Eindhoven

I recently returned from a trip to Eindhoven, Netherlands, where I was visitng my old university friend A. We only manage to see each other once every three or four years, but always have a good time when we get together. He moved from the US to NL a couple of years ago, which gave me the perfect excuse to enjoy some cold weather and non-Spanish cuisine.

We had exceptionally non-rainy weather on the weekend I was there, which mean we could bike to Belgium for beer and cake. It sounds really impressive to say you´ve bike to a new country, but really it was only 20 km (12 miles) each way, so not that long of a trip. In any case, the beer and cake was outstanding, and I would have biked twice as far for it.

On my final day, I was reminded of the more typical February weather. I was the only one bothering with an umbrella in the light drizzle. Spain has clearly made me weak.

A helped me buy a weekend train pass which meant we could traverse the country. Lunch in Utrecht, the windmill museum in Zaanse Schans, and fancy gold-leaf strewn cakes in Amsterdam. We also attended a fun video mapping / music show that A had located as a 50th birthday gift to me. 

I love, love, loved all the vegetarian options. This was all purchased at the train station convenience store, which had a large selection of sandwiches for me (I opted for the egg and fake bacon) and lots of  types of beer, including non-alcoholic versions. Sadly, there was no vegetarian sushi. It was a nice picnic on the train.

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Lo siento, hoy no hay entrada español.

Part two of the US trip, on the other coast

The second part of my US trip was a delayed Christmas celebration with my family. We decided the main meal would be collaborative and span the continents. It was: 

Moroccan appetizer platter (Africa) 

Japanese okinomoyaki, a pancake/ cabbage/ noodle dish (Asia)

Australian roasted vegetable Salad (Oceania)

Take-out roasted chicken (North America) 

Brazilian rice and vegetables (South America) 

Ice water (Antarctica) 

Russian honey cake (Europe)

It was all delicious, but the standout dish was the ten-layer honey cake my sister-in-law made. It required her to "burn" the honey, incorporate that into ten cake layers, and then stack them with a dulce de leche whipped cream frosting. Incredible. And not something I'll be recreating soon, as it made about 20 servings and took five hours to prepare. 

I really, really miss pets, as evidenced by big grin here. I do hope to get a cat someday soon, but only after I feel more sure about where I´m living for the next five years.

I spend all my time in the Pacific northwest remarking on how pretty it is. I also miss green, verdant landscapes.

The flip side of the wonderful time with friends and family is what's happening to immigrants and their allies in my country, especially in Minneapolis. It was surreal to be there and know what was happening within the same borders. These signs were a stark reminder that it has been happening in Portland and other cities too.

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Lo siento, hoy no hay una entranda en español.

Part one of my US trip, mainly food

I just got back from my winter trip to the US. I have a lot of travel planned in the next six months, and it´ll be easy to fall behind on the blog if I don´t report regularly. As usual, I spend a week in the basement guest room of N and S. They have a great kitchen (to me, any kitchen with a full-size oven and a four-burner stove is a luxury) and hungry teenagers, so I baked and cooked a lot. The best was probably the homemade cake donuts - with four of us helping, they got made, and eaten, quickly.

Back in graduate school, we used to throw "Filled Foods Parties," where a large group of friends made and ate complicated foods like ravioli, wontons, etc., with enough to take home after. We revived the traditions with samosas, but made the rookie mistake of filling up on pizza and deviled eggs before they were finished. Luckily, that just meant more leftovers for everyone.

The M family always gives me an opportunity to flex my DIY muscles. We installed a Wifi hub by threading cables through the ceiling, and started putting up drywall in the basement. 

I missed an epic snow storm, but arrived when they were still cleaning up a week later. A thick layer of ice meant pickaxes were necessary to free the cars.

I´m a hobbit, it turns out. 

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Lo siento, hoy no hay entrada en español.