Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Happy Ayyam-i-Ha
I haven't been able to get to a computer much lately because I have moved and we are waiting for the internet to be hooked up in the new house. We are told it will be a few more weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to say a quick happy Ayyam-i-Ha to those who are celebrating. (Ayyam-i-Ha is the Baha'i gift-giving holiday.)
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Baha'i Basics
I thought that since I will be working it the Baha'i community here it might be a good idea to post a few basic things about what Baha'is believe for the benefit of my non-Baha'i friends. Here is a very brief list.
Baha'is believe in...
*The independent investigation of truth. (In other words, not forcing your beliefs on others and not believing things just because everyone else does.)
*The oneness of God. (Baha'is are monotheistic.)
*The oneness of religion. (This means that the basic teachings of all the major religions are in harmony with each other. We also believe that these religions all come from the same God.)
*The oneness of humanity.
*Equality of men and women. (The first major religion to specifically state this.)
*Science and religion must go hand in hand.
*Universal education.
*Elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty.
*The need for a universal auxiliary language. (To be learned in addition to local languages. It's easier to get along with people if you can talk to them.)
*Abolition of prejudice.
*Work, performed in a spirit of service, is considered a form of worship.
Baha'is believe in...
*The independent investigation of truth. (In other words, not forcing your beliefs on others and not believing things just because everyone else does.)
*The oneness of God. (Baha'is are monotheistic.)
*The oneness of religion. (This means that the basic teachings of all the major religions are in harmony with each other. We also believe that these religions all come from the same God.)
*The oneness of humanity.
*Equality of men and women. (The first major religion to specifically state this.)
*Science and religion must go hand in hand.
*Universal education.
*Elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty.
*The need for a universal auxiliary language. (To be learned in addition to local languages. It's easier to get along with people if you can talk to them.)
*Abolition of prejudice.
*Work, performed in a spirit of service, is considered a form of worship.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Safe and sound
I have been told that there are a few people who have been worried about my safety due to the latest news reports. The answer is yes, I am fine. I made it to Denmark without any trouble last week and have been trying to settle in. (The rest of my stay in Spain was great, by the way. My friends did a great job of making me feel at home.)
I have a few weeks before I begin working with the dancers so there is time to take things slow. The people I am living with are very nice and we are out in the suburbs so the is very little chance of danger. I have been meeting some of the Baha'is over the past couple of days and should be meeting more over the next week.
When I do something more exciting I will let you know but I thought I should say that everything is well and good.
I have a few weeks before I begin working with the dancers so there is time to take things slow. The people I am living with are very nice and we are out in the suburbs so the is very little chance of danger. I have been meeting some of the Baha'is over the past couple of days and should be meeting more over the next week.
When I do something more exciting I will let you know but I thought I should say that everything is well and good.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Photos
The first two pictures are of a parade that came through the neighbourhood last Sunday. We aren't sure what the occation was but there were lots and lots of horses.
The big building on a mountain is the monestary of Sant Pere de Rodes.
The other two were taken at the ruins of the Iberian town of Ullastret. The rououd pits you can see in the one were for fire, they figure that was a community building of some sort.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Panelletes
Yesterday, Sandra showed me how to make these cookies which are traditionally made in Catalonia around Halloween time. The exciting thing for me is they are gluten-free. They can be made with either sweet potato or regular potato but here you can only get the sweet potato around Halloween.
Big Batch/ Small Batch
(About 4 dozen) /(About 2 dozen)
1 kg. ground almonds /250g ground almonds (2 cups?)
800 g - 1 kg. sugar /200 - 250g sugar (1 - 1 1/3 cup?)
200g potato /50g potato
1/4 L water /62 ml water
grated rind of 1 lemon/ grated rind of 1/4 lemon
4 eggs separated /1 or 2 eggs separated
Your choice of pine nuts, coconut, sliced almonds, cocoa, dried fruit, etc...
1. Boil potatoes in their skins and let them cool. Peel and mash.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl except the eggs. We found it was easiest to use our hands and add the water a little at a time (it might not need that much.) Keep mixing till a smooth, soft dough is formed.
3. The recipe say to form the dough into egg-sized balls but I don't know what size of eggs they are thinking of. They should be more like golf balls, if that.
4. Lightly beat the egg white and dip balls in it.
5. Roll balls in either pine nuts, sliced almonds, coconut, cocoa, or anything else that tastes yummy.
6. Place balls on a greased cookie sheet and brush with slightly beaten egg yoke.
7. Bake in a 180 - 200 C oven (375F?) for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
*Please note: Everything in our recipe is measured in weight so when I say "cups" it's a rough guess. I made the small batch and it was pleanty.
