Finding joy in the hard days.

Yesterday was one of those difficult long days that seems not to end and when nothing seems to get better. We went to the doctor, where I had to fight with nurses to finally be listened to by a gynaecologist who understands (even if the damage can't be undone, as I don't have Hermione's time turner). The end result is more seemingly fruitless waiting. Then I came home, poured myself a big cup of tea (more like made a teapot of Moroccan mint with honey infusion) and read Fiona's post on finding the joy in the middle of the winter. As always, her wisdom struck me:

<<There’s a proverb that says, “All the days of the afflicted are bad, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast”. To me this says, yes there will be dark days and difficult days. But your outlook, your perspective on them can make an amazing difference. Do I stay glum and complaining and pity myself, or do I choose to recognise every gift in my life, however small.>>

So I made some more tea. I finished one of the books I was reading (at this moment I am reading several books in parallel), I made potatoes with butter, cheese, salt, pepper and some mayonnaise, I watched Raising Helen and Girls  with the husband even if Hannah/Lena Dunham never fails to annoy me, we cuddled in the couch, we analysed and studied and thought and concluded that in the grand scheme of things we are still in the path to our pregnancy and baby, and we had some Stracciatella ice-cream together.

Bad days and anxiety-ridden times happen to the best of us, I know that. And our reactions really are in our hands. And sometimes you really need to have a good cry (or two) in the same day. And then you realize you are supported by many people, some of who you have only met cybernetically, so to speak (Thanks!). Anyhow, I hope you are all having a good week. Let's hope for happy times together, or better, make those times happen.

* First image credit.

Family recipes, stamppot and fertility

In case you missed it, last Friday a lovely and deeply meaningful story, called "The miracle of the Latkes", by Julia from "Writings in the raw", led to a discussion on family recipes, grandmas, traditions and how something apparently simple, like food, can become a transcendent part of your inner family culture. A comment in the thread (by Granola) summarized it best:

"The times when I have prepared the recipes of my mother and grandmother and great grandmother and great aunts are some of the most mundane and meaningful of my life. It’s as if a very fine and strong thread is connecting us, through moving and illness and death and new things; there’s a power in it that I think is the closest thing in this world to real magic."

Or like Laura Esquivel, author of "Como agua para chocolate" (Like water for chocolate), put it in this interview* for the BBC:

"... (la cocina) es un gran laboratorio de alquimia. Es un lugar sagrado donde uno no sólo está en contacto con los cuatro elementos que conforman el mundo, jugando con ellos, sino que entra en comunión con el verdadero origen y con algo más allá....El acto de cocinar es un acto de amor. Todo aquello que hace que dos cosas se conviertan en una es un acto amoroso."

And so I would like to take this opportunity to lead you readers to "Project recipe swap", organized by Laura, from The Mrs. Makes, "as a little nod to all those women in our lives who have lovingly taught us their heirloom recipes, let us lick the cake spoon and learnt their favourites by heart." Anyone in the world can participate, you just have to email her / comment on this post, she will then send you a questionnaire, pair you up with someone, to whom you will send a recipe. You will of course receive a recipe as well and after you make it you can report it back to her so as to put a giant recipe file. It sounds like fun! Snail mail! Cooking! Sharing!

On the same line, this got me thinking, the first time I made stamppot, the Dutch's national dish, the boy took a pic, put it on instagram with a little comment: "My Mexican wife is finally making Dutch food (stampot met worst) now." And the other day I read that according to some, stamppot might increase fertility. 

 So for those curious, it is actually very easy to make this dish. You just boil some potatoes and peel them. In the meantime you should cook a traditional sausage (worst) according to the instructions (normally you just submerge it for 15 min in boiling water). Once your potatoes are ready you mash them with a little bit of water, milk and butter and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg (and maybe some chilli powder) while on a low fire. You should then add your vegetables (normally shredded curly kale, but really, anything can do), and mix until it reaches the consistency and taste you desire.

 You proceed to eat it with the sausage (and a little parmesan cheese if you're like me). Funny story: when we were in the UK we were invited to a very typical British restaurant. And what does the boy order? A dish called "kale mash" which was essentially stamppot (except of course it was drowned in gravy). 

*BBC Mundo.com. La literatura es un acto de amor. Entrevista a Laura Esquivel.  22 de Julio 2005.

Only in Holland....

 are children (and adults) obsessed with Liquorice, or Drop, as they call it. Apparently they eat more than 4 pounds (roughly 1.81 kg) of the black stuff per year/per person, which according to another source*, accounts for 30 million kg/year of total consumption of liquorice in The Netherlands.

