A Quick Thought:

Watching TV I saw a commercial for Steak and Shake. My first reaction:  That's weird.  So much for regional commercials. There aren't any steak and shakes anywhere near here ... oh wait. I'm in Atlanta again - Steak and Shake central. Nevermind.

 It's like jet-lag without the mental trigger of exhaustion to remind yourself that you don't know *when* you are.

I'll give you three guesses:  Where was this picture taken?  Hint - not in Georgia.

 

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

 

 

Animal Farm and Eco System

In a conversation I had recently with a mentor of mine I realized how absolutely ridiculous but entirely entertaining and fascinating politics can be the world over.  I’ve prepared a few case studies to make my point.  However, because I intend to continue to travel to some of these places, names have been changed and the best cases have been left out.  Sorry, but visas are gold and words can hurt prides as much as snack foods can endanger presidents.  *ahem* orge-gay ush-bay!

 Careful Murph … I’m not sure that peanut’s been categorized as “safe”!

The first example doesn’t even involve executive office.  Our friend, we’ll call him Tom Atkins, trying desperately to grab for a little piece of power in a small town senate race had the unfortunate gaff that half of the politicians in these united states fear.  



Regardless of the “scientific” facts that he erroneously began spewing – incidentally, who does he think he is?  Only the governor of Maine is given quite THAT much leeway on biological misquotations.  Anywho, regardless of his mis-statements and mistakes in all things biological Mr. Atkins feels that rape must be categorized as legitimate or illegitimate.  This by itself is unfortunate, but the real folly comes from the rest of his party who frantically danced around hoping you wouldn’t notice the greater issue.  His compadres, vehemently shushed him like a classroom trying to conceal their mischief from a less observant teacher. 

Did they really think we don’t see it?  So many politicians believing that babies should be protected and rapists thrown to the wolves and the victims … well … the victims are just unfortunate biproducts of the whole sorted affair that frankly we’d rather just went away.  We’ll handle that later, and by later we mean never.  Well done US of A, luckily for you, you’re not alone in the absurdities. 

Don't look now Rico ... but I think
someone's making you look foolish!
 

Many of you have heard me talk of a certain Tstan … no not that one, the first one.  I have seen many a maneuvering from this great land, from a book that you can read three times and be assured entrance into heaven and complete knowledge is required in order to gain entrance into college … whose sequels are incidentally used as toilet paper in outlying villages.  Recently it was announced that this one party state – indeed this one person government, would include a little opposition.  A new party is being formed!  Hurrah!  This party of industrialists and entrepreneurs has a leader, and an office, and a newspaper.  Heck there’s even an address … an address where workers can be found.  And yet there are still those that say this isn’t enough.  They wish to SEE the leader, and learn THINGS about him.  Poppy cock!  Ah, to long for the days before radio.  The days of telegraph, when you never really could be certain if candidates for your executive office truly existed or not.  Oh wait, you still have telegraph services as a major form of domestic communication?  You only recently had other options for information sharing?  You win Tstan.  Break given.



Sorry can’t tell you who this is,
but he was a great leader.
I’m sure!

Next in the long history of the world are some silly shenanigans in east Africa.  A female politician elected by her district to act in a national forum was strongly opposed to a new constitution.  This woman, a mother, a farm owner and a widow was vehemently against this new constitution.  In a place where land disputes can drag on for 15-30 years or more, and has led to civil unrest, she did not feel that the new constitution’s changes to land rights were in her country’s best interests.  The issue:  The new constitution allowed women to own and inherit land.  She apparently felt it was more strongly in her country’s interest for her lands to be fought over for 30 years after she died rather than have them inherited and clearly owned by one of her children. 

I could go on and on, and while this post does seem, and perhaps is, drippingly political.  Ew!  My point is less so:  People are absurd.  Regardless of race, creed, sex, fingernail polish color preference or any other difference you can find, we quite often prefer absurdity over logic and intelligence when it comes to forming partnerships to govern ourselves and our fellow men … and yes by men I mean men and women, no disrespect intended or derogatory context for using the word women which is derived from the word “men”.  Ridiculous!

And now, more absurdity: 



Squirrel

 

 

Not a Squirrel!

 

 

 

No, no … Not that Georgia.