Big Batch/ Small Batch
(About 4 dozen) /(About 2 dozen)
1 kg. ground almonds /250g ground almonds (2 cups?)
800 g - 1 kg. sugar /200 - 250g sugar (1 - 1 1/3 cup?)
200g potato /50g potato
1/4 L water /62 ml water
grated rind of 1 lemon/ grated rind of 1/4 lemon
4 eggs separated /1 or 2 eggs separated
Your choice of pine nuts, coconut, sliced almonds, cocoa, dried fruit, etc...
1. Boil potatoes in their skins and let them cool. Peel and mash.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl except the eggs. We found it was easiest to use our hands and add the water a little at a time (it might not need that much.) Keep mixing till a smooth, soft dough is formed.
3. The recipe say to form the dough into egg-sized balls but I don't know what size of eggs they are thinking of. They should be more like golf balls, if that.
4. Lightly beat the egg white and dip balls in it.
5. Roll balls in either pine nuts, sliced almonds, coconut, cocoa, or anything else that tastes yummy.
6. Place balls on a greased cookie sheet and brush with slightly beaten egg yoke.
7. Bake in a 180 - 200 C oven (375F?) for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
*Please note: Everything in our recipe is measured in weight so when I say "cups" it's a rough guess. I made the small batch and it was pleanty.
Monday, January 23, 2006
A few interesting things about Spain
1. The area around Barcelona is called Catalonia and is a distinct society with its own language and culture, much like Quebec.
2. You can get a bottle of wine here for 1 euro. Too bad I don't drink.
3. The Christmas nativity scenes here include a figure of a little boy with his pants down going poop. For some reason this is a symbol of prosperity.
4. Meal times are later here. Lunch does not start till around 2pm when most businesses close down for several hours while people go to eat. They will open again around 5 for several more hours before dinner.
5. If you eat out at an off time the locals might make rude comments about tourists.
6. The temperature at this time of year is about 11 - 15 C in the day and 4 - 6 C at night.
7. People seem to think this is cold and walk around with fur coats on at noon.
2. You can get a bottle of wine here for 1 euro. Too bad I don't drink.
3. The Christmas nativity scenes here include a figure of a little boy with his pants down going poop. For some reason this is a symbol of prosperity.
4. Meal times are later here. Lunch does not start till around 2pm when most businesses close down for several hours while people go to eat. They will open again around 5 for several more hours before dinner.
5. If you eat out at an off time the locals might make rude comments about tourists.
6. The temperature at this time of year is about 11 - 15 C in the day and 4 - 6 C at night.
7. People seem to think this is cold and walk around with fur coats on at noon.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Things were much better the rest of this week. Once I rested up my friends started taking me beyond the apartment to see some sights. Thursday we started with downtown Barcelona which is very much set up for pedestrians. A train will take you into the city from nearby towns like Sant Cougat where Philippe and Sandra live but it is always crowded so we don't expect to get seats. Once in the city I was very glad to have Sandra with me because she has learned quite a bit about the history so it was like having my own personal your guide. I was overloaded that day with historic building after historic building as well as all the shops, the market, the people, the language (Catalan not Spanish) and all the tiny little things that were pointed out to me like the gargoyles on the walls and the remains of an old Roman aqueduct.
Friday was the Catalan art gallery which is in a building that was built for the 1929 worlds fair. It is also the same area where they had the Olympic games. Near by is a little village that was also put together for the worlds fair. It was built to show all kinds of buildings from around Spain and now is used for artists shops and restaurants.
Yesterday we took a drive north into the mountains. The first stop was the ruins of an Iberian town that was dug up by archaeologists over the last few decades. They figure it was built around 500 BC. I really enjoyed it but I have noticed that almost none of the signs here are in English so I need a lot of translation.
After that we drove to a little town by the sea just below the French border where we had lunch. I am trying to be adventurous and eating new things and it was in this town that I was introduced to a dish called paella (I think). It is rice cooked with meat and seafood so I tried muscle, squid and crayfish for the first time. It's a good thing I am no longer a vegetarian.
Above that town is a mountain with a little road winding up to the top. When the Christians were hiding from the Arabs back in the 900's the built a monastery up there called Sant Pere de Rodes. It is no longer in use but they have restored it for the public to visit so we spent the rest of the day there. This was definitely not the sort of thing I would see back home! It was huge and may as well have been a fortress with the thick stone walls. The inside of the church walls used to be painted with pictures of saints and Bible figures but they were getting ruined there so they have been removed but I had already seen what was left of them when I went to the art gallery.
