Random thoughts

The housing developments here all have names. Some are named after important people; others are just given names to have them (such as Les pépites ‘The flecks’). The one next to my house reminds me of my childhood: The Trinity (the name of my church choir and the source of my online handle for e-mail, Instant Messaging, and many other sites).

I had an AMAZING pizza the other day. First thing to know about pizza here: it’s all thin crust, with very little outer crust. Second thing: every pizza has a tomato sauce and comes with cheese and black olives, along with the option of chili sauce/oil. This pizza was then topped with cream, seafood (definitely shrimp, maybe some fish too), and ripe plantains. I loved it, and I have every intention of creating a similar pizza back in the States.


One thing I’m really going to miss when I go back to the States is French journalism. It’s so serious, and you come away feeling like you’re actually informed about what’s happening. I saw a debate, and the people actually debated each other, rather than shouting talking points over each other. Sensationalism occurs, and there is some People-style journalism, but journalists seem willing to engage people in power and really press them.


The pictures I promised: The first picture is the local spinach (zépina-péyi in the local creole). Note the red in the leaves—it stains the other food that you cook with it, like beets do. I prepared that with just some olive oil, salt, and some spicy cucumbers (konkonm pikan, pictured in the second photo). Spicy cucumbers are about the size of a kiwifruit, and taste like cucumbers with a lot of tiny seeds and a teeny, tiny kick of spice in the aftertaste. I had these two as a side dish with some fish and garlic mashed potatoes (with yogurt in place of sour cream).






Finally: I saw a chicken crossing a road the other day, but by the time I thought to ask it why it was doing it, it had already disappeared.