Trying something new here today on the Blogovel …. domestic travel.  Although, while this is domestic travel for me, for many readers this might actually be a trip to The America.  Having recently arrived in Atlanta I have apparently been the worst tourist and tour guide that this town has seen.  These are the claims of others.  I have had a brilliant time.  I’ve eaten the sweetest waffles in the history of man … okay that might be a slight exaggeration …. but not by much.  The Waffle House certainly knows how to take a medium for the conveyance of sweet fruits and syrups and make it a tasty pastry in its own right.  I’ve also had the opportunity to visit the puppet museum.  I don’t actually know that that’s what it’s called, but it’s a workshop/museum that’s free on Thursdays during certain hours, and features Jim Henson’s creations.  That however, is not the subject of this post.  There’s something WAY BETTER that I have had the chance to experience.

Food trucks and King of Pops (http://kingofpops.net).

Think about it.  How weird is it that walking down the street we will stop at a random truck with crazy paint on the side and trust food that people who practically live out of these vehicles prepare for us.  It’s the adult version of accepting candy from a van with a wizard panorama painted on the side.  Not a good idea …. But SUCH a good idea! 

Going out for food in Atlanta (which seems to be the biggest highlight for most city residents), we went for a walk and ended up in a parking lot in which 5 or 6 trucks had convened with specialties ranging from Blaxican (soul inspired Mexican food featured on the right of the above photo) to cupcakes.  It is worth note when anything distracts me from buying cupcakes, but I didn’t give it more than a few seconds’ thought.  I was going home with a popsicle. 

This is the second time that I’ve encountered King of Pops.  I’ve heard stories of their sustainability, only throwing out two bags of trash a week, and the website proudly announces the seasonality of their ingredients.  While these are all things that I think are good in a company, and I applaud their efforts, these are sort of the standards  that I think should exist naturally in the world.  I naively do not choose businesses because of these practices, but will punish other businesses when I find that they are in grave violation of these principles … always after the fact.

No, the reason I like King of Pops is because of the pops.  The remarkably creative flavor combinations, and basically put:  they taste amazing.  So far I’ve tasted the hibiscus margarita flavor and chocolate sea salt, and my only complaint is that they melt too quickly … given that it was 104+ degrees (F), I can hardly blame the company for that. 

So perhaps I’m not the best tour guide, and I don’t see the expected destinations of a typical tourist while I’m in the Atlanta area, but I’ve discovered some little gems, and that’s enough for me.

And Then The Rains Came

Written:  7/25/12

No doubt many of you have not heard, and those of you who have, by the time you’re reading this, you’ve probably already started to worry about other things, but early yesterday morning the Tajik government launched a major offensive into its autonomous region.  This area of the country, which international news agencies are quick to point out, borders one of the more lawless regions of Afghanistan, and here in Tajikistan it stands alone, largely governing itself and for the most part minding its own business.  … except of course when it doesn’t.  In an attempt to avoid too much politics and dragging on for paragraphs with an analysis of this side or that, I’ll leave you to do a quick google search.  Suffice it to say that it looks a lot like war, and no matter which side you’re on there are losses.

This morning when I left my apartment, okay, to be fair … this afternoon when I left my apartment and walked to work the streets were somber.  These are not normally the streets of carnival, and I do not expect cartwheels and cheers, but on most days there will be smiles, stares, and bubbling conversations.  More importantly, there will be conversations.  This afternoon though, pedestrians are rare, and conversations are few. 

At work, talking with colleagues, the subject is entirely avoided.   When asked how I slept, I admit that I didn’t sleep well because I kept waking up worried, checking the news for updates, but more importantly checking my email and facebook.  I am not really worried for my safety.  In reality I am in no more danger than I was the day before, which is to say almost none at all.  I am worried that my family will worry.  That I will sleep through an email or a panicked facebook message which will spiral out of control while I slumber.  My colleague shakes his head and mutters how sad it is, and how my parents would worry so much if they knew what was happening here – obviously worrying about his own children.  If he were a cartoon character there would be a storm cloud over his head.

The day moves on, and no one talks. 

Hours later I find myself in the office alone.  It’s been this way for about an hour now … another rarity.  It is then that I start to hear it.  Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.  For the first time since I arrived the weather is doing something other than shining sun.  I opened the window and in came a cool breeze, a cloud burst, and a smile erupts on my face.  Then the winds come.  I thought it best to close the window and was glad I did.  The skies opened up and instantly the sidewalks became rivers.  Sheets of rain fell and more than once I heard glass shattering as the winds rearranged the furniture. 

Another colleague, who doesn’t speak much English, poked his head in the room with a big smile on his face.  “Ok?”  I laughed, “yeah, okay!” 

