Last Entry for the Foreseeable Future

I just back from Mexico late Sunday night.  It was an interesting vacation.  I don't think I'll be heading to a resort anytime soon in my lifetime, if I can help myself.  We went to an all inclusive resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico, which is an area very near Cancun.  It was definitely nice - unlimited food, beautiful ocean view, nice pools, unlimited drinks, jacuzzi, two inclusive tours, etc, etc.  I suppose I can't really complain about being pampered for four days, but I don't think I've ever felt more awkward.  The service was excellent - perhaps too much so - that I felt that I was limited and stifled in the things that I could do.  I think, generally speaking, I prefer not vacationing at resorts - they are to me islands far too seperated from reality and operate much too similar to gated communities.

My cousin got married.  It's kind of mind boggling for me (in terms of being in that stage of life) but I'm extremely happy for her.  She looked stellar and I happily snapped away as her papparazzi for the night.  I think I was annoying to the point that the professional photographer provided began referring to me as the papparazzi.  Hehe!   

It was also an excellent time of spending time with my family.  My parents are kind of ridiculous and really funny, so it was a good time.  It was also nice seeing my other family members that I don't see very often, chatting with them, and observing them interacting with each other. I also really enjoy sharing cultural learning experiences with my family.  We got to visit Chichen Itza, the ruins of a Mayan temple, which was nice.  I really enjoyed being able to do that with my family.   

I think the experience was also a bit scaring for my dog.  He whimpers if you leave him alone now.  Sad.  I will be very sad when I leave him.  But I will be carrying with me, many photos of my dog. 

I think that just about wraps up my experience in Mexico.  I've got two days to China, and within that time I've got a whole lot of things to do.  Emails, Grad schools, track down my GRE scores that somehow disappeared, visit my doctor, see my viola teacher and friends, do the laundry, pack, take care of some insurance and financial issues, etc.  Not a whole lot of fun and definitely very time consuming.  Hopefully, I stay sane and make sure it all gets done.  This is where a checklist of things to do would probably come in very handily, instead of keeping everything in my head.

I'm not really sure how much access to Xanga I will have in China, so friends, please email me and keep in touch.  I will be sending out update emails, as well.  Please contact me if you would like to be added to that list if you are already on it. 

I will also be using my blogger site to update folks on my research.  Please feel free to visit that site in the future.  Let me know if you'd like the address to that site. 

I will post some pictures later, of Mexico, and that will be the end of this post.  Ciao! 

Four More Days

I'm starting to really get nervous about going to China.  It's really exciting and it is such an amazing time to be in China.  There's so much going on at the moment, so much to observe and document, and I'm ready to be blown away by the things I'll learn and experience.  But, I'm also really really scared.  I mean, talk about living in the "real world."  Granted, I won't be working and I'll still technically be a student, I will be more on my own than I ever have and I'll be doing it in a foreign country. 

My Chinese is no where near where I was hoping it would be, and honestly I haven't been as dedicated in working on my Chinese as I was in studying for the GRE.  I haven't found housing yet, so everything's kind of in the air the moment.  I'm not really sure what I'll do once I touch ground.  I don't know how or where I'm supposed to get my medical clearance or register as a resident once I get there.  I don't know what to pack.  I don't know how to pay the bills.  I am just really unprepared.  And I have four days to get ready.  (Well, technically, I have a week, but I'm going to Mexico for my cousin's wedding.  So really, I only have 4 days left at home.)

There's so much I need to do in the next four days.  Pack, organize, order contacts, make sure I have enough medication, buy presents, make sure I have my grad applications in order, say goodbye . . .

And I'm really sad about leaving my dog.  People who know me well, know that I talk about my dog a lot, but I think it is hard for people to realize how much my dog means to me.  Our family kind of "rescued" him.  His previous owner didn't want him anymore, and a family friend of ours brought him over to us.  I came home from school one day, and found him hiding under a table in the backyard with his tailed curled between his legs.  It took a lot of sweet talking to get him to come from under the table and even for him to allow me to touch him.  He spent most of his here, initially, hiding and avoiding us.

It took a lot of patience working with him.  He was a pretty shy dog.  But now, he's the dog that sits by my side no matter where I go.  I can walk from the living room to the kitchen to fill up my glass and he'll follow me those few steps and back.  When I'm not home, he'll sleep in my bedroom until I return again, only to be waiting for me at the door.  When I leave for long periods of time, my mom tells me he stops eating for a few days and walks around the house looking for me.  That's just heart breaking to hear.  And he's an older dog.  You can see the cataracts forming in his eyes and his nose is turning into a faded brown.  I wish I could bring him to China with me.

