healthy granola bars for the sis

making a fam road trip to cleveland to visit the sister who's studying hard to become the doctor of the family. tried out a straightforward easy to fiddle with granola recipe. this is the cranberry sunflower seed one.

oreo truffle poo

had some fun tryin out bakerella's oreo truffle recipe. while trying to form the balls i was ending up w/ really creamy poo and didn't realize until the next day that i had read 18 oz of cream cheese instead of 1 8 oz of cream cheese. i was wondering why i couldn't find an 18 oz at the grocery store. but anyway, freezing the little suckers before coating them in white chocolate helped to get them firmed up, but i still need to work on the melting of the candy melts. but the ugly babies were a lot of fun to decorate.

the pretty selection of outer coating- cocoa powder, sprinkles! and nuts







hahha, frozen oreo truffles, plus overly hot melted white chocolate was a very bad combination










tada! misshapen creamy cuties

Fresco Cafe and Bangkok Delight

trying out different food places in hoco before the sister leaves the state.

we made a pit stop to fresco cafe (off of north ridge rd) which opened a month ago. the owners are very friendly and they have breakfast, lunch and lots of drink choices. the tall for the drinks were very large.

bangkok delight was the first choice for thai based on reviews. asian umbrellas decorate the ceiling of the loft esque restaurant. service is great and the food is good. the mango cheesecake was citrusy, very creamy, but also a little confusing on the taste. we shared a green curry (just in case u like spicy food, their "hot" is an asian person's medium) the vegetables were very fresh

happy eating

snot and germs

today i went to my 2nd preschool. joy oh joy. and no, i did not expect to be thrown into little ppl school and watch all their snot and faces get cleaned w/ the same towel. ugh. and no i do not plan to find love here. (unless u want me to do some serious cradle robbing since that is the only age group i am around)

all the older kids are taking exams right now, so i don't get to work w/ them for awhile. so i just stare at the preschoolers as they babble hindi to me (i don't even know how to say "i don't understand" in hindi to them) although i have this strange urge every time to say "no se" or any other spanish i know

haven't got sick of indian food yet. greasy parathas w/ yummy veggies. potatoes are still just as tasty. although the coordinator says a lot of volunteers get sick in the summer b/c of the combination of the food and heat. joy. limited fruit choices since eating anything that cannot be peeled would prolly equal death but have been eating nice oranges (for 1 kg it's Rs. 35-40)

momos and western cake are apparently a standard combination. really weird. the cake is not so good. interesting pineapple icing w/ funky cake.

they also have "american corn" which is corn in a cup w/ spices, and a lot of popcorn everywhere.

week 2: taj mahal and faridabad

8 hrs sideways in the back of a van to agra and the taj mahal. it's Rs. 750 for foreignors and about Rs. 20 for indians. such a huge difference. the taj mahal is gorgeous, but def got sunstroke from the light. the sun is much stronger. arrived in faridabad (a city about 30 km south of the center of delhi) and was supposed to go to my site, but apparently their not sure when i will go, so i am in limbo at the local coordinator's apartment. there are 2 other american girls there which is nice b/c then it is not quite as lonely. faridabad is much quieter. i went to the girl's orphanage w/ them (ahhh children!) and taught them vowels. so strange to be surrounded by so many children. i think this deters me more from having children:) hope everyone is well

namaste!

omg. the two other girls and i are in gurgaon, which is a satellite city 25 km south of the center of delhi. which is quite nice b/c not as much pollution or noise pollution as delhi. i'm quite happy to be going to the countryside soon as delhi is not my cup of tea.

likes and dislikes:
likes:
chai, no delhi belly, humayun's tomb (the idea behind the taj mahal), cheaper stuff (four 12.5l bottles of water are about a dollar), learning hindi (i'm back at school!), my new salwar kameez
dislikes:
air pollution, noise pollution, cow manure, waking up so early for some reason, cold showers, the fawning that occurred when we ended up at a ritzy bazaar that our private taxi dropped us off at (at least i might be able to blend in better), going to tourist sites and getting surrounded by the school children asking our names and where we are from (i mean hundreds of them!)

oooh, walked past a group of korean students actually speaking in korean. so interesting.

going into delhi again tomorrow, then more language lessons, taj mahal on sunday and village on monday!

india

i made it! it's hot...the airport was rather odd, lots of dirt roads and construction. you couldn't pay me to drive in the city. there is one other volunteer doing the program, thank gosh! getting lots of odd looks. but i've mastered "ne" = no. hahah. it's about 76 degrees right now and getting warmer. the view from the apartment room we're staying in overlooks construction where these women carry about 8-10 bricks on top of their head. i keep looking the wrong way crossing the streets. crazy people who drive on the wrong side. unlike london though, they don't tell you which way to look when you cross. oke, take care, until next time!