20 minutes after the rains had stopped the street was still a raging river, and a doctor I work with offered me a ride.  Passing downed power-lines and coursing through streets with inches of water on them we laughed as the water flew from the car’s tires.  People on the street were also laughing, and most didn’t even seem to mind the inevitability of the waves of water kicked up by passing cars. 

While the situation in the south isn’t gone, and the fear will return along with the dread from those who have already lived through one civil war, for now we are cleansed.  If only for a moment, we have remembered how to laugh, children are playing and old women run happily through puddles in the streets.

Asian Fusion

It’s 10pm and still VERY VERY VERY hot.  Yesterday at this time it was 30 degrees.  Today, was forcasted to be 38 during the day, 2 degrees hotter than yesterday, and tonight I’m certain it is hotter than 30.  Sitting here with the window open (there’s a shade, but air can move through), in shorts and a tank top, directly in front of a fan on high, I am still - if ever so slightly - sweating.  And yet, I don’t wish I had your air conditioning.  I DO wish it were cooler.  I do wish I could comfortably consider the idea of Capri yoga pants without being disgusted by the knowledge of how hot and sticky that would be …. But I do not long for dry frigid air and long sleeves in summer.

Not to mention, when it’s this hot all I want to eat is soup and watermelon.  Today I even skipped lunch because it was just too hot.   Since I haven’t made it to Frisbee this entire time (a.  It’s hot.  b. Frisbee is a 6 mile round trip walk in addition to, well, Frisbee.  c. Frisbee happens on the first and usually only day that I get to be alone for the whole of the day … guess Frisbee will just have to wait for Boston.), and I’ve only managed to do some yoga once, perhaps a change in diet is warranted.  Good thing because a change of diet is entirely unavoidable.

My cooking is not, nor is it ever likely to be described as “asian” of the central or any other sort of asian.  However, being that I am here, and local food is almost always cheaper than imported foods why not incorporate a few delicacies into my diet.  The following is an account of some of the foods that I have concocted or stumbled upon along the way.

Dried kiwi:  It’s sort of like dried mango, only it’s kiwi and has an odd aroma of fish.  I do wonder if that’s perhaps because of the situation in which it was dried, but also try not to think about that situation in any form whatsoever. 

Walnut cookies:  I don’t know who makes them, or where they come from, but they make me so happy.  We had these in Turkmenistan too, and it didn’t seem like they came from that place either.  Deceiving as the name may be, they do not seem to have any walnut in them.  They are merely shortbread type cookies with some sort of dulce du lece type filling, that when sandwiched look an aweful lot like walnuts.  I should also note that this name is not even close to being official and most people wouldn’t know what I was talking about when I say “walnut cookie”. 

Bisella:  Aka duo crème, aka crème duo, aka that nutella cream with the vanilla swirled in, or as shown Benuta Duo.  Not sure how it made it here.  So unbelievably happy it did.

Cream of Goat soup:  Is about as bad as it sounds like it would be.  I made this delicious lentil, bean and goat stew from some left over roast animal, but I had a few cartons of heavy, heavy, so heavy as to be sour cream consistency without the sour part, heavy cream that I needed to use.  I figured cream of chicken soup was good, cream of beef wasn’t unheard of, creamy lentil is also good.  Why not?!  Because it’s terrible.  That’s why not. 

Watermelon:  You know that part of the watermelon right in the middle where it’s bright, bright red and super sweet?  Now imagine the whole watermelon tasting like that.  Everything, right to the rind, expect maybe for the middle part which is a little more flavorful.   

Tea:  I drink so much tea here.  Green tea, Black tea, and not yet black powder tea … but maybe soon.

Pears:  I ate a pear here the other day that tasted like you would expect pear syrup to taste.  It was the flavor that candy manufacturers based pear flavoring on, if they’d actually based it on a real fruit.  It was delicious … unfortunately by the time we’d eaten through ¾ of the pear, the ants agreed with us, and the last ¼ was no longer appetizing.

Montu:  Kind of like Monti … only as big as your hand.  Steamed dumplings of ground meat and onion.  They’re as pretty as they are delicious.

Laghman:  Also known as soup.  It’s like Turkmen soup on a bed of noodles.  No?  Okay, how about … it’s soup with chunks of meat, half of a potato (no need to chop it up), a carrot (also whole), and tasty broth, but rather than putting it in an empty bowl, we’ll pour it into a bowl that happens to already be half full of homemade noodles.  And just to keep you guessing – maybe we’ll add a dollop of sour cream.

