More pictures of the Kedougou region

A lovely week

I just returned home (sadly) from a wonderful week in Cambridge with Mana and Pop. They bought me many wonderful meals, took me to many wonderful bookstores, and engaged in many lovely conversations with me. My trip included a visit to the MFA, meals with two lovely German friends, and the birth of my newest cousin, Stella Kate, in North Carolina.

Today Charlotte treked from Kedougou, Senegal to a small town called Ibel. Here is a picture of the beautiful landscape (courtesy of Google Earth):

Blogging

First of all, I'm sorry I've been such an unreliable blogger lately! I've just had other stuff going on. I'm having an uneventful but lovely summer so far, full of long walks to the Old Port, spending time with Rafaela, Lilly, and Kayla, multiple iced soy lattes from Arabica, German study, Blunt Radio madness, and generally getting really excited about leaving in September. I found out recently that my host family has a summer house in Spain that I might get to visit!

Today I walked downtown with my mom and bought a couple Lupine plants. We sat down at Arabica for a while, and she conversed with David and Ellen on the phone. I can't wait to go to North Carolina in August to visit Rufus when (s)he's born! But I am also really, really hoping that the trip doesn't coincide with the Olympics show I'm hosting with Josh Staples...

My last three days have been spent mostly sulking at home and thinking about Charlotte, who is off on her amazing Senegal adventure with Where There Be Dragons. She is staying in Thies, Senegal for the week with one of her instructors' families. After that, the group is traveling all over the country (and the Gambia) visiting small villages and treking through the countryside. If you want you can read her full itinerary here.

Tasha Tudor

I was very sad to learn that Tasha Tudor died last Wednesday, at the age of 92. She was truly my hero at one point in my life, when I was about eight or nine and my dream was to live out in the country, alone with four or five dogs. I watched both her movies, Take Peace and Take Joy, many times. Aw, so sad.

New adventures on the bus

I'm sorry to say that I have a new bus driver. Well, perhaps I'm not so sorry, because I can now bring a friend home from school without being harassed, and my old bus driver was the meanest person in America. But still, she was funny. My new bus driver is old (sixty, maybe) and he's a little scary. A few days ago, I overheard this conversation:

Bus driver: Some of that fashion during the 80s was hot, and I mean really hot! Short skirts, tight pants...

World of Warcraft-playing freshman: Uh-huh?

Bus driver: Yeah. And for guys, sportscoats, loafers... But I couldn't do that, I was so broke during the 80s, I couldn't do any of that.

World of Warcraft-playing freshman: I'm not really a fashion person. I think it's easier being a guy, not really being a fashion person.

Bus driver: Now here's what you've got to do: go to Goodwill and look for some nice leather shoes. Nice leather shoes. But remember, you can't wear 'em with socks. They wore 'em with socks during the 80s, 'cause that was the fashion then, but now, remember, no socks. Buy a sportscoat. I used to have a nice white linen sportscoat. And polos, but no stripes on those polos!

World of Warcraft-playing freshman (getting up and leaving the bus): Okay!

Bus driver (calling out to him): Remember, loafers with no socks!

Kai (sitting in front of me): Before I go to my interview, I'm gonna go home and put on some loafers with no socks.

The delicious multi-puropse tempeh sandwich

I used to be one of those people who don't like tempeh. I think I was distracted from its flavor by the unusual texture and strange smell of raw tempeh. Now I realize that I was insane, because tempeh is actually really, really delicious, and much easier to prepare than tofu. I know, this sounds unbelievable, but it is completely true. Whenever I try to make a spontaneous tofu dish, the tofu comes out soggy, squishy, and unappealing. But tempeh has a naturally firm, chewy texture and nutty flavor. All you have to do is fry in a pan with some oil, and it comes out perfectly. Here's a recipe (sort of) for an amazing multi-purpose tempeh sandwich.

You will need:
Tempeh
Two pieces of delicious bread
A spread
Sauerkraut
Pickles
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Anything else

First, fry the tempeh in a frying pan in a little olive oil until it is golden-brown on both sides. Meanwhile, prepare the sandwich. Put a little red wine vinegar on one piece of bread, and the spread (like hummus, olive tapenade, pesto, artichoke spread, white bean spread, mashed chickpea, etc.) on the other. Put the sauerkraut, pickles, and anything else on the bread. Some ingredient ideas are: sprouts, cheese, vegan cheese, veggie salami, caramelized onions, tomato, etc. Make sure you choose veggies carefully, because some become very unpleasant when grilled (I, personally, cannot stand soggy red onion or greens.) Remove the tempeh, keeping the stove on medium, and add it to the sandwich. Grill the sandwich on each side so that the sandwich becomes delicious and melty. Cut it in half if you want. Spread, pickle juice, and sauerkraut juice will leak out, so beware; you can dip the crusts in it if you'd like.

There you are! The best sandwich ever!

Derrida on the science of ghosts

When I saw "Derrida's Elsewhere" at Space, this clip was played beforehand. I think it's pretty fascinating, and funny.

"Cinema plus psychoanalysis equals the science of ghosts."

Also...

Here is a good blog post about that song ("Denkmal") which includes an English translation of the lyrics.

Video of Wir Sind Helden

I like this cute German band, although some of their songs are a bit too upbeat and pop-y. There's other good stuff by them on YouTube if you care to look.

Host family

I made it home from the camping trip on Cow Island (and actually had a great time!) and enjoyed a lovely visit to Cape Cod with my friend Kayla. But, the most excited news is, I have a host family!! I'm so excited!! They live in a town called Birkenfeld, which is an hour outside of Stuttgart in southwest Germany. (Don't try Google Map-ing it; there's a larger town called Birkenfeld that it'll take you to.) The town is tiny and looks very cute and charming; it's also right in the Black Forest! Tonight my mom and I are making a black forest cake to celebrate.
Here's a picture of an old fashioned-looking house in Birkenfeld, courtesy of Google Earth:



I e-mailed my host sister Katharina, but I haven't heard back yet. I'm kind of nervous.