Spring Break in Nairobi

I have been looking for a way to volunteer this year, some way to give back.  I haven't been able to find an opportunity here in Copenhagen because of my non-existent Danish language skills.  But I have found something a little further afield.  Next Sunday I fly to the Kenyan capitol of Nairobi where I will spend my spring break week at an orphanage run by Living Positive Kenya.  The organization takes care of Kenyans living with HIV.  The associated orphanage is for the children left behind if their parents succumb to AIDS.

I had been a little nervous because shortly after I booked my trip the elections in Kenya took place.  The last elections, 5 years ago, resulted in 1200 deaths and thousands of people displaced.  The election went off without a hitch, though the runner-up is not pleased to have lost.  Thankfully the new constitution provides a path for appealing the results in court and both candidates have stuck to their pledge to take grievances to the courts instead of into the streets.

I'm looking forward to meeting lots of new people, learning a little bit about a new country, and I'm excited about stepping foot on a new continent.   I have no idea what the living conditions will be like, but I do have to write a paper while I am there.  Here's hoping to reliable electricity.

Taste of Home

I was told my place would have a kitchen.  They lied.  I have two glass-top electric burners, a small sink, an under-counter fridge with a freezer that fits an ice cube tray OR a pint of ice cream but not both, a microwave and a toaster.  Oh, and the electric kettle - I still don't understand why everyone in the US doesn't have one of these, they're absolutely brilliant.

The one thing I really miss is an oven.  Roasted veggies, home-made pizza, casseroles, and baking.  So tomorrow I'm heading over to another CBS property with a little different set-up than mine.  They have a huge common kitchen with full fridge & freezer, oven, stove top, and miles kilometers of counter space.  I'm going to introduce an Indian friend to The Princess Bride while I bake off a few dozen chocolate chip cookies.

One of the challenges of cooking in Denmark is finding ingredients.  Living in a city, we have many small "bodega"-type stores and each one seems to specialize in something.  The one across the street has great fresh fruit provided the temps are above freezing, because its all displayed outside.  One a little further down has cornered the market on chips, another one does organic foodstuffs.  We also have supermarkets, which have a much wider selection, but on a Danish scale.  "Wide selection" for Copenhagen means more than one brand.  The biggest supermarket I visit regularly has two flavors of rice cakes - salted and unsalted.  I can't for the life of me taste the difference.

I figured the makings for chocolate chip cookies shouldn't be all that hard to find and, for the most part, I was right.  Two kilos of all-purpose flour (less than $2), tiny bag of white sugar ($2.50), 6 eggs ($4, no they weren't organic or free-range), 500g of dark brown sugar ($4.25), the world's smallest bottle of vanilla ($6), and handful of walnuts for half the dough ($5).  In traditional Bajgier fashion, there will be two batches - one with nuts and one without.

Chocolate chips were a little harder.  I couldn't find them in any of the three local chain supermarkets, but I did remember that Peter Beier Chocolatier several blocks down had chocolate slugs for baking.  The Nestle Toll House recipe called for a 12 oz bag, which I had to convert to grams.  I'll refrain from telling you how much I paid, but this was by far the most expensive ingredient.  Could I have chopped up a standard chocolate bar?  Yes.  Would it have been cheaper?  Heck yes.  Would it have tasted as good or created the layers of chocolate strata the discs will?  Definitely not.  I find myself not splurging on much here in order to keep to a budget, but chocolate always seems to be an exception I'm willing to make.

While I was in the first supermarket, I realized I didn't have any measuring cups or spoons, and baking is pretty precise work.  I figured I would pick some up at one of the many stores I would be stopping at.  No deal.  The closest I came was a single metal measuring cup with two lines on the outside - 100g and 200g.  This completely confused me since a cup is a volumetric measure and grams are weights.  100g of sugar would probably fit in the cup, but 100g of flour probably wouldn't.  I quickly messaged my neighbors to ask if they had something I could borrow and got lucky.  The Indian woman next door who is slowly and patiently teaching me how to cook curries had a Pyrex measuring cup and metal spoons.  Yay!  Crisis averted.

