A Series of (Un)Fortunate Events

Okay so I owe you guys, big time. I was really scared to post something new because my last post was just so personal to me that I thought there was no way I could ever duplicate it. But finally common sense kicked in at about 3 am last night, and I realized that you all would probably much rather hear about my time here than have an overworked and worried post. So, without further ado, here’s a glimpse into my life for the past week and a half.

A Very American Fourth of July

The American Club was throwing a party, fireworks and all for all American (and Canadian) passport holders, however I decided to celebrate my holiday in a true melting pot kind of way. I met up with friends at the local coffee shop and retold the events of my field visit. I’m pretty sure we sat there for five hours just chatting away. The four of us discussed everything from Bangladesh’s pre-industrial stage to available medication US vs UK. Then we proceeded to a North Korean restaurant (with an entire North Korean restaurant crew :O) and met up with other Europeans for dinner. The food was delicious and they had special entertainment that night. Yours truly got pulled up on stage to sing an Asian-fied version of Dancing Queen by ABBA. My friends are still laughing about that one....So you see? Our table was a mixture of all cultures, races, and ethnicities...it just doesn’t get any more American than that.

Mother Always Knows...(even if she is 8,013 miles away)

I went over to Jes’ apartment with the intention of cooking tacos for dinner (which bordered Mission Impossible). After a relatively successful grocery store run, in which we abandoned all hope of finding avocados and substituted cucumbers for lettuce, she and I got started with the preparations. Although it was a twenty minute recipe, we started three hours early (and a good thing too! as the food just barely finished cooking in time for Iftar). While cooking, we started teaching each other colloquial words of the US and UK, lessons which quickly turned to modernized version of the scene from My Fair Lady where Mr. Higgins has Eliza repeat her “a” vowel over and over again. Except, instead of vowels we were practicing with local swear words. Alas, I should have known better because we were in for quite a karmic surprise. As we sat down for Iftar I broke my fast with a bite of taco, and then turned to watch Jes’ reaction in which she said “It tastes like dish soap!” We proceeded to try all of the toppings separately in effort to locate the source of the soapy flavour but our efforts were in vain. It seems that even though our mums weren’t there to personally chastise us for swearing, they still managed to wash our mouths out with a soapy dinner. Moral of the story: beware of super motherly powers, they’ll get you every time.

 

Seven to One

Dear Brazil,

I wanted you to lose but that was just embarrassing. I can’t believe I stayed up all night to watch that game at 2 am. Please re-evaluate your career choice.

Xo,

Carolyn

P.S. Commentators are the best – “If your last name starts with K, you will probably score a goal in this game”