The Streets of Kuwait

This morning I had breakfast with a friend whom I've not seen for two years.  I know her from my Master's degree program and she's a teacher like me.  Two years ago she attended a job fair and accepted a job at a school in Kuwait.  I lived and taught in Chile for two years and missed the heck out of my lifestyle back in Colorado, so I give her props for sticking it out and heading back for her third year.  We went to Snooze on Colorado Blvd and when I asked the waitress which Eggs Benedict she recommended of the two from which I was choosing, she said I could have one of each!  I didn't have to choose!  Snooze sure knows how to treat their customers.  So while I feasted on the Chilaquiles Benedict Carne asada steak served on a cheesy, saucy, tortilla stack topped with poached Niman Ranch eggs, smoked cheddar hollandaise, fresh salsa and cotija cheese and the Bella! Bella! Benny Thin slices of prosciutto, Taleggio cheese, and perfectly poached eggs on toasted ciabatta, topped with cream cheese hollandaise, balsamic glaze and arugula, Amy entertained me with stories about her experiences in Kuwait. 

What I learned:

• teenagers are teenagers no matter what country you find them in.  And teenagers often don't carry writing utensils with them, so are therefore unprepared for class.  Happens in the U.S., happens in Kuwait. 
• if the dust settles after an argument or fight and the ground is littered with shoes, there has been some major insulting going on.  Because a shoe touches the ground and the ground is considered filthy, it is an insult to throw your filthy shoe at another person.  A grave insult.  
• as in any place, don't make a comment in front of teenagers that you don't want to hear repeated over and over as your legacy.  Even when it seems they are not listening, oh, they are.  I task myself with not saying anything I would not say in front of one of their parents because it's those phrases and gems that are repeated at home.  Why wouldn't they be, they are indeed the most interesting.  

Enjoy your summer of green Amy!

Gratitude and Joy

My yoga instructor talked about the link between gratitude and joy today, very timely for me.  I have been thinking about starting a daily post where I simply listed events or posted photos of  gratitude.  I was going to start on my birthday, but why wait?

Specifically she talked about how feeling gratitude can bring us joy.  My life is not all sunshine and rainbows, but it feels like it most of the time!  I think that is due to my positive attitude and my recurring feelings of gratitude.  Sometimes my heart feels so full of joy that it just may burst out of my chest.

I bought this print a few years ago, it's done by an artist named Leigh Standley.  It says, "Funny thing about joy, is that you only really find it when you are too busy Having fun to go looking for it."  The text in the top corner reads, "she attended life with her accustomed zeal."  So many things about this print drew me in - the cute sundress, the orange boots, the bucket of happy, and of course, the feeling that I could relate to the quotes.

Today I am grateful for:

• a healthy body that can move easily and breathe evenly
• a loving home for my cat to stay for the summer
• friends with whom I can enjoy a tasty Indian dinner (Jess) and then a movie and who, when I ask if she can pick up some Tastycakes for a movie snack, the only question is, "What flavor?"  Thanks Karen!

The Flippin' Speaker Phone and Other Reasons to Live Alone

I'm a nervous tenant, skulking around, trying to avoid my housemate/landlord and the only causes I can think of to which I attribute my behavior are a few past living experiences. I'm immediately on the defensive when my name is called, ready to explain some anomaly or why my living room is so messy and instead of an attack it's usually an offer of baked chicken or the latest movie from Netflix. My best guess is that it goes back to a previous housemate who caught me to talk one day and then lectured me about a few things, the two most unreasonable being that my food was taking up too much room in the refrigerator and that I was walking on the front lawn and killing the grass. Neither of those were true. I took responsibility for my dishes that were left in the sink too long, and I also made a phone call - minutes later - to find myself new living arrangements.