Assembling the cookie dough, I can already tell that they'll taste a little differently than they would back home.  The brown sugar is very dark and has a strong flavor.  I probably should have replaced some of it with white, metal note for future batches.  The vanilla confused me.  There were several brands & quantities of vanilla beans available, but only one bottle of liquid extract - Vanilla in Bourbon.  Its got little flecks of vanilla bean in it and smells great.  I have no idea, though, if its the same strength as the stuff back home.  And then there's the fact that I accidentally bought bakpulver instead of bicarbonat.  A quick google search of how to replace baking soda with baking powder solved that one, but it will also effect the taste.  They're cookies containing copious amounts of quality chocolate, though.  How bad could they possibly be?

Two Gentlemen of Verona

After 5 months, I am still surprised by the manners of men outside the US.  I can't even narrow it down to European men or South American men.  Dutch, Brazilian, Indian, German, and to a lesser extent British and the one Greek guy who spent several years in NYC, all have more manners than 90% of the men I've encountered in back home.  On two separate occasions today my male friends took public transport in the opposite direction of their homes just to see me to my door.  I've also had classmates pick up my empty dishes at lunch because they were heading in the direction of the kitchen.  They pause before going through doorways to let a woman go first.  It caused a great deal of confusion in the first few months, I ended up playing many games of "you first",  "no, you first", "no, please, I insist".  Should I get used to this, it will be a sad day if I ever have to convert back.

Roman Holiday

I spent the Christmas holidays in Rome.  It was the first time I was away from family & friends and, while I missed them, it was a really great vacation.  Someone remind me while I haven't traveled on my own before?  I get out of bed when I want and there's no one to feel guilty in front of when I spent a little too much on that great pair of Italian leather boots.

I stayed in Trastevere, across the Tiber from the main tourist attractions.  Its a fantastic little neighborhood with great shops and restaurants.  I wish I could have afforded a piece by Gioielli Etnici when I stumbled upon the tiny shop that fronted his workspace (www.anticoa.com).  I really enjoyed my AirBnB host, Mario, and the apartment I stayed in, which looked out onto a lovely little courtyard.

It had taken me over an hour and two different means of public transportation to travel from the airport to Trastevere.  I'm amazed I didn't get lost, considering I had 4 lines of directions from Mario and had done no prep for the trip.  That's what happens when you have 3 finals in the week and a half before leaving.  I was feeling pretty darn good when I dropped my bags and wandered out into the city.  I still laugh at myself when I think about my first afternoon out.  I had just crossed the pedestrian bridge when I saw a small fence enclosing a 20'x20' hole in the ground.  Ruins!  I spent at least 15 minutes snapping shots of grass-covered stones from every angle.  It wasn't the towering Ionic columns I had pictured, but, really, what tourist destination fully lives up to expectations?  Then I took a few steps down the street, turned a corner, and ran into real, actual ruins:

Now we're talking.  The remnants of an ancient fish market.  There are seriously ruins around every corner here. This was in the Jewish neighborhood, where I ended up spending a lot of time.  I had a very nice kosher couscous dinner with an Israeli white wine on Christmas Eve.  And I found open shops to peruse on Christmas Day.  In other parts of the city there were great Christmas markets, like the one in Plaza Navona that sold ornaments, candy, and everything you could possible need to set up a 1:25 scale model of the Nativity and the entire surrounding city.  I'm talking tiny fireplaces that flicker, working water fountains...you name it, they had it.

The streets were decorated with, um, jellyfish, and other...festive...things.  People in general seemed to be in a great mood.  There were lots of little performances going on as well.  Choirs singing carols in a square and a neighborhood putting on a live re-enactment of the birth of Christ, complete with live donkey & camels.  Thank goodness the weather was so nice.  It was between 55 and 60 degrees every day - everyone but me was bundled up in a heavy parka, scarf, hat and gloves.

I saw all the standard tourist spots - Pantheon, Colosseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Trajan's Market, some Christian crypts from 2,000 years ago...

 Most spots were swarming with tourists.  I have a picture of a mob of people, which was actually a picture of the Spanish Steps, which were under the people somewhere.  I've heard there are 3,000 Euros thrown into the Trevi Fountain every day.  I only tossed in 20 cents.  Does that mean I'm destined to come back to Rome for, like, 6 hours?