This, being Sunday in a good Catholic country, was a day of rest. I think it would have been anyway. We needed a break.
Friday was the Catalan art gallery which is in a building that was built for the 1929 worlds fair. It is also the same area where they had the Olympic games. Near by is a little village that was also put together for the worlds fair. It was built to show all kinds of buildings from around Spain and now is used for artists shops and restaurants.
Yesterday we took a drive north into the mountains. The first stop was the ruins of an Iberian town that was dug up by archaeologists over the last few decades. They figure it was built around 500 BC. I really enjoyed it but I have noticed that almost none of the signs here are in English so I need a lot of translation.
After that we drove to a little town by the sea just below the French border where we had lunch. I am trying to be adventurous and eating new things and it was in this town that I was introduced to a dish called paella (I think). It is rice cooked with meat and seafood so I tried muscle, squid and crayfish for the first time. It's a good thing I am no longer a vegetarian.
Above that town is a mountain with a little road winding up to the top. When the Christians were hiding from the Arabs back in the 900's the built a monastery up there called Sant Pere de Rodes. It is no longer in use but they have restored it for the public to visit so we spent the rest of the day there. This was definitely not the sort of thing I would see back home! It was huge and may as well have been a fortress with the thick stone walls. The inside of the church walls used to be painted with pictures of saints and Bible figures but they were getting ruined there so they have been removed but I had already seen what was left of them when I went to the art gallery.
This, being Sunday in a good Catholic country, was a day of rest. I think it would have been anyway. We needed a break.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
36 hours later...
The good news is I made it to Spain safe and sound.
Monday was the day I was set to leave home and things had pretty much fallen into place. My visa had come in just in time, paper work was taken care of, I had said goodbye to friends and it looked like everything was going to fit into my suitcase. (By the way it is really something to figure out what you will need for a year and try to fit it into a suitcase and two carry-on bags.)
I think I woke up around 7:00 - please remember that number- and spent the morning doing some last minute things. I had about an hour of pre-trip anxiety but everything was fine and my family took me to the bus where we said goodbye. Once I was on my way the excitement really started to kick in.
At the airport I was told that the suitcase that I had stuffed as full as possible was 18 lbs over the limit. "Well, you have two choices," said the lady. "You can either buy yourself another suitcase or pay $35."
I paid the $35, sent the suitcase on its way and headed off for the security check.
Other than that everything was smooth. There was a couple of hours to wait at the airport but the passed quickly and in no time I was in the air watching movies and being served dinner. I had a window seat and the seat next to me was empty so I was able to take off my shoes and stretch out most of the way there. It would have been great for sleeping except that I love flying so much and was so excited to finally be on my way Europe. I tried to sleep but gave up thinking it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe I could doze on the next flight.
There was a lot of cloud over Munich and as we got closer to the ground we got snow. All I could see as we landed was farmland covered in snow. It actually looked very much like home. From the way things looked the runway could have been the Deseronto Road.
I was a little nervous because I had never had to catch a connecting flight before but I got checked through just fine. There were two big differences between the airport there and in Canada. One is that the shops look very fancy there and included expensive looking jewelry stores and a lingerie shop. The other difference was the booze. I got there at 9am and there were men sitting around having big glasses of beer with their breakfast.
There was a couple of hours wait for the flight but we were told there would be a delay because of the snow. Annoying but not that bad. When they did board us we were put on a bus and driven out to the runway. I couldn't believe it. This was a little plane and we had to get on it from a little set of stairs on the outside like in the old movies. Once again I had a seat to myself.
There was quite a bit of snow by this point so we had to wait. And wait, and wait. And then, "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen. I have just been told that due to the snow there will be a delay of at least 3 -4 hours. This flight has been cancelled. "
Back we went on the bus to stand in line to get new flights. The line was long. I think I was standing in it for about an hour. When I finally got to the desk the lady found my another flight but said, "I can't book this, we have to go see my colleague."
Okay, over we go and this lady starts asking me if I speak German. No! Okay. I got booked onto another flight but didn't make it to the gate in time. So back I had to go to get a third flight booked. Now, by this point I was very aware of the fact that I had been awake for about 22 hours and was trying very hard not to cry as I waited in line again. It was okay, there was another flight but not until 7:30. I found my gate, sat down and figure out how to tell people where I was.
