 'hola' on the phone.
Aparantly there's a Costa Rican version of my little cousin. When she sings, she looks exactly like her. Yes, my cousin is a keen singer. That is so cute, my cousin has a Costa Rican twin. Actually it's quite scary, if she is as boisterous as well, I didn't ask me hermana that. It's cute never the less.
Here's a post card me hermana/ sister sent to me from Costa Rica. It's huge because it scanned in like that. I re-sized it but it didn't work.
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