more on the golden shower

yesterday nancy foo and billy chen and i went to a mexican restaurant for burritos and a pitcher of margaritas. it was delicious. on the drive:
nancy (to billychen): this is where you dropped us off for the golden shower.
me: the redbull boxcar race?
nancy: yes
billychen: it seemed as if golden shower was quite popular.
nancy: really?
billychen: yes. they won.

on asians in canada

basically half of vancouver is asian. everywhere is chinatown. three-fourths of the house i'm in right now are asian. i guess i imagined canada to be full of sturdy white people that don't shave.
the elderfoo residence: i'm becoming quickly aware of some key differences in parenting styles between my people and nancy foo's people. i, for instance, grew up with the ability to say no to my parents. i also talked back, fought back, and let my opinions be known. which isn't to say i didn't get smacked for these things, but none of that was considered completely unacceptable, i guess.
nancy foo, on the other hand, is my parents' dream child: the girl never talks back, never says no, never expresses how she feels about things her parents have said or done. also, she offers to do things for them all the time. when jessie was here, she noticed this difference and said 'when i was little, i would get annoyed if my mom asked me to get her a glass of ice water.' i grew up much the same way. also, it is totally accepted and appropriate for me to say something like 'dad, i'm doing you a favor, stop complaining.' or 'you're such a crotchety old man. stop complaining. this is the way it's going to happen.' or something like that... in the elderfoo residence, this would never happen. and it's not like there's something that would happen if it did. it is, i imagine, totally unprecedented. and it just wouldn't happen. so like last night when nancy was making dinner, her dad came in to complain that he was hungry and it wasn't ready. i think more than once he did that. and so she was extra pissed on the inside. but of course didn't even think of saying anything. and i just imagined if that happened at my parents' house. i probably would say something like 'do you want to make your own god damn food?'
so anyway, nance is the best kid ever, it seems to me.

oh! i think i might be replacing nance as the second favorite kid in her family. her brother is the favorite, for sure. so we make dinner most nights for ourselves and her parents. and when i first got here, nancyfoo made most of the meals. and every night her parents, especially her dad (ckfoo) would always tell her how she could have made it better. and every night they ask where the meat is. then jessie and i started making food, and her parents say stuff like 'oh this is better.' since jessie left, every dinner, without fail, her parents always like the part of dinner that i made better. yessss.
also, the elderfoos have a strong aversion to leftovers. like it's a serious deal if there are leftovers in the fridge. and forget that i'm saving it to eat it for lunch the next day. ckfoo will take it, even if he doesn't really like it, because it is some terrible terrible offense to have leftovers in the fridge. i don't get it.

also, billychen is the cutest. she always says things are 'very cute' or 'very nice' or 'not nice'. this is the extent of her adjective use, more or less. like we can't have leftover quesadillas because they're not nice. or the singing toothbrushes she's sending to her sister in malaysia are very cute. or the eggtart (the one the lady took in the elevator) is very nice. the woman loves a good deal. she got this glass napkin holder and made nancyfoo and i both guess how much it cost. nance guessed $12, i guessed $16. it was seventy cents. for real. and then she left the price tag on it when she put it on the kitchen table. i guess so she could relive her moment of a great deal. then the other day nance and i got puzzles from a thrift store. they were brand new! which i love, because all the pieces are there. billychen found them on the table and was soooo excited that we got brand new puzzles for $1. then we talked about thrift stores, which she loves. and i was like 'yeah, i need to get some pants for farm working' and she said 'oh no we don't get clothes there. because they're used. not nice.' dang. i'm a dirty dirty girl.
also, yesterday we made homemade pizza. of course, the elderfoos prefered the pizza i decorated. and it was delicious, that's true. but i woke up sometime in the middle of the night and realized i had been feeling nauseous and half asleep for maybe about an hour. so then i went and somewhat violently puked several times, then took a shower, at maybe 3 am, but i didn't want to go back to bed covered in the backsplash. so that was awesome.

i think i'm going to start writing about more hilarious interactions with the elderfoos. because it's not ok to say no to them, we end up with things we don't really want or need. like 5 melons from our trip to the market. a long scenic drive (ckfoo's driving makes me extra car sick) to who knows where, only to stop for a few minutes to look around, then ckfoo gets ansty and we drive forever to the next destination. the puzzle we're doing might just get framed. i got three nasto pomelos because i wasn't allowed to buy them at the first store, which had delicious but slightly more expensive pomelos. the produce i had picked out just disappeared from the cart, and probably in chinese the elderfoos discussed that i should buy this from the asian grocery store.
the asian grocery store: there are always approx 3 people per square foot, and i'm the only white person, and therefore the biggest, and i get run over by several small asians pushing big shopping carts. but billy chen tells me to get whatever very nice produce is on super sale. and i run out of there feeling like i got punched in the face. emotionally, of course.