 And so, the greatest gummi bear producer of the world, instead of selling the colorful bears that we all love and that you can find pretty much everywhere else, have their own particular kind "Zwarte beren". I got these from a kids' party the other day and the little ones were fighting for them. I stole a bag for journalistic purposes (that is, this blog post) and my dear Dutch husband was rushing me to take the photos fast so that he could proceed to eat them.

 Whereas in other countries the taste of Drop is associated with medicines and illness the Dutch are truly passionate about it. It does not really surprise me, given the weather, as "the two main ingredients of these sweets: liquorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) and Arabic gum, have been used far and wide throughout history to soothe coughs and sore throats". Dutch expats often have a hard time without their black opium and beg their friends and family to mail them some in order to alleviate their homesickness. Have you tried it? Do you like it? Should I send you some? I know that to be truly integrated I am going to have to start liking this stuff, but I'm not there yet.

*Dutch delight. Sylvia Pessireron, Jurjen Drenth.  N&L Publishing. Weesp. 2009.

The secret road to happiness

The other day as I was leafing through a glossy magazine, I stumbled upon this article and I thought it was totally worth sharing. 99% of 7-11 years old say they were happy, when asked. Not only that, the little kids revealed their secret keys to happiness:

-Help other people
-Play to your strenghts
-Don't forget old friends
-Try to see the positive
-Don't be to hard on yourself
-Be patient
-Make time for your family
-It's ok to be selfish sometimes.

What do you think? They totally figured out life didn't they?

My favorite was the "Not just sweets, but not just horrid (!!) food like mushrooms and carrots either"...

British fashion and Lolita's in Japan at the V&A museum.

When we were in London last month, we took the opportunity to visit Kitty & the Bulldog, an exposition at The Victoria & Albert's museum on the influence of British fashion icons such as Vivienne Westwood and movements such as punk and goth as well as the Alice in Wonderland aesthetics and the Victorian era on the development of Japan's Lolita style. In any case, for all the kitschiness of the style, I love that these girls are in fact "rebelling against the conventions of contemporary society".

The boy has been wanting to go to Japan since forever (he is a big anime watcher) and we find the Lolita's along with Cosplay kind of fascinating. We joke that when we go there we will totally play along and get some disguises. I dream of dressing as Orihime Inoue, yes, it's the long, flowy, orange hair that got me. If you are in London, you can see this exposition until February 24, but in any case here is a peek.

By the way, thanks to Jacqueline from The Hourglass Files, for bringing this exposition to my attention. You should totally check out her blog, it is a mix of fashion history,  current tendencies, great deconstructions of what certain garments meant with regards to their time (my favorite might be this piece on feminine lingerie dresses from the beginning of the century)  as well as an approach to her personal style.

If you do go to the Victoria & Albert's museum, don't miss the photography exhibit "Light  from the Middle East" of which the lovely Cara from Peonies and Polaroids wrote about here.  My favorite part was Issa Touma's series: 'Sufis: The day of al-Ziyara', which documents "...an annual procession of Sufi pilgrims in northern Syria. Touma photographed the event over the course of ten years, gradually gaining the trust of his subjects. His images convey his sense of immersion in the festival and capture the fervour of the worshippers."

The Victoria and Albert Museum. Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL (Tube station: South Kensington). First and last images via the V&A's homepage.

Friendship, random things about me and an award.

 

The lovely Louise Elisabeth from Liquorice and Pumps nominated me for a little blog award. This is a fun initiative (a mix between a slam book and a chain letter) to promote small blogs. I see it as a chance to share the random (which I love) and to start a conversation. I also love to know the person behind the blog, so I am playing along.

As a nominee you are supposed to  mention the blogger who nominated you, tell 11 little things about yourself, answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you, pass it on to 11 bloggers and ask them, in turn 11 questions. So, on to business , let's see, 11 random things about myself: 

-I have a brother and a sister, of which I am the oldest.
-I wanted to be so many things that deciding to pursue only one of those after high school was hard. Some of these things were: doctor, researcher on AIDS, Marine Biologist / Marine mammal trainer, Journalist, Café-bakery owner.
-I started a thesis on the egg-laying habits of the Axolotls, but never really finished. Veterinary medicine was pulling me hard. 
-At some point in my life I used to only wear pink.
-Then I used to only wear stripes. Colorful ones at that.
-Then I had a kind of Emo phase (before emos were even part of the urban subculture), so I guess it was more of a punk-not-quite-goth kind of phase where I would wear black and red t-shirts with slogans like: "I am so happy I could die" or "Here comes trouble" (with a drawing of a cute Japanese-like girl running around with a knife). 

