Jujubes and Raisins

One time a student gave me a bag of the pictured red date called the jujube. She said, "Use it for tea. It is good for women and their blood." I use the green raisins in my oatmeal re-hydrating them with hot water. Does anyone know why some raisins are plump while others are like dried bark?

Today we had a "Western meal" with Chinese characteristics. Everyone thought my African peanut sauce was very Chinese. My sitemate's delicious lasagna using flat Chinese noodles and tofu instead of ricotta had the tomato flavor of Italian yet, still quite Chinese. I even made ice cold Southern sweet tea. People liked it and recognized that it wasn't a Chinese tea. I used the Welsh black tea bags my friends from Colorado left. The most American tasting dish was granola bars, a melange of ingredients from the soon to be abandoned cupboard of my sitemate.

I got motivated to finally fix the problem with the TV/DVD player which for the past year has only played discs in black and white. I borrowed my sitemate's DVD player and when the same thing happened, I was able to eliminate one variable. My DVD player was not broken which then pushed me to play with the Chinese settings on the TV. Through the process of elimination throught button pushing, voila color. Then my Chinese friends got the cable box to work.

The guests brought a HUGE watermelon. I mean HUGE! So after they left, I invited students over to finish the other half of the watermelon. Only two showed up. The rest were worried about tomorrow's final exams.

I (had/have?) forgotten how much I enjoy hosting food and art parties. The last parties I remember hosting were in Seattle. In Africa, almost every day I would cook lunch for students and the children hanging out around my house. I don't really count that as a party. Instead it was more like cooking large portions because of my habit of always having leftovers. Without a fridge, the food had to be given away.

Because of the Tree House, a space to hang out with students, I tend to use my apartment as a quiet private haven for a hermit, a place to be alone, an escape from the outside; however, I think I might start hosting more cooking, film, and art parties.

Today was fun.