I am feeling absurdly (and by absurdly, I mean “unusually preliminarily”) motivated for español in every aspect. I am willing at this point to actually put in effort to do what I am supposed to do to learn this language and comply with the course policies. It is whether or not this feeling sticks that matters. But I basically have to be on top of things at all times to even survive in this class. Alksjdlfkj. Worry worry worry. Estoy preocupada. Caffeine makes me preocupada.

Sexual Harassment:
It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature….Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted). The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

Cause, you know what I don’t understand? I don’t understand why people, why every fucking person is so bad to each other so fucking often. It doesn’t make sense to me. Judgment. Control. All that, the whole spectrum.”

Your hands can heal, your hands can bruise.

::Beverages::

Only got three to mention today.

1. Turkish Coffee from Med. Deli - $2.99
Not a coffee for the faint of heart, i.e., you vanilla latte or mocha frapp-with-extra-syrup-and-whipped-cream people. Turkish coffee is finely ground with cardamom seeds and boiled for fifteen minutes to create a really intensely flavored coffee. I suppose it tastes a bit like espresso, but unsweetened, dark chocolate is the flavour that struck me as the most delightful. I added a couple (2-3) tablespoons of sugar to see if I could possibly bring out the cardamom flavor a bit more, but the sugar didn’t do much for it on its own. What really brought out the flavors in the coffee was the extra-lemony water that I had, naturally, with my meal (which was lentil soup, again). I took a sip of the thick brew, let it sit in my mouth for as long as I felt that I could appreciate the flavor, and then took a sip of my lemon water, which I also held in my mouth for a good amount of time. The result was really delightful. The sour from the citrus fruit mixed with the slightly bitter coffee flavor that was left in my mouth to form an unexpected sweetness in the water, which of course was sitting throughout my mouth. Sweetness on and around my tongue, and a really refreshing, mint-like taste after swallowing the water which I assume was the cardamom. Needless to say, I repeated the process several times until both liquids were gone.

2. Lavender Lemonade from Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe - $3
Ignore the fact that it is $3…it is so worth it. The lavender is so light…and ahhh, citrus! Wonderful with my extra-spicy veggie curry lunch.

3. Doogh from Cafe Parvaneh - $2.50
Also a bit unusual for most, I’m sure, because the thick, kefir-like (if it isn’t really simply kefir) drink is saltier than it is sweet. Regardless, I love it, especially with any of the entrees. I recommend to anyone, vegetarian or not, the “Khoresh Fesenjun: A sweet and savory dish of chicken breast in a rich walnut and pomegranate sauce. A treat from the northern region of Iran.” You can get it without chicken, methinks. GOSH SO GOOD.

but somehow I always manage to lose weight over the holidays. I am thinner today than I was one week ago. YESSSSSS!

She lives with an orange tree—the girl who does yoga.
She picks the dead ones from the ground, when we come over.

I’m digging this Thanksgiving, despite my complete absence of culinary inspiration.

For the desired effect
Would you come back August or June, June
And I hate that tomorrow’s too soon
But this collision, came mid bloom

Better built to resume
I’ll see you August, see you June
I’m building higher than I can see
I want fantasy

Don’t rest with the less
I’m burning to impress
It’s deep in the middle of me
I can be fantasy

So, the fairly lengthy original “foodzingers” post was lost when my internet crapped out last night, at which point I had no motivation to rewrite it. Now I do, however, but likely with less eloquence.

Foodzingers is intended to be a culinary-themed line of posts. Ironic, I know, considering my borderline eating-disordered tendencies and whatnot. But regardless, being unable to take the rumored food appreciation class here at UNC, I am taking matters into my own fingers and deciding to write about food per my own motivations.

Today’s (and yesterday’s) theme: CULINARY FRUGALITY!

I am always looking for good food for cheap prices. I like little hole-in-the-wall joints with flair, quality, and reasonable prices

Mediterranean Deli - Chapel Hill, NC - Lentil Soup - $2.79
My dinner last night consisted of this dish, complete with a freshly, house-made pita bread. As any good vegan/vegetarian knows, lentils (and other legumes!) are wonderful sources of protein, which is often deficient in said diets. Needless to say, I was enthralled to spend less than $3 on supper last night. And Mediterranean Deli has so many wonderful foods for whatever protein preference you have, and all in all, at such a reasonable price. Oh, and the tzatziki is fantastic as well. And free.

Crêpes Veronique - Chapel Hill, NC - Daily Special Crêpe - $4-$7
Probably the best kept secret in Chapel Hill, hands-down, the best crêpes and friendliest crêpe-maker of all time. My friend Mary and I went last week after thrifting around Carrboro, and shared the special crêpe of that day: caramelized pear with house-made almond paste and chocolate, with the slightest hint of caramel drizzle—in other words, heaven in the form of a crêpe. Mary and I have both been to Paris, but neither of us had tasted such eggy-thin, caramel-fruited, sweet perfection. The pear flavor was so subtle and perfectly complimented by the sweet almond paste (we saw the jar, it looked like and had the consistency of homemade applesauce) and smoky chocolate…oh, I could go on and on about this crêpe. The other crêpes on the menu include both sweet and savory flavors of simple chocolate, caramel, and things like eggs, ham, cheese, etc.

Grand Asia Market – Cary, NC –Thai young coconuts - $1.99

I am still not over this experience one week later. Granted, it takes a drive, a hacksaw, and a steady hand to get through to the good parts of the coconut, it’s totally worth the work. You’ll end up with highly nutritious coconut water and meat (I guess that’s what it is called?). It is sort of the consistency of crème brulee, and I am sure it would be wonderful with raw cacao and dates and turned into a pudding (hint, hint: this is something that I’m going to do soon). About Grand Asia Market—it’s an experience to be had, for sure. It contains a vast array of oriental produce, the probable embodiment of Asia’s health problems, i.e. packaged goods (think: canned, ready-to-eat oatmeal), and a large selection of dried seaweed, teas, noodles (organic soba! $3!), rice, and other interesting items. I’d like to add that they have super-legit Asian Shiseido creams/lotions, and cleansers for super-cheap prices…I am a beauty product addict, unfortunately.

Vimala’s Curryblossom Café – Chapel Hill, NC (http://curryblossom.com/vimala/)
I’ve been to all of the Indian and middle-eastern restaurants in Chapel Hill (that I know of), and this one is by far the cutest, kindly-staffed, tasty and economical one at which I have eaten. I had take-out, however, and I cannot remember what all that I ate because there was an incredible amount of food given to me (frugality +5 points), but I ordered the “Chole Bhatura Plate: slow-simmered chick pea curry served with bhatura. Our bhatura is made with Lindley Mills organic flour and Mapleview yogurt, puffed into a balloon. Punjabi dhaaba classic.” I’m pretty sure that they gave me some dosa and some coconut chutney for free, however, because the Masala Dosa was what I originally wanted (apparently, it does not hold up well in take-out orders). Pretty sure the bill was around $8, definitely not any more than that.

I think this concludes my post for now. More to come.