Musings

Tuesday, September 2. Here's a great quote:
A small garden, figs, a little cheese and along with this, three or four good friends - such was luxury to Epicurus. F. Nietzsche
Sounds pretty good to me too. I will look forward to that when I return to the United States.

I have been following the Democratic and Republican Conventions by looking at the NY Times occasionally. Read every word of Hilary's speech. Thought it was fabulous. I'm very glad I voted for her in the primary in Connecticut - at least once in my life I've had the chance to cast my vote for a woman for President. I like Obama too and think he probably has a better chance against McCain. And what about McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin? Can't abide her. She doesn't think global warming is man-made? Oh really. She would make me run kicking and screaming from McCain even if nothing else did.

I cannot believe that another big storm is heading toward New Orleans. At least it sounds as though most everyone has been evacuated. (Just looked at today's NY Times and it appears as though Hurricane Gustav didn't pack the punch people thought it might.)

No classes today. So back to Carrefour to get the "shoplifting deterrent device" removed from my pillowcase. I have no idea how I got out of the store with that in the box. I hope that is my last trip to Carrefour for a long time. It's on the other side of the river and a pain to get to. Can't ride my bike!

This afternoon, I am working in the study, and I hear the most ethereal music coming from somewhere. It almost sounds like it could be a boys' choir. I open my door to investigate and can hear the music more clearly. It sounds as though it is coming from above me, so I creep quietly up the stairwell. There is a man, a custodian I guess, mopping the floor above and singing. What an amazing voice and sound. Of course, the stairwell is all concrete or tile so it has great acoustics but this man has a lovely voice - hard to tell if it was male or female voice.

Here's what I'm eating in general:
Breakfast: A 280 gram container of strawberry or peach yogurt with uncooked oatmeal mixed in along with a banana. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as non-fat or even low-fat anything here. Sometimes a piece of bread.
Lunch: At the school cafeteria. A generous serving of rice, two vegetables and sometimes tofu. Today, I had eggplant and green beans. Of course, everything is swimming, drowning even, in oil - and very spicy. Welcome to Hunan cuisine. They don't know from steaming here. (Also, we have to go to lunch at 11:30, when it begins, in order to have a reasonable choice of food items. Otherwise the good stuff is gone!)
Dinner: One or more of the following: Stir-fried veggies (right now I have eggplant, tomatos and garlic), apple compote, a giant peach (without James), bread and cheese, scrambled eggs, peanut butter and bread.

I think I will be able to find enough ingredients to make chicken/vegetable soup in the winter. I saw boneless chicken breasts in the market last Sunday, and I have already bought granulated chicken bouillion. That plus carrots, frozen corn and peas, some noodles, garlic and onions should be great.

The good news: There have been no mosquitos in my apartment. That's part of the reason for keeping the windows and doors closed and the a/c running - that and air quality. I really haven't been bothered by them outside either. Of course, I'm using no lotion on my skin except at night. Also, I turned my a/c off last evening and left it off all night. Maybe the weather is actually getting a little cooler. Soon, I'm sure, I will be writing about how cold it is!

The bad news: Today, I'm washing my face in the bathroom sink and suddenly water starts pouring all over my feet! I look down, and the plastic (I kid you not) hose that connects the drain pipe under the sink to the drain in the floor has come off. So I stick it back on and run the water VERY carefully. Later, I use some heavy duty tape to try to keep it together. This is what passes for plumbing here! Also, my toilet is stopped up. Despite my heroic efforts with the plunger (it's the wimpiest plunger you've ever seen), I just can't get it to flush properly. And I still have no hot water in the shower. And water is still pouring down David and Tiffany's walls from the apartment above. All of our problems have to do with water!