I got a calling card but had to get a stranger to explain how to use it because I didn't know how to dial within Europe and kept getting a German recording telling me I was doing it wrong. When I finally got it right the number I had for my friends was busy. I called and called and called but couldn't get through. I finally realized that I could use the card to call home but Mom could hardly hear me when I got her. At least I was able to tell her sort of what was going on and she said she would try to get in touch with our friends for me.
The plane finally left for Spain but not without about an hour delay. I got to sleep for about 10 minutes but was pretty revved up from dealing with everything. When we landed guess who's bag was missing.
I was never so happy to see friends in my life. It turned out their phone was not working but Dad had sent an email that got through and they were there to get me. Everything has been fine since.
The suitcase was brought over this evening.
Not counting the 10 minute nap I was up for a total of 36 hours so needless to say I am still a bit tired. I think I am going to go rest some more.
Monday was the day I was set to leave home and things had pretty much fallen into place. My visa had come in just in time, paper work was taken care of, I had said goodbye to friends and it looked like everything was going to fit into my suitcase. (By the way it is really something to figure out what you will need for a year and try to fit it into a suitcase and two carry-on bags.)
I think I woke up around 7:00 - please remember that number- and spent the morning doing some last minute things. I had about an hour of pre-trip anxiety but everything was fine and my family took me to the bus where we said goodbye. Once I was on my way the excitement really started to kick in.
At the airport I was told that the suitcase that I had stuffed as full as possible was 18 lbs over the limit. "Well, you have two choices," said the lady. "You can either buy yourself another suitcase or pay $35."
I paid the $35, sent the suitcase on its way and headed off for the security check.
Other than that everything was smooth. There was a couple of hours to wait at the airport but the passed quickly and in no time I was in the air watching movies and being served dinner. I had a window seat and the seat next to me was empty so I was able to take off my shoes and stretch out most of the way there. It would have been great for sleeping except that I love flying so much and was so excited to finally be on my way Europe. I tried to sleep but gave up thinking it wouldn't be that bad. Maybe I could doze on the next flight.
There was a lot of cloud over Munich and as we got closer to the ground we got snow. All I could see as we landed was farmland covered in snow. It actually looked very much like home. From the way things looked the runway could have been the Deseronto Road.
I was a little nervous because I had never had to catch a connecting flight before but I got checked through just fine. There were two big differences between the airport there and in Canada. One is that the shops look very fancy there and included expensive looking jewelry stores and a lingerie shop. The other difference was the booze. I got there at 9am and there were men sitting around having big glasses of beer with their breakfast.
There was a couple of hours wait for the flight but we were told there would be a delay because of the snow. Annoying but not that bad. When they did board us we were put on a bus and driven out to the runway. I couldn't believe it. This was a little plane and we had to get on it from a little set of stairs on the outside like in the old movies. Once again I had a seat to myself.
There was quite a bit of snow by this point so we had to wait. And wait, and wait. And then, "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen. I have just been told that due to the snow there will be a delay of at least 3 -4 hours. This flight has been cancelled. "
Back we went on the bus to stand in line to get new flights. The line was long. I think I was standing in it for about an hour. When I finally got to the desk the lady found my another flight but said, "I can't book this, we have to go see my colleague."
Okay, over we go and this lady starts asking me if I speak German. No! Okay. I got booked onto another flight but didn't make it to the gate in time. So back I had to go to get a third flight booked. Now, by this point I was very aware of the fact that I had been awake for about 22 hours and was trying very hard not to cry as I waited in line again. It was okay, there was another flight but not until 7:30. I found my gate, sat down and figure out how to tell people where I was.
I got a calling card but had to get a stranger to explain how to use it because I didn't know how to dial within Europe and kept getting a German recording telling me I was doing it wrong. When I finally got it right the number I had for my friends was busy. I called and called and called but couldn't get through. I finally realized that I could use the card to call home but Mom could hardly hear me when I got her. At least I was able to tell her sort of what was going on and she said she would try to get in touch with our friends for me.
The plane finally left for Spain but not without about an hour delay. I got to sleep for about 10 minutes but was pretty revved up from dealing with everything. When we landed guess who's bag was missing.
I was never so happy to see friends in my life. It turned out their phone was not working but Dad had sent an email that got through and they were there to get me. Everything has been fine since.
The suitcase was brought over this evening.
Not counting the 10 minute nap I was up for a total of 36 hours so needless to say I am still a bit tired. I think I am going to go rest some more.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Introduction
Hello and welcome to my first attempt at blogging.