a farm!

we found a farm! around mendoza, argentina. my new good buddy laura emailed me back this morning and would love to have us. we'll be sleeping in a tent and doing some farm work. not sure what yet, really. but i'm excited. she wants us there in the beginning of october.
so the slight terror is setting in. because in two weeks, i have to speak spanish. any communication that happens between the family we'll be living with and the both of us is totally dependent on my ability to speak spanish. oh my...

a plan

so we have a basic plan now! we're flying (one way) to argentina in mid-october. we've joined wwoof italy because for joining italy we got the whole wwoof independents list for free. (wwoof independents is a list of several countries that don't have their own wwoof organization, so they're grouped together). so going to argentina. there are 16 farms to choose from there. we narrowed it down to 6 that we would like to go to, then 4 that we really liked, then picked our favorite. we were looking for a family farm that speaks only spanish and can teach us how to make amazing things and basics about organic farming. we've only emailed one farm so far. today. so hopefully we hear back soon to see if they're interested in hosting us. i had to write them an email in spanish, which i'm definitely capable of doing but it takes me super-extra time because i want to make sure they can understand it, since i speak pretty medium spanish.

things we can learn at the farms we picked (and we'll probably work on more than one farm): permaculture, organic farming, we can learn to make cheese, wine, beer, soap, jam, sausage (not too interested in that...), honey, hmm probably some other things i can't remember. but amazing amazing things. that's for sure.

ok, so we'll get a one way ticket to buenos aires, which is difficult, btdubs, because nancy foo can't stop over in the US without a C-1 visa, which would take time and money to acquire. so we have to find a flight that stops in mexico city instead.

we're thinking of staying in south america for around 6 months. so i think we'll go between argentina and chile. neither of us needs a visa for those countries. and we might head north toward central america, but we'll need to fly because i'm not going through colombia on a bus. but i think it would be neat to explore costa rica and nicaragua, and i'd like to make it up to mexico actually, but we'll see how much time we have. unlimited, really, because we're getting one-way tickets.

so from wherever we end up, we're flying to europe. and we're going to italy to work on farms. this is the part that puts some time constraints on the journey. because the growing season in south america is from maybe september to april or may, and the growing season in italy probably starts in april. so unless we want to be in south america for a year and a half, we'll only be able to stay 6 months.

in italy, the plan is to learn to make wine and olive oil. and eat wonderful italian food.

i had a moment today. about food. i'm changing up my approach to food. in a huge way. well, i guess i had two moments. one was the other day. one was today. here's what happened:

probably most folks reading this know that i've had some food issues. since i was 12-ish. by food issues, i guess i mean eating disorder. i don't like to call it that. it seems too harsh or something. so i've been vegetarian for 7 years, vegan for 6, and raw-vegan for a bit more than one. each of those changes was due to personal beliefs, not to be skinnier. although i have to admit i considered it as a possible benefit each time.
i've been trying to not have food issues for about 6 years. starting the raw-vegan thing helped a lot with symptoms of disordered eating. but i realized recently that it's not fixing the problem. so i'm starting from scratch. removing the restrictions on my eating. developing a healthy relationship with food from the place where the unhealthy relationship started. i never thought this would happen, but i'm not eating raw, vegan, or even vegetarian.

i guess i still have some restrictions, but i consider them healthy: only organic meat from happy animals that were killed in a way i'm ok with. i'd prefer to kill them myself, really. if i'm going to eat them. only organic dairy from happy animals. and if i'm going to eat meat or dairy, i want it to be locally-sourced. i'm thinking this will be really easy on a farm. oh also no nasto-microwave-heated food.

the moment that happened today was when i realized i don't chew my food really. it was more of a discovery, actually. i mean, i do chew, a little. enough to swallow without choking. but probably i eat way more than i need to because my body can't absorb anything from unchewed food. also, i eat really really fast. and end up really full.

so basically, food is changing for me. and i really do think eating raw and mostly vegan is a healthier way to eat. but what's good about that if my whole approach to food is totally jacked-up?

so i'm starting over.

finish your food

billy chen (to nancyfoo): chinese say that if you don't finish the food on your plate, you get pimples.