And I think my favorite dish here:  Shakarob!  It seems that most cultures have recipes to deal with left over bread/baked goods that just go stale too quickly.  The Austrians have Sacher Torte, smearing jam between two layers of cake to make sure that even if it would have gone bad, maybe it will just absorb the extra jam and taste fine a few days longer.  The French have bread pudding.  Oh bread pudding.  Right now there are two people who are tied for first place when it comes to bread pudding.  Michael and my Dad.  I do admit that my father is at a bit of a disadvantage, however.  I haven’t had my Dad’s bread pudding in years, so the memory isn’t very fresh in my head … whereas Michael made it just a few months ago.  Don’t worry though, being fair minded as I am, I will most certainly allow my father  the opportunity to best Michael with his culinary magic.  Tie breakers will be determined at a later date.

… I have allowed myself to be distracted:  Always a danger when writing a post about food.  So yes.  Austria:  Sacher Torte.  France (England?):  Bread Pudding.  Moving on to the savory responses to stale bread Turkmenistan has Dograma.  Dograma is what happens when culinary school goes very poorly.  I was not a fan.  In order to make dograma you wait for bread to go stale … Luckily, depending on the bread, you might not have to wait more than a minute or two.  Then you shred this bread into small, stuffing sized pieces.  (ooohhh Stuffing!  Another answer to stale bread.  Yummy!)  These pieces of stale bread are topped with a piece or two of meat and then broth is poured over the whole thing.  Salt liberally.  The bread is about as bland and soggy as you would imagine.  The good news is, it fills the belly and is relatively safe to eat without threat of broken tooth or intestinal distress.

Finally, there is Tajikistan’s response:  Shakarob!  I wish I could write that out with the same enthusiasm and enunciation as I have in my head, but no phonetics will do this word justice.  It is pronounced something like Shah-ka-ROBE, but whenever I say it it’s almost like a battle-cry or something that a child would excitedly cry before doing something particularly brave.  Anywho, much like dograma, the bread is shredded only this time it’s spread out on a wide flat-ish serving bowl.  It’s then topped with tomato, cucumber, onion and whatever herbs are in season.  I had it once with mint and dill and I HIGHLY recommend that.  Then the whole thing is doused with a thin yogurt mixed with linseed oil.  It’s delicious. 

Perhaps this also should have been divided into several posts, but I couldn’t find a place to pause.  Rather than actually wrapping this up, let me leave you with a question:  Does anyone know where one would get linseed oil (the non-poisonous, edible kind) in the US?  I know more than one of you frequents whole foods – is this something they would have?

Milli-hit Gratitude, 1000 Thanks to You!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post to take a second and say thanks.  Today, except by some strange stroke of misfortune, Worlds Unseen and Lands Unknown is expected to receive its 1,000th visit from friends like you.  This seemed momentous, especially to someone as enamoured with statistics as I seem to be, and therefore worth recognizing.

So thank you for your time, and your fellow traveling.  The map above is a depiction of all of the places where I've been ... Ever.  This is shown by country and includes such frivolous visits as layovers in airports that really shouldn't be counted at all.  Below is the map of all of the places where you have been while checking out my posts.  My!  You are an international group.

23 Countries!

Finally, in recognition of this milestone, and because the poll on this page seems to have utterly failed for some people who have tried to vote, I put the question to you.  If there were anything about the layout of this site that you think could use some improvement or that you would change if you held the title of "The Writer", what would you change?  Do you like the elephant?  Would the text be better if it were dark with a lighter background?  Is there something in particular that you think is missing, or that you would like taken away?  This is your chance.  Please let me know what works and what sucks, and together we can gather and turn 1,000 hits into 1,000 viewers.  Oh, the beauty of what your feedback can create!

In order to make this all a little more fool proof, I will be taking comments, suggestions, and what not through several media. 

Try these options:

• Post a comment to this feed.
• Like us on Facebook and leave a comment: www.facebook.com/worldsandlands
• Email me:  rachel.l.olsen@gmail.com
• If we're chatting or you have my phone number feel free to tell me directly. 

Thanks for playing, thanks for reading, and tune in on Monday for more adventures in Tajikistan!

The Things We Call Ourselves

The people fighting against the Tajik government in southern Tajikistan have been given many labels: Guerrillas, rebels, warlords, organized crime gangs.

 My favorite is: the former opposition. It seems to me that if they're still shooting at you, they're probably CURRENT opposition.

I'm just sayin ...

This is what happens when East Germans are relaocated to Central Asian valleys.