Coming from the consumerized-US, I was surprised to find so many of the sites free.  Both the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain were just...there.  In the street, surrounded by apartments and restaurants and souvenir shops.  Lots and lots of souvenir shops.



St. Peter's Square in Vatican City was also free.  I was there for the Pope's Christmas Day address. Me and 50,000 other people.  He's in his balcony on the upper right, but also on the big screen in the lower left.  I bought a St. Christopher's medal for my charm bracelet in the Vatican gift shop.

The Colosseum and the crypts weren't free, but they were worth the small cost.  As gung-ho as I was about the crypts (I even wanted to explore the ones that snake below the streets in Paris, but I knew Mom would never go for it), I'm not sure I'd do it again.  Even with a group of people and a priest leading the tour, it was far creepier than I had anticipated.  Maybe it was the knowledge that so many of the people buried there had not died of natural causes, but for their beliefs.

  St. Peter's Cathedral seemed to dominate the skyline and lot of my pictures, even though its not in the heart of the city.  I'm guessing its a popular tourist destination or something?  I took a guided tour on one of my last days in the city - the wealth in the Vatican museums is staggering.  And the Sistine Chapel is breathtaking.  I'm not religious nor am I particularly appreciative of fine art, but it left me speechless.





Somehow I managed to be on a bridge or on top of a building for several magnificent Roman sunsets.  Its nearly impossible to take a bad picture here, even with the world's worst cell phone camera.





Overall, the trip was amazing.  The people were friendly & helpful, even if no one spoke English.  I got by on a mix of French and Giada De Laurentiis.  The public transportation was a breeze to navigate and interestingly operates on the trust system, just like here in Copenhagen.  The food was, holy cow, just fantastic.  I could do a whole post on what I ate, but I'll spare you.  I'd definitely go back, but not before I see a few other new cities first.

2012

I have no idea where December went.  Well, that's not entirely true, I remember spending a lot of it sitting at my desk studying.  The few times I looked up from my books it was snowing outside, so I went back to reading.  Two terms down, term 3 begins this week.

2012 was a year unlike any other for me.  So many changes, nearly all of them for the better.  

New countries visited:

Mexico, Iceland, Denmark, Italy, Vatican City

Fantastic experiences:

Standing on the edge of a continental plate in Iceland and looking over the edge

Drinking 400-year-old glacier water while hiking on said glacier

Standing under the Eiffel Tower, both the real one and the one in Vegas, about two weeks apart

Seeing the Grand Canyon from the air

Touring Mayan ruins

Riding a bike in Copenhagen, like the locals

Standing in the Roman Colosseum

An audience with the Pope - me and 50,000 other people on Christmas day

Moving to a new country

The complete 180 degree life change was by far my biggest accomplishment.  Leaving a job, a spouse, my home country, my support network.  I'm thankful everyone was so positive and supportive of a move that probably looked a little like an early mid-life crisis.  There are a few things I wish I had done more of, like searching out live music, and a few things I wish I had done less of, like worrying about the small stuff.  Overall, though, I ended 2012 happier, healthier, and with a more positive outlook than when the year began.  

Goals for 2013:

A permanent residence outside the US

A job I can get passionate about

Visit at least 2 new countries

Christmas Markets

God Jul!  There are Christmas markets popping up in the city and I'm making it a priority to really embed myself in the Danish culture by exploring each and every one.  The first one was on the other side of the Frederiksberg Gardens behind my building.  I passed the elephants on my way.  Their enclosure was designed by Norman Foster, a rather famous architect.  The Danes are pretty proud of it.

 The Frederiksberg Christmas market had some really lovely handmade items, like these baskets.

And some Christmas ornaments for the tree, in every color.  I've seen a lot of black ornaments in shops along with fuscia, lime green, blues, and yellows.

 There were some booths selling old ornaments and decorative items.  We'll call them vintage.

 Greenery was everywhere.  Danes like their wreaths and garlands real, I haven't seen any fake trees or garlands anywhere.  See those tiny trees in the pots behind the wreaths?  They're everywhere, I have yet to see a tree larger than 2 feet anywhere.  I bought a tiny tree for my window sill.