I have set this up to make staying in touch with friends and family at home easier while I am away this year. Hopefully it will cut down on the amount of writing I'll have to do and people can get updates at their convenience without inboxes being filled up. It also means that people who don't want to stay in touch don't have to. But there have been many who have asked (or insisted) that they be kept up to date on everything that happens, so here you go.
An interesting thing that has happened while setting this up is that I have realized what a diverse group of friends I have these days. There are people I have know since I was a baby and others that I have met in just the last little while. Some people know me from the Baha'i community, some know me through Christian churches and others know me from the days when I had nothing to do with religion at all. Some will be surprised to find out that I was a dancer while others know me only as a dancer. There are old people. There are young people.
All these people know me from different parts of my life so please keep this in mind as you read what I post. There is a good chance that I will either be explaining things that you didn't know about me or that I will have to go over things you know very well for the sake of everyone else. And of course this is all on top of all the new things I will be getting into.
I'd like to start by making sure everyone knows what it is I'm doing since there are some who just know that I'm going away.
This winter I will be going to Denmark for what is known as a Baha'i Year of Service. The Baha'i community has set things up so that youth can travel to different countries and spend extended time in other cultures, working with projects in those communities. This is called a year of service but it doesn't usually last a full year. The kind of work you end up doing depends on where you go and what your skills are. It could be manual labor, teaching, social development, the arts or a number of other things. In Denmark I will be working with a group of teenaged dancers who are in need of a teacher/choreographer. It was started as a Baha'i project but I have been told they are starting to get a few dancers from other backgrounds. I will be doing other things as well but this is the thing that is taking me there because it fits so perfectly with my background.
As you may or may not know by now my religion is the Baha'i Faith. I come from a family that is a mixture of Baha'i and Christian and was raised as a Baha'i. For a number of years I had very little to do with any faith but for about a year now I have gone back to being a member of the Baha'i community. I realize that I have friends who have major issues with organized religion and I would like to be respectful of that but this is a part of my life and it is what I am doing right now. Anyone who knows me well will understand that I am not trying to push this on anyone. This is, however, something I will be talking about so if anyone has a hard time with it they are welcome to just see it as a way of getting to know me better.
I think this is everything I wanted to say for now. There will be more soon.
Larissa
I have set this up to make staying in touch with friends and family at home easier while I am away this year. Hopefully it will cut down on the amount of writing I'll have to do and people can get updates at their convenience without inboxes being filled up. It also means that people who don't want to stay in touch don't have to. But there have been many who have asked (or insisted) that they be kept up to date on everything that happens, so here you go.
An interesting thing that has happened while setting this up is that I have realized what a diverse group of friends I have these days. There are people I have know since I was a baby and others that I have met in just the last little while. Some people know me from the Baha'i community, some know me through Christian churches and others know me from the days when I had nothing to do with religion at all. Some will be surprised to find out that I was a dancer while others know me only as a dancer. There are old people. There are young people.
All these people know me from different parts of my life so please keep this in mind as you read what I post. There is a good chance that I will either be explaining things that you didn't know about me or that I will have to go over things you know very well for the sake of everyone else. And of course this is all on top of all the new things I will be getting into.
I'd like to start by making sure everyone knows what it is I'm doing since there are some who just know that I'm going away.
This winter I will be going to Denmark for what is known as a Baha'i Year of Service. The Baha'i community has set things up so that youth can travel to different countries and spend extended time in other cultures, working with projects in those communities. This is called a year of service but it doesn't usually last a full year. The kind of work you end up doing depends on where you go and what your skills are. It could be manual labor, teaching, social development, the arts or a number of other things. In Denmark I will be working with a group of teenaged dancers who are in need of a teacher/choreographer. It was started as a Baha'i project but I have been told they are starting to get a few dancers from other backgrounds. I will be doing other things as well but this is the thing that is taking me there because it fits so perfectly with my background.
As you may or may not know by now my religion is the Baha'i Faith. I come from a family that is a mixture of Baha'i and Christian and was raised as a Baha'i. For a number of years I had very little to do with any faith but for about a year now I have gone back to being a member of the Baha'i community. I realize that I have friends who have major issues with organized religion and I would like to be respectful of that but this is a part of my life and it is what I am doing right now. Anyone who knows me well will understand that I am not trying to push this on anyone. This is, however, something I will be talking about so if anyone has a hard time with it they are welcome to just see it as a way of getting to know me better.
I think this is everything I wanted to say for now. There will be more soon.
Larissa
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