Green Eggs and Sushi

I am sure that someday when I'm pregnant I'm gonna crave sushi. I had been craving it for about two weeks, so my friends got together at my favorite restaurant in the city for some great concoctions. My favorite was a new one we hadn't seen there before (the sushi all runs past on this little conveyor belt around the area where the sushi chefs work & you just pull stuff off the line and pass it around the table). It was topped with avocado, orange and green eggs. I guess the official word is roe, but I like the idea of having tried real GREEN EGGS and sushi for my birthday.


Mary loves sushi as much as I do. Don't put it past her to take up the occasion of a picture for some sushi swiping...


Even my non-sushi-loving roommate consented to come along with us to celebrate. About a half hour after we got there (downtown = parking nightmare) we realized that we left the coffee pot on, so she graciously left the party early :(


Scot and David opted NOT to feed each other tender morsels.

How to Eat a Cupcake

We've celebrated many a birthday in our classroom this year. Usually this means that somebody's mommy comes in with an incredibly over-priced adult type birthday cake, juice, party hats and goody bags full of candy and noisemakers. In all our celebrations, we haven't had one kid-friendly cupcake on the birthday menu. So, this being an American school, I couldn't let my birthday slide by without giving my kids a chance to sample that All-American school birthday celebration classic. Thank goodness Betty Crocker has made it to Africa. She saved me a ton of time as I prepared 48 cupcakes. Now, I would have been doubly lucky if she'd brought cans of frosting with her. As it was, I found a great recipe for cream cheese frosting, but got a little carried away in my efforts. Consequently I've got about enough remaining pink frosting to frost that double decker cake that the Cat in the Hat was eating in the tub with the hot water on and the cold water too...



I gave a brief lesson on how to eat a cupcake - I didn't realize that would be part of the course when I signed up for this job. My kids are now experts - at least on sticking their fingers in the icing... I don't think anybody tried to down the paper either!

Birthday Muffins

My roommates & I have a tradition for our birthdays. We cannot get blueberries here, so our blueberry muffin mixes are saved for special occasions. Birthdays do make the list of special occasions, so I enjoyed my birthday candle in a breakfast muffin this year.

Thanks, Rae!

Hey Rae -
I found a great outfit to go with the birthday present.
OK - I'm running to catch my flight to Madrid.
Love to you!

The City of the Lamp

I went to visit my friend who lives about three hours away in the city where I shot my favorite photograph so far in my lamp photography collection. It's the only one I've gotten here. Lamposts don't get the same attention here that they do in Paris! I got to meet my friend's sister who was visiting from France, so we went to the tomb of the sultan for a visit and more pictures.



This time I found a great blend of blues - between the gates of the city and the blues of the sky, I was mesmerized.

Tea and Slippers

Forever ago my friend Joy came for a visit. Actually it was not quite 3 months ago, but it seems like an eternity has passed since then. I took her down to the habous, an area where shopkeepers sell all sorts of artisinal objects - pottery, paintings, home decorations, djallabas, carpets and (of course!) slippers. Slippers are what I bring home for my grandmother when I make my trips back. She is the person I've gotten the most exciting reactions from about my gifts. So, I told her I'd post a picture of our slipper shopkeeper serving us tea. I go often enough that he remembers my name (and the fact that I keep bringing him business), so he always offers me a delicious cup of mint tea. We didn't mind stopping to smell the mint leaves :)