Nevada 3/06

Me and Auntie Margie at the dam with the dogs.


Checking out the cactuses.


Our drive home across the Sierra. Donner's pass, just after where we stopped to ski!

Black and white

Two Chilean recipes

Erika sent me these and I thought I'd translate and post them (they are delicious!) for anyone who is interested.

GUISO DE ZAPALLITOS ITALIANOS
3 zucchini, grated
1 carrot, grated
1/2 onion, grated
2 cloves garlic
Oil
Milk
Cream
1 egg
Salt
Spices

Sautee the grated zucchini and carrot with the minced garlic; when the onion is transparent it is done. Add the zucchini to the same pot or pan and cook them for about 10 minutes, stirring them occasionally so they don't stick. Add 1/2 cup of milk and however much cream you want. At the end add a beaten egg. Stir in and let cook.
Serve with potatos, french fries (haha), or rice (its really good with garlic rice).
Serves 2.

CHARQUICAN VEGETARIANO
6 big potatoes (the non-baking kind)
1 butternut squash
2 big carrots, grated
1 medium onion, grated
1/8 cup oil
salt
spices
vegetables such as corn or green beans
1 + cup "soy meat" or "tvp"

Cook the potatoes and squash in chunks and then add the assorted vegetables. In another pan, sautee the onion, garlic, and hydrated "soy meat." When potatoes, squash, and vegetables are soft, drain the mixture leaving just a little of the liquid. Mash everything in the pot. Add the sautee mixture. Add the salt and spices. Cook for at least 10 minutes at medium heat, stirring occasionally, so that the flavors mix.
Serves 4.

Disco and other good times

Sunday night

-Spring break is almost here. That's what I keep telling myself over and over as I attempt to do homework and look out at the gray sky.
-I finally got my bike fixed so when the weather gets better (please God soon!) I'll be able to ride not only to work but also to the parks and lake : D
-This was a pleasantly and fulfillingly social weekend. Friday night I hung out with Jaime, LA, Tyler, Elise, Jon Henry, Colin, and Kat's friend Joel from MI. Then Saturday night I hung out with LA, Kate, Melissa, Jon, Tyler, and Elise. Both nights were pretty chill but still fun.
-Today I went to Des Moines with my friend Maria. She's from Kazan and speaks Russian, English, Spanish, Italian, and Hebrew. She just got married in January (!) and is trying to get her visa worked out so she can live with her husband in Philadelphia after Grinnell. Anyways, we didnt' know each other that well before today, but we got along really well and had a lot of fun.
-Last night I tried out the recipe Erika had given me for her "Guiso de zapallitos italianos," one of my favorite Chilean dishes. It was delicious! Not quite as good as when she made it, but still wonderful.
-I think I'm going to be living off-campus next year on 6th St with Jaime, LA, and Tyler. More on that later...

Thursday morning

I'm now three-quarters of the way through War and Peace and it is amazing! At the beginning I may have had my doubts about the "War" sections, but now I am totally into it. Since Robyn and I are in the same class, we constantly always talk about the new plot developments. Russ complains that he always thinks we're talking about actual gossip, and then as soon as he hears that the person who cheated on her fiancé with one man and now has fallen in love with his best friend is Natasha Rostova, he realizes that we are gossiping about a book written in Russia 150 years ago! About that, though, I can't believe what happened with Natasha and Andrew...they were so perfect for each other! I think the problem with how I've been reading War and Peace was that early on I got attached to certain characters (like Lise Bolkonskaya, Andrei, and Sonya) and now Tolstoy seems to either be killing them off or having enormous misfortunes befall them (though I suppose this happens to everyone) so it becomes heartbreaking (in a good way) to read!!! Now I finally see that Pierre and Natasha are supposed to be the main characters, but I don't like either of them very much! I want my beloved secondary characters to make a comeback...

Life here is busy. I'm happy when I'm busy though, so that's ok. Yesterday I had class from 9-5:30, then had dinner with Kat and her friends from the UP (who are really funny and cool), and then had to go back to ARH to watch a Soviet film called "Bed and Sofa." At night there was a huge electric storm with rain, hail, and a flash of lightening literally about every 10 seconds. I was completely in awe but my friend Melissa from FL didn't seem to think anything of it...we don't really get electric storms in CA so I still think they're really cool!

Yesterday was International Women's day so the Russian department bought all of us girl majors flowers...so cute : )

Grinnell keeps sending me invitations encouraging me to apply for scholarships, then I spend the time applying, but I never get them. Its just kind of discouraging. Its never enough just to get good grades, play and instrument, work, and volunteer. They always choose people who have really difficult sounding double majors, run like 5 clubs, and probably never sleep or have time to see their friends.

I talked to Christián for a long time online last night, which was really fun. He said he's stopped the night job at the navy since classes start pretty soon. Since we're each other's love life advisors, I had to report everything to him and then he finally admitted to me that "La Bruja" was indeed a "mala mujer," as Erika and I had been saying for months. He said he's "soltero, pero no me faltan mujeres". Jaja! Oh, Christián : D

A couple of new things about my life:

-This week I start tutoring a guy at the local high school. He's a native Spanish speaker who reads and writes Spanish at about a 4th grade level and English at about a 1st grade level. I'm going to be helping him with ESL and Earth Science. It should be a challenge, but I'm really excited about it.
-Last night was Disco, one of the biggest parties at Grinnell. There was live music and I danced until 3 o'clock in the morning : D My outfit, a priceless Goodwill find, was a black satin tanktop/dress with a gold paisley pattern. It looked fantastic worn with lots of gold costume jewelry. I wish I'd taken pictures, but I didn't get around to it.
-Russian continues to take over my life. I had class this weekend, which meant that I barely finished my 3+hours of reading and translation by this afternoon, and now I'm having to do it all over again for tomorrow morning. PLUS Vishevsky added an essay due tomorrow.
-Kristin and I are playing a duet (Entr'acte by Ibert) for the Habitat for Humanity concert on Friday which means I'm very much back into harp. Practicing twice a day plus lessons, other concerts, and practices with Kristin give me the general feeling that I live in Bucksbaum.
-I've been hanging out with Russ, Robyn, and Eric a lot. On Saturday Russ went to a math competition at ISU, something that we all teased him a lot about. Friday night Eric spent looking up and teaching him math jokes that he could use during the "Socialization Hour" of the competition, in which participants are encouraged to "use their social skills and interact" : P
-I applied for my Russian summer prgm the 1st of March, but don't expect to hear back for a while yet.

Winter Barbecue!

LA, Jaime, Tiffany, Melissa, and Tyler huddled around the Cleveland Beach barbecue in 20 degree weather...we get some strange ideas of things to do for fun here in Grinnell : )

Jaime with a roasted red pepper, Melissa, and Tiffany

Yumm. I was trying to get the snow on the ground in this picture, but I zoomed in on the food too much.