(no subject)
Jul. 23rd, 2006 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebChikuru is leaving for Mali next week for four months on a Geek Corp assignment. So yesterday he and Raaga123 had a "Here today, gone to Mali" party.
Several people did bring tamales. We also got to hear a record with French lessons (the official language in Mali is French; it used to be French colony). And we got to hear some African music.
I dressed in the colors of the Mali flag, which consists of a bright yellow vertical stripe, and bright red one, and a bright green one (I forget which order). I wore a yellow shirt, red shorts, and green socks, with red and green plastic-bead necklaces, sparkling green earrings and a red hair scrunchy.
I also brought The Farming Game, since farming is the main occupation in Mali, and Hacker, since Chikuru will be working with computers.
That's about as far as the theme went as far as I could tell. I also got to taste a fabulous cake which we can copy. It's yellow cake with lemon curd and strawberries in the middle layer and with the exterior frosted with whipped cream. Mmm. And there were burgers, tamales, fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies, and artichoke-heart dip as well as other party food.
I got to see a very interesting view of the earth in a big atlas that was out. The subject was antarctica. You know how the edges of flat maps of the spherical earth are the most distorted parts? Well this map made Madagascar look really far south. It was cool. It was also fun to see which land masses had continental shelves between them and which didn't. For example, Australia and New Guinea are basically on the same piece of earth, and this piece of earth is different from the one that has New Zealand.
I got to hear two people's impressions of a house I've seen. One said, "I could never live here." The other said something like "I cannot know someone who lives here." The first person bought the house. The second person bought the house next. It just looks like a regular house, but a little small, and instead of sidewalks, there's a drainage ditch, so it feels like you're out in the country. I didn't notice anything creepy or horrifying about it at all. (Until I went inside and saw all the dead animal heads on the living room wall.)
I also got to hear that there's some theory in psychology that not connecting properly with one's mother is associated with addiction. And/or people who don't learn to self-soothe are more likely to have addictions (to substances and/or relationships). I don't know.
Fraeuleinchen expressed interest in the book idea I had, but then I told her that I said I wouldn't actually write it (probably). I'm realizing that if I did write such a book, I could probably find several people to look over it or parts of it.
We also got to talk to Indigo Rose in China via one of those things where you talk, like on the phone, over your computer.
And we got to hear about a scheme to redecorate someone's house while he's out of town. It will get cleaned up. Furniture will be rearranged. A few tasteless, removable things will be added. I'm not sure what I think about this. Last time this happened, the person just got new pictures everywhere, all of which stayed up when the resident returned except, I believe, the tasteless one on the back of the bathroom door.
Several people did bring tamales. We also got to hear a record with French lessons (the official language in Mali is French; it used to be French colony). And we got to hear some African music.
I dressed in the colors of the Mali flag, which consists of a bright yellow vertical stripe, and bright red one, and a bright green one (I forget which order). I wore a yellow shirt, red shorts, and green socks, with red and green plastic-bead necklaces, sparkling green earrings and a red hair scrunchy.
I also brought The Farming Game, since farming is the main occupation in Mali, and Hacker, since Chikuru will be working with computers.
That's about as far as the theme went as far as I could tell. I also got to taste a fabulous cake which we can copy. It's yellow cake with lemon curd and strawberries in the middle layer and with the exterior frosted with whipped cream. Mmm. And there were burgers, tamales, fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies, and artichoke-heart dip as well as other party food.
I got to see a very interesting view of the earth in a big atlas that was out. The subject was antarctica. You know how the edges of flat maps of the spherical earth are the most distorted parts? Well this map made Madagascar look really far south. It was cool. It was also fun to see which land masses had continental shelves between them and which didn't. For example, Australia and New Guinea are basically on the same piece of earth, and this piece of earth is different from the one that has New Zealand.
I got to hear two people's impressions of a house I've seen. One said, "I could never live here." The other said something like "I cannot know someone who lives here." The first person bought the house. The second person bought the house next. It just looks like a regular house, but a little small, and instead of sidewalks, there's a drainage ditch, so it feels like you're out in the country. I didn't notice anything creepy or horrifying about it at all. (Until I went inside and saw all the dead animal heads on the living room wall.)
I also got to hear that there's some theory in psychology that not connecting properly with one's mother is associated with addiction. And/or people who don't learn to self-soothe are more likely to have addictions (to substances and/or relationships). I don't know.
Fraeuleinchen expressed interest in the book idea I had, but then I told her that I said I wouldn't actually write it (probably). I'm realizing that if I did write such a book, I could probably find several people to look over it or parts of it.
We also got to talk to Indigo Rose in China via one of those things where you talk, like on the phone, over your computer.
And we got to hear about a scheme to redecorate someone's house while he's out of town. It will get cleaned up. Furniture will be rearranged. A few tasteless, removable things will be added. I'm not sure what I think about this. Last time this happened, the person just got new pictures everywhere, all of which stayed up when the resident returned except, I believe, the tasteless one on the back of the bathroom door.
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no subject
on 2006-07-24 09:16 am (UTC)...*pout* Still waiting.
...What with the food poisoning and general disgruntlement with the current hotel, I'm down to one regular meal a day, two meals of food bars. Clearly, there should be 5 lbs gone by the end of the week.
I ate lunch with my students today. The food was... Well, some of it was OK. Most of it was Very Scary. I'm sure that it was a very expensive buffet. I did not examine the dessert table. Many things I had to ask about before I would eat. "Is this raw or cooked?"
no subject
on 2006-07-27 04:24 am (UTC)My condolences. I am too picky even to consider a job like yours or Chikuru's Mali trip.
Hang in there!