Things I Love About Iceland

1.  They have a national obsession with hot dogs.  (And so did we)

2. The horses (not ponies) are as friendly as the people. (super friendly!)

3. Outdoor activities are plentiful.

4. But there is a lot of weather, so indoor activities are equally popular. (We got so much reading and SET in and it was great)

5. But the best thing about Iceland is that I was there with these people.

SPRING BREAK

Inspiring.

See you cats Sunday after Sunday when me and my favorite girls will be welcomed back to the US with MAD MEN PREMIER Sunday night!!  Life is good.

At the Zoo

 My last day as a volunteer walk leader for Seattle's senior fitness group, Sound Steps, was yesterday.  We went to the zoo and walked around it every Thursday and I will really miss everyone!  And visiting the zoo so frequently.  It was really neat to get to know the animals and their habits and personalities.  Plus I feel like I can't even say I was a volunteer because I got the senior discount on hot cocoa, incredible.  Anyway, go to the zoo!  It's so weird to just walk up to a giraffe steps away from the city, or learn what a tapir is.  Also, volunteer!  Public social programs are important for local communities in so many ways.

The whole group drinking coffee after the walk.

Book List

I finished a book!  And I'm not keeping a journal right now, so I thought I'd use this space to write a little reflection on it.

Palace Walk, by Egyptian Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz (translated from Arabic by William Maynard Hutchins) is the story of an Egyptian family at the end of WWI.  It follows this family through several years, beautifully narrating day to day life in Egypt during British occupation after the turn of the century.

I really enjoyed this book because before I read it I had little idea of what life might have been like in Cairo in 1917, or even today, really.  And that's what the best books do, expose us to worlds and worldviews otherwise outside of our own experiences.  So while I was at times frustrated with the Father or the Mother or the British or almost everyone, it's about a culture so foreign to my own that I was content to just soak it all in.  In an academic setting, I know it would spark lively discussion about cultural differences and equality issues, especially regarding the role of women in Islam, a more complex topic than I think many of us realize.  I highly recommend it to anyone curious about Egyptian life or Arabic literature.  Also, it was really timely because the last third of the book is about demonstrations in Cairo to overthrow British occupation, which is definitely relevant to Egypt's struggles to govern itself today.  Lastly, I think this was a great place to start my personal African literature tear in preparation for this coming Fall.  Next up, a nonfiction work called 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, no doubt illuminating but also a great example of how diverse African literature is, not something I always think about.

Leap Day Madness!

The scene: Me eating cheerios and putting on my work pants, when I check the schedule to make sure I had to go in at 4 and not 5, only to discover I'm not on the schedule at all!  A leap day miracle!  What followed was perhaps one of the most productive afternoons of the year.

Homework: dominated
Taxes: nailed
Barista applications: killed
Fun reading: still ahead of the NYer (feels so good)
Dinner: chicken with tomatoes, capers, artichoke hearts and asparagus (ON A ROLL)
Cupcakes: yes!

Have I made prettier cupcakes?  Yes.  But have I made prettier cupcakes that tasted this good ON LEAP DAY?  Harder to say. 

I know we got an extra day of February this year, but it still feels like it just got here.  I do know, however, that it is going to be a great March.  (Hello, Iceland!)