I jokingly said to a friend the other day, that the priorities in my life are as follows: 1) God 2) Family 3) Dog and 4) Everything Else.  But, that's kind of how it is. 

So four more days . . . and then it's goodbye. 

I want to be in Beijing now.  O-M-G.  I want to be in Beijing now. 

In other news, I missed the FedEx guy buy like a minute or so today.  *sigh*  Now I have to wait until Saturday morning/afternoon for my package.  I also have a new laptop.  It's black and shiny.  But, I still haven't used it yet.  It kind of scares me.  I've had my Dell for 4.5 years now.  It's like a good, faithful horse - a little slow, but faithful nonetheless.

Also, hopefully with the Olympics constantly in my face for the next two weeks, I'll be reminded to find temporary housing in Beijing so that I'm not homeless when I show up.  Excellent.

HAPPY OLYMPICS EVERYONE!

I'm so excited! 

Ethnic Grocery Stores Galore!

One of the best things about Richardson is the number of ethnic grocery stores available.  A lot of people will say that Richardson is going "down the drain" and to some extent that is possibly true.  The schools are no longer what they used to be.  The crime rate has increased in the past few years.  The bulk of the population is retired.  Richardson is losing a lot of money.  It's having trouble attracting new businesses - though it is home to some major tech industry powerhouses, most notably Texas Instruments.  It's all part of the process of suburbanization here in Dallas.  It's "white flight" at its best and face of once well-to-do white neighborhoods are becoming increasingly colored - black, brown, yellow, etc.  There is no doubt that there has been a huge influx of immigrants, and with that, small ethnic communities have developed.  Some people take these changes negatively, but, in my opinion, there's also a real richness to these population shifts, too. 

Grocery stores catering to a certain populations are clear evidence of the changes in Richardson's demographics.  For someone who loves trying different foods like myself, these stores are a foodie's haven.  Within a five mile radius of my home, there are at least 10 different grocery stores.  There's your run of the mill American grocery stores, but also a variety of Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Ethiopian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latino grocery stores, offering everything from kimchi to chana dal, chipotle peppers to havla.  It's not something you'd expect in a suburban setting, let alone something most people would associate with North Texas. 

I spent much of today grocery shopping, cooking, washing dishes, and cooking some more.  All in all, a day of domesticity.  I've still got some gardening to do later, as well.  Anyhow, today, for my cooking experiments, I'm making Vegetarian Tex-Mex - Chile Relleno Casserole - and a Green Tea Cake with Strawberries.  Yes, Tex-Mex can be vegetarian.  And yes, these two don't go together very well - they should be served on separate occassions. 

Chile Relleno Casserole

3 eggs, separated

3 tablespoons flour

1 jalapeño pepper, diced

1 can of vegetarian refried beans

shredded pepper jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.  Use a glass dish or casserole dish (8x4?  9x4?).  Not sure on the exact dimensions, but this doesn't make a whole lot, so don't use something ginormous.  Beat egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks.  I did this with a whisk because my family doesn't own any cool kitchen gadgets.  It's a pain and it takes forever.  If you have a fun electric gadget that beats things, use it.  Beat the yolks separately and then fold them into the egg whites.  Add the flour until evenly blended.  Fold in the diced pepper. 

Layer the beans on the bottom of the dish, followed by half of the egg mixture, cheese, more egg mixture, and more cheese.  Bake until golden brown, and you're done.  I've also had variations of this with sliced boiled eggs layered in and corn flour instead of all purpose flour.  It's good served with some tortilla chips and sliced avocado.  (Avocado - every vegetarian's must have.  Hmmm.  Delicious.)

Also, sorry, there are no pictures of the casserole.  I ate it before I remembered to take pictures . . . and well, casseroles just aren't very pretty after you've cut it out of the dish. 

Green Tea Cake

So, I actually really wanted to make a green tea swiss roll - you know those sponge cakes that are rolled up and filled with whipped cream?  So, that's what I started out making.  Except, something went wrong in the egg adding or perhaps baking process, and the sponge cake came out thicker and stiffer than expected.  So . . . it became a layered sponge cake with whipped cream icing layered with strawberries.   

I also have to go the gym later today.  In the process of making this cake, I ate a lot of the excess whipped cream.  But alas, I have no time to go today.  It's the season finale of SYTYCD!  I've got to watch!