Drawing Classes: Take Two

I just found someone to take drawing lessons from in Provo. I signed up. I think this time it will go much better than it did last time.



Why is that, you ask?



1) It will be in English.

2) It won't take me an hour to get there.

3) It will be in Engligh and it won't take me an hour to get there.

My lessons start on the 16th--can't wait!

Institute Closing Social

This past Saturday was the Institute closing social. They handed out the diplomas, we ate Mexican food (yes!), and then we danced all night. Well, until 11, because it takes everyone at least an hour to get home...

But they also had a little "portrait" area where Sylvain, one of the great Institute teachers, took pictures of everyone. I thought it was a great idea, and I loved the frame that they brought as a prop.

Filipino Recipes

Last Saturday a Filipino couple in my ward taught an international cooking class to the Relief Society (we had a Thai class a few weeks before that).

Here are the recipes we tried (they were all delicious!).

Beef Afritada
Ingredients:
-1 kilo beef
-1 medium to large carrot
-3 potatoes
-1 green bell pepper
-1 can green peas (or the equivalent in thawed frozen or fresh peas)
-5 cloves garlic
-1 onion
-1 cup grated cheddar cheese
-beef broth as needed

I don't have the directions, so I'm guessing it goes something like this: Brown the garlic and onions. Add the potatoes. Add the carrots. Add everything else. Cook. Enjoy. (Yeah, I'll have to get back to you on this...) I do remember, though, that they boiled the beef separately before cooking, and then they just added it towards the end so it could soak up some of the flavors. That way it is much more tender.

Chicken Adobo
Ingredients:
-1 kilo of medium-sized bone-in chicken parts (legs, thighs, wings, whatevah)
-5 cloves garlic
-1 onion
-1/2 cup special filipino soy sauce (you can use regular soy sauce if you don't have a store where you can find filipino products)
-1/4 cup vinegar (any kind except basalmic, I think they said. I think they used red wine vinegar)
-1 tsp. pepper

Brown garlic and onion. Add everything else, cook until done.

Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
-1 kilo chicken, sliced into 1 by 2 inch strips (roughly)
-grated ginger (maybe 1/3 cup? they didn't write how much down as a part of the recipe)
-1 onion
-1 can coconut milk
-1 cup chicken broth
-1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
-1 tsp. cumin
-1 tsp. turmeric
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. pepper
-1 tsp. chili oil or hot sauce
-1 tsp. ground cinnamon
-1 tsp. dry mustard (yellow)

Brown onion, add ginger. Add everything else, cook until done.

I know. It's very precise. Regardless, they were ALL really delicious, so if any of them sound good to you, maybe try searching for more exact recipes on a recipe database site. Or just Google "Chicken Adobo."

Enjoy. 'Cause I sure did. Yum.

YSA Activity in Versailles

Les JA (YSA's) from the Paris-East stake got together about a month ago for an activity. It was fun--a singing competition (Rock Band style, but minus the band--I don't know what the games are called that just involve the singing aspect) and dinner.

It was fun--and sweaty after everyone started dancing and singing.

Found in Front of the Pompidou Center

I saw a couple of these little color wheels painted onto the ground in front of the Pompidou Center.

In the center is the PC's logo, cemented into the ground like a cobble stone.

Yum.

I ate this at the Jardin de Luxembourg.

By this fountain.

That's one thing I'll definitely miss--grabbing a bite to eat and enjoying one of many great parks in Paris.

Right Now...

I'm probably eating Cafe Rio.

And panicking that I'm going to have to start driving my car again. I'm afraid I'm going to run over someone by accident. Is that weird?

All My Bags Are Packed... I'm Ready to Go

'Cause I'm leeeeeeeaviiiin' on a jet plaaaaane, don't know when I'll be back again.

Goodbye Paris. Hope to see you SOON.



If everything is running on schedule and as planned (i.e., my flight isn't cancelled), I should be in the air right now.

See you on the other side. (of the Atlantic.)

Sunset over the Seine

Anti-Advertisement

I saw this on a rolling billboard on the Champs Elysees.

It says "Life--What a Beautiful Product. Let's Limit Advertising!!!"

I thought the bar code was kind of clever. It took me a minute to figure out what it was. At first I thought it was just random lines, but as I understood the meaning of the message, that bar code leapt right out at me.

In my grammar class, one of the articles we read and discussed talked about the opposing sides of the advertising debate in France (and maybe elsewhere... I don't really know if there are "anti-advertising" groups in the US). Francois BRUNE, who is very much against advertising, wrote an article called (roughly) "Advertising: Watch out for the Trap" in which he presents the arguments of those who are for advertising, and then argues against each item.

The article was only a page long, but there was one concept that really resonated pretty deeply with me. I've thought about it a lot while I've been in France. He talked about how every one of us has to find our "vie authentique," or our authentic way of living. It shouldn't be about what "everyone else" has, or whether something is the newest, miggest, most tricked-out model of something. It should be about whether having that item--or lifestyle, or way of dressing--is really you, or if you're being influenced by advertising.

Personally, I don't really care about limiting advertising. I know I'm influenced by it, but I feel like that's more of a personal thing. If I really hate that I'm so influenced by advertising, then maybe the best approcah would be to sit down and study it so I can pick advertising apart when I see it, rather than responding emotionally to it.

Thoughts?