Lately, in addition to being on the defensive, I'm also spending a lot of time wishing I lived alone. Turns out the best roommate for me is my cat, and even he gets under my skin sometimes. I'm noise sensitive so living on the lower level and hearing every step across the house is just the beginning. Then there is the blasting television volume, the sighs, grunts, and self-talk. All perfectly acceptable if you live alone but hey, I'm still down here! The worst of it, not from volume, but rather principle, is the use of speaker phone. What a gift on the nights that I get to hear BOTH sides of his conversations. Normally he's bellowing advice or gossip into the phone but on some occasions he puts the phone on speaker, sets it down to do other chores and yells across the room to his girlfriend, sister, or whoever is the lucky recipient. The best was the night I heard him tell his sister, "I'm going to put you on speaker phone okay? Don't worry there is no one else here, just you and me."

I've gotten some good laughs from overheard conversations, but I can get rival stories from most public places. It's time for me to move on.

What's in Your Freezer?

I never expected to have health problems at this age. I guess reflux is a fairly common problem or seems to be based on the the number of ads I see for medications in the Prilosec family these days. My esophageal spasms and reflux are minor compared to what other people are dealing with, but when I have an "episode" as I like to call them I experience excruciating chest pain that nothing can reverse. We used to make fun of my dad because he kept a bottle of Pepto Bismol next to the chair and would take swigs from it. Now I'm downing Tums like they are Flintstones tasty vitamins and waiting for them to kick in so I can breathe again.

To rule out problems caused by the bacteria H. pylori, my dad suggested that I get tested. My doctor was happy to oblige and ordered up the test. At that point I was unaware of the requirements. It wasn't until I arrived to the lab and was handed a sterile plastic cup that I began to have some second thoughts about this test. It required a stool sample. The girl at the counter set down the phone long enough to hand me the cup and tell me, "Stool sample only, no urine. If you can get it to the lab within 1 hour then you don't need to freeze it. If it will be longer than an hour, freeze the sample and bring it in." And then she was back to making plans for the night in very hushed tones.

I left the clinic. Simple enough I thought. Just need to wait for the urge and then seal it up. My doubts crept in an hour later as I collected my sample. How much constitutes a sample? Will they think I'm strange if this is too full? And then, what was I going to transport the sample in? I couldn't put it in the freezer just like that, the clear plastic container next to my box of vegetarian chicken patties. I dug through my collection of bags looking for something nondescript. I found nothing. I settled on a Wendy's bag and just had to let go of the whole situation. There it sits, ready for transport.

So what's in your freezer?

A Nice Surprise and My Fishy Valentine

Friday night I was on the computer much, much later than I'm accustomed to. My eyes were burning, but Jes has been writing a blog that kept me captivated and also encouraged me to get this one started, so I got hooked. While I was living in Chile I could never get used to the late hours. Dinner at 9, going out at 11 or 12 and staying out until 5 in the morning. I only managed it once or twice. I love my 10 PM bedtime. But staying up late paid off on Friday because my friend Jennifer, from Chile, found me online. My late hour helped me reconnect because it turned out she was in Boulder, only 15 minutes from me. The next day I drove over to pick her up and visit for an hour. What a nice Valentine's Day surprise!

Then later it was Las Vegas, the mix of crab, salmon and cream cheese, a Tidal Wave of spicy tuna and shrimp tempura and the mild Negihama to fill my stomach the rest of the way. This is what it takes to make me happy. Sushi on Valentine's day has become my annual tradition. My former roommate Alyssa joined me at least once in the past for this tradition but she's living in Maine now. My friend Todd joined me this year and since we didn't have reservations they let us know there would be a 1.5 hour limit on our table. We weren't kicked to the curb early and it was yummy, yummy, yummy.

Female Hulk

Some of Jonah's (a student of mine) comments to me over the past few weeks...

One day at weight lifting club, while we were doing some sprints, "Miss Foster, your legs look huge." When I asked for clarification later, "What did you say," he continued, "You looked like a machine with huge legs running, kind of like the Hulk." And my reply, "Yes, but a woman, and not green."

And a few days ago during class. "Miss Foster, this morning at weights when you were riding the bike... you looked like you just woke up and had a hangover."

And today, only two days later... "Miss Foster, your hair looks different today, pressed down. Well, usually you part it in the middle and today it's parted to the side." I thought it was strange for such a different comment from two days ago. I commented, "I usually don't look my best in the morning." To which Tyler added with a knowing shake of the head, "Yeah, most of us don't."