-I was supposed to volunteer as a Human Rights observer in Chiapas, at a Zapatist community, but my parents did not allow it. 
-My best friend lives in Bolivia. 
-My second name is Leila, because my father has a special love for Middle-Eastern cultures. 
-I have yet another name, that means star in a different language.
-We really want to get a cat. A blue one, preferably.

Now, here are the 11 things Louise Elisabeth asked:

1.-What is your favorite color? 
Mmmm, this is a hard one. I think mint-aqua green. But red comes close behind.

2.-If you would get 1000 euro's what would you do with it?
I would probably enroll myself to a photography course. Or a baking class at Cakes Haute Couture. Or get a stack of books and baking supplies. Or buy an airplane ticket and just go.

3.-What makes your blog  a must read?
Hmmm, I wouldn't say my blog is a must-read, most of all I am honored / humbled that there are people actually reading my ramblings and (maybe) enjoying them.

4.-How many shoes do you own?
I had to go and count. That would be 18: 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of short booties, 1 pair of running sneakers, 2 pairs of black heels (high and low), 1 pair of very high nude heels, 1 pair of brown mary-janes (which I just realized have completely perforated soles), 1 pair of lilac heels, 1 pair of heels with a flower print, 4 pairs of ballerinas (fucsia, red, gray, pink), 2 pairs of sandals (both coral pink), 1 pair of white heels, 1 pair of vans-like shoes with a colorful print, 1 pair of crystal blue plastic flip-flops.

My new shoes arrived. Aren't they the cutest?

5.-If you had one wish, what would you wish for?
To have a biological baby. I wanted to say to get pregnant, have a healthy pregnancy, and a baby. But that sounded like 3 wishes. You get the idea.

6.-Where do you want to be in 5 years from now?
Physically? No idea... Mexico,the UK or Switzerland would all be nice. Holland as well. Mostly in 5 years I would like to have children and be in a good place (professionally), that is have a job that fulfills me, makes a difference in society and sustains us.

7.-What is your best health tip?
My mom used to say "somos lo que comemos" (We are what we eat), so I would say, read your labels, be very conscious of your eating habits, nurture your body (which includes being in a positive state of mind), and your body will be healthy too.

8.-If you could name any place, where would you go right now?
On a trip? I think that would be SouthEast Asia: Vietnam, Camodia, Thailand, Singapore... and Japan! Talk about needing to win the lottery.

9.-Addition to question 8 who would you take with you?
The boy of course. It would also be fun to travel with my brother, sister and their significant others.

10.-What is your best fashion tip for upcoming season?
Umm, I am clearly totally clueless here. I would say be yourself. Stay authentic and true to who you are. But apparently pastels are gonna be a big hit (yeah).

11.-Are you an organ donor (this is very important to me, might be weird but hey you don't read my blog for its well normalness)
Currently, no, I am not. I feel very ambivalent on this, because coming from a medical profession I kind of know the kind of playing with bodies that takes place among students (that sounds awful) and the kind of crazy science that can happen if in the wrong hands. I have talked about this with the boy and I am ok with donating my organs if they would go to another person, save someone's life, but I am not so sure about giving my body to "Science". Difficult subject. 

Finally I would like to nominate the following blogs, some of which I recently found, some of which I've been reading for quite a (long) while, but all of which I find inspiring: 
  
Off to bright places 
Mockingjay... because we all need a little hope.
Pieces of Anna
Made in Morningside 
A little bite of everything 
Sara Bittner
The Smitten immigrant
De este lado de mi mundo 
The moon on a stick
Un nuevo nacimiento  
Zarawitta. Viaje al centro de la beca. 
Invincible Spring 

The questions I would like to ask are: 

1. Which is your favorite book?, 2. What is your favorite place in the World?, 3. What makes you happy?, 4. If you could go anywhere in the World, where would that be?, 5. Do you have a job / are you happy with it?, 6.  What is your favorite food?, 7. Can you maybe share a recipe? (or link to a favorite one?), 8. What is your favorite song / band ever?, 9. And your favorite cartoon as a child?, 10. What about your favorite movie? and 11. What is your most vivid childhood memory? 

* First image found on pinterest. Because like Kirsty said, blogging should be a conversation. A chat among friends. Second image from here.