(then to jessie and i): that's why nancy has so many pimples on her face.

the bike shop

when we went to the raw food places the other day, this happened:

on the way back, nancyfoo was driving, her mom was sitting shotgun, and jessie and i were in the back seat.  up on the right is a store called 'womyn's ware'.  also on the sign it said 'vibes! lubes! dills!'.  so you get the idea.

nancy foo: i think that's a bike shop up there on the right

me: uhhh i don't think so.  look at the sign.

billy chen: it's a women's clothing store.  look: women's wares.

no one corrected her.  

also, today there was a redbull box car challenge.  jessie and foo and i watched from a different spot than the elderfoos.  there were like 50 different entries and the cars are super funny.  one was a pacman, another was a fire truck, a batmobile, a picnic table.  all kinds of things.  later we were driving home with the elderfoos and they were talking about the race.  billy chen said: the fish one.  that was cute.  and the golden shower? (there were two shower entries that raced against each other.  so they were showers on wheels.  and one had a gold curtain.  i don't think she got it.)  

i think the next few weeks are going to be really funny.

la casa

i forgot to mention this:  foo's parents' apartment is huge.  for real.  the building they are in is divided into four sections and has 26 floors.  so her parents have one section of the four.  and is on floors 25, 26, and mysteriously, 27, but there is no 27 on the elevator.  just inside the apt.  the top floor is only half the apartment, so in the livingroom/dining room, the windows are on two sides going two floors high.  oh my goodness.  this place is luxury like i may never know again.  so i'm soaking it up.

in canada

we made it to canada!  yesterday jessie and i left the santa fe house at 8 am, flew to seattle then took a shuttle to vancouver.  the shuttle took 6 hours.  no joke.  on a bus with some very excited 18 yr olds from jersey going to see some band in vancouver.  also, i learned that lying to customs officers is probably good policy.  i told him the truth, that i was not planning on returning to the US anytime soon, i'm going to south america, i don't have exit tickets out of the country.  he asked how i could prove that i wasn't just going to stay in canada.  i told him i couldn't, but i was going to south america in a few weeks.  and he asked who i was staying with, if she knew i was coming, how i know her, what job she did in baltimore.  oh my goodness.  next time i go anywhere, i'm leaving in a week and i have my exit ticket already.  no matter what.  

but we made it!  

vancouver seems amazing.  there are blackberries growing everywhere: on the side of the highway, in the parks, anywhere there are trees it seems.

nance's parents are super cute.  we went out for thai food last night and i couldn't eat anything so i think they were pretty concerned.  so even though i was super tired, we went to the grocery store and i bought a bunch of foods so they wouldn't worry.  and today billy chen (nance's mama) went with us to a couple restaurants that serve raw food.  i think she's for serious making an effort to understand the raw food.  not in a way that she's trying to eat that way, but more she's just curious.  also, she likes desserts.  and there are plenty of delicious raw desserts.  i think we may just bond over this...anyway, i'm really excited that she's seeming to be interested.  i was a bit worried because about 3 months ago she told nancyfoo that she thought i was influencing her (any by that, she meant 'i think katie made you gay').  so being really friendly and interested in the way i eat is good.  i'll take it.  

tonight foo made eggplant parmesan and we made mashed potatoes and salad.  and the elderfoos kept commenting on the food in ways that i don't think were actually critical, but if i were their kid and cooked them dinner, i would interpret as criticism.  i think nancy foo interprets it as such.  her dad really really likes meat.  and told us a lot of times why he needs meat with his meal and he couldn't eat like that everyday.  but they ate the food.  so i'll call that a success.

also, it's really really good to see nancy foo again!  it's been a month and a half.  mostly things seem the same, except in a new city so we have to learn new things to do.  

today jessie, foo and i went to granville (i think this is what it's called) island.  it's full of delicious food and a farmers' market and tons of art students.  and pigeons.  lots of galleries and art supply stores.  and an art school.  we took a tiny ferry across the water to get there.  it was probably a minute or two ride.  

also, any money that isn't US dollars feels like monopoly money to me.  turns out.  fortunately the canadian dollar is worth about the same as the US dollar.  we'll see how my spending goes in south america though...

vancouver seems pretty magical so far.

the very beginning!

so now is the start of the big adventure!  i'm in santa fe, nm right now, with jessie.  snuz and jean left today.  and on wednesday jessie and i are going to vancouver to visit with nancy foo.  who left baltimore a month and a half ago.  so i'm really really excited.  

nance and i are going to work on organic farms in south america.  not sure where exactly yet.  or when.  before oct 23, for sure.  because nance has to leave canada by then.  so i'm staying with nance and the elderfoos for that time.  

after we finish in south america, i want to go to asia.  nance has to go back to the motherland anyway to apply for a visa if she wants to go back to the us.  and i want to go to asia.  i've never been.  and i think eating the rawfoods would be way easier anywhere in asia than in south america.  lots of good fruits.  and some that taste like feet.  there's not even a word in spanish for vegan.  so i'm not counting on rawfoods being easy.  i was going to eat some cooked food there because with the program you get free room and board in exchange for working on the farm.  and so i'd have amazing food from whatever country i'm in.  but i tried some cooked food a couple weeks ago and the next morning i woke up feeling hung over.  for serious.  so we'll see what happens...

so anyway, two more days in santa fe (which is magical, really).  then vancouver!  i've also never been there.  but i feel excited.  i imagine everywhere in canada to be clean and amazing.  there's a leaf on the flag.  how could it not be clean?

much love