 Next up was the market at Tivoli Gardens.  The Danes are also pretty proud of Tivoli.  It opened in 1843 and is the second oldest amusement park in the world.  Its kind of like Disney land, but on a much smaller scale.  An entrance ticket gets you in the door and lets you see any performers in the public spaces, play the games in the arcade areas, and gets you into the many restaurants inside.  It does not, however, let you ride the rides.  That's a separate ticket.  Its beautifully decorated for the holidays.

 And there are strolling performers.

 And live reindeer in front of the Chinese pagoda.  They're very multicultural.

 This building was pretty impressive.  I didn't have time to wander inside, so I can't say what's in there.

 Tivoli's Christmas theme this year was Russia, so they imported Ded Moroz, or Grandpa Frost.

 They also had a small version of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.

 I also explored a Christmas market at the Swedish church which had lots of herring-themed items and many booths selling more "vintage" items.  They also had homemade candy and hand-knitted items.

 The last market I explored was in Nyhavn, an area downtown with what must be the most photographed row of houses in Denmark.

 The booths in Nyhavn were, unfortunately, not all the interesting.  Some goodies to eat, some jackets and hats from Norway, some Christmas-themed trinkets from China, and this:

These are garlic graters.  They also grate chocolate, parmesan, and a whole host of other foods which you would find out if you stopped to listen to their spiel.  Mom and I run into the Garlic Grater Girl at several craft fairs.  She always insists she hand-makes the ceramic dishes herself.  I guess she's exporting them to Denmark now?

There are a few markets that don't open until December, so I am hopeful a few of them will be better than these.  The one in Christiania should be interesting even if there's nothing to buy.  Christiania is the "free" area of Copenhagen where they don't recognize the Danish government.  Since the 1970s they have made their own laws and the government looks the other way.  Pot is their biggest export.  Like I said, their crafts should be...interesting.

What color is your brain?

For our Leadership class, we each got the opportunity to take the HBDI "Whole Brain Analysis" test.  Its along the same lines as a Meyers-Briggs personality test or a Predictive Index test.  Its the latest testing fad.  The goal is to find out how your brain works, which will tell you what work-style preferences you have, which, through extrapolation, tells you what kind of employee or manager you'll be.

HBDI uses a 4-color system

Engineers tend to be blue, teachers red, accountants are green and psychologists yellow.  Roughly.

My issues with this type of testing are two-fold.  

1) I could take this test every month for a year and get a different result every single time.  The responses you choose depend entirely upon your mood, your most recent experiences, and what else you have on your mind.  This is not science, this is at best an educated guess about how you might behave at a single moment in time, a snapshot.  As such I believe it has very limited use as a predictor of future behavior.  

2) It boxes people in.  Our results were handed out in class and we spent 10 minutes reading through and chatting with our neighbors.  I heard so many people say "I'm blue!" or "I'm green and red!".  As soon as we apply these color labels, it narrows our view of how we think a person does or should behave.  If someone scores high in blue, does that mean they'll make a bad teacher?  Its a dangerous tool when applied too liberally.  Its best used as a rough guide for what a person might prefer as a work style or from a job.  

What color am I?  I know you're dying to know.  I fully expected to be blue.  I spent, oh, 7-odd years as a scientist.  I enjoy working through problems analytically and like to think that I react rationally under stress.  What did my test say?  That I was mostly red, then equally yellow and green, but very little blue.  But when stressed, I become very blue and not a lot of any other color.  Yes, I fully realize that because the test didn't give me the results I expected that I may be slightly biased, more willing to call the test into question.  Because clearly the results were wrong.  Right?  I've had a lot of time to mull over my results and read a little more about the colors and the test itself.  I'm now willing to admit that there may be some small, tiny, minuscule kernel of truth in the results somewhere.  Why else would I have hated lab work so much and chosen to run off and join the Red Cross?  All this self reflection made me realize that I had actually put myself in a box labeled "scientist", a box much too small to fit a softer, more intuitive red side.  I need to be more open to exploring all my colors.  So I guess the test was good for something after all.