toronto in february

so, as i mentioned earlier, i was about to brave the streets of toronto in february. i guess i should give a little bit of background.

i'm here in toronto for the annual meeting for the society for research on nicotine and tobacco (SRNT). it's for work, obviously, and it's pretty interesting because i have almost no knowledge about tobacco research, except for my own research. i pick up bits and pieces as we go along, but for the most part this is all very new to me. there have been some great sessions talking about global tobacco control interventions and research, and basically if you use the words "global", "international" or "cultural" in anything i will be interested.

i arrived in toronto on tuesday night and i'll be here until sunday. this place is pretty cool, though it reminds me of some dingier european cities that i've visited (valencia comes to mind, although they don't have the beautiful old buildings like valencia has). anyway, toronto is nice and i've had a little bit of time to explore the downtown area.

after my last post, i walked down queen's quay to jarvis where i checked out "vital planet", a health food store. from my internet searches, it seemed like it was the best in the area, but i hope that's not the case. it seems very unpopulated by food products (indicating a low turnaround on sales). the refrigerators were nearly empty (some were entirely empty!) and they only had one or two of every item. so, to say the least, it was underwhelming. i bought a box of New Moon Kitchen chocolate chip cookies, some Lara bars and a can of kombucha. pretty standard fair. i thought about buying some tofutti cream cheese and tofurkey slices, but i'm not sure what adam wants.

OH! adam is coming to visit! he will be here in a couple of hours. i'm going to meet him at the bus station and then we're getting dinner at commensal, the same place where i ate lunch on wednesday. it's right around the corner and they have a discount after 8:30 PM.

anyway, this afternoon, after i left Vital Planet, i headed over to the St. Lawrence Market, which is just down the street. at first i went to the top floor which was a BIG MISTAKE. it was filled with dead animal parts and reeked of fish. it reminded me of every market in spain, but especially (surprise surprise) valencia's. BUT THEN, i went DOWNSTAIRS, and it was like i died and went to hippie heaven. there were cute little organic shops everywhere, ethnic tapestries, ethnic foods, and other wonderful things. i found a tofu shop, and the lady gave me samples and they were so delicious! i bought a sweet and sour variety that you can just eat out of the bag. yum! i'm taking adam there tomorrow. they have tofu steaks and tofu turkeys and they're just so yummy! i also found a vegan cafe where we will probably have lunch tomorrow. very upscale (e.g. pricey) menu but the options look good.

blah blah blah. basically, i had a nice afternoon in the sunshine and i am looking forward to doing more exploring with adam, and showing him some of the things i've discovered. i have a poster session in the morning and then after that i'm free to wander for the rest of the day. can't wait!

(free) time

i was just about to write a long blog about my thoughts/fears/worries/excitement about having a commitment ceremony this year, but i looked out the window and saw that the sun is shining and it's probably incredibly warm outside, especially for toronto in february. so instead of blowing up on this blog, i'm going to air my thoughts in the streets of toronto. what about the conference, you say? i just sat through a talk where i heard "endoplasmic reticulum" and "alpha four beta 6 receptors" a few too many times. i'll go back when there are talks about "interventions" and "treatment" and "tobacco control" dominating the rhetoric. thanks for checking, though.

Vegan delicious-ness

I found a lovely little vegetarian cafe in Toronto near the Eaton Centre mall. This was my first meal in about 26 hours--I was living off of Luna bars and baby carrots during my train ride to Toronto and through the next morning of this conference.


I think the thought of finding a vegan friendly place to eat that is convenient and not too expensive in another city (and country!) is daunting for me. Especially if my primary purpose is not tourism. At the hotel where I'm staying, a serving of blueberries is $9, so I cant exactly depend on dining at the hotel. But at least I've had one good meal so far!

Cheers

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Location:Commensal, Toronto

Morning in Downtown Rochester

Love this morning sunshine.


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Location:East Avenue, 8:00 am

These are my work friends

Report from the Dominican Republic

Well, I'm here in the DR, having just returned from a border city near Haiti, and I can say that this is not exactly what I expected. We are spending the night in a hotel in San Juan, which is a larger city in the south, and when we first stayed here Sunday I thought that it was a little dingy. Now, having returned from Banica, it feels like a palace! We have a shower that is clean and has warm water. We have a bathroom with a toilet seat and flushing capabilities. We have air conditioning and electricity--we even have internet! Where we stayed last night, there were windows with no screens, extremely dirty floors, a disgusting bathroom with a huge spider, tons of noise all around and electricity only from 1am to 3am. A bat was stuck in my room last night so I had to sleep on the couch in the living room. It was incredibly hot and humid but I was so nervous about the mosquitos that I slept under a sheet. It was the longest night of my life. And there was a long cat fight that took place near our apartment that sounded not of this earth. So freaking bizarre. Roosters crowing at all hours, dogs barking, music blaring, etc etc etc. The woman who is leading our group, who has done plenty of field work in Costa Rica, Tibet, and even the DR said that she usually prides herself in her ability to survive any field conditions but that this experience has broken her. I honestly think we could have managed, but it's much better to be here tonight. I wouldn't have showered for 3 days and I don't have anything else to read to pass the time until I pass out...

Our work is going okay, except for the weird encounters we've had with people who are providing services. I feel a bit annoyed because there doesn't seem to be a problem with smoking in Banica. There are a few people who do, but it seems like a lot of effort to do all this work for a handful of people who still smoke. I guess I see the value in creating an entirely smoke-free community, but I don't know how sustainable that is.

My biggest question is: What do people do all day? I saw people (not just in Banica, but all over the country) sitting outside all day long, not doing a thing. Barely talking, not occupying themselves with any activity. Some people obviously work, but most seem to be lounging around all day. It's just a strange sight.

The whole vegan thing has been interesting. The woman who cooked for us seemed to understand what I could not eat, and I don't think I was unknowingly fed anything not-vegan, but she was super suspicious of me. She kept saying she didn't know what I eat if I don't eat meat, eggs, cheese, milk, etc. I explained to my teammates that where I live there is "cheese", "milk" and "meat" that I can eat that don't come from animals, and one of my teammates said that he knows a woman who is vegetarian and she makes something that tastes exactly like meat, and is very tasty. It was nice to hear that, and I was very happy to find chocolate Silk and soya chunks at the regular supermarket. I'm not quite sure how things will go in the other community, but I still have plenty of Luna bars and Vega shake mix if I need them. At this point, I could probably use some green pea powder... :)

Thankfully I have not gotten sick and I have been able to survive the heat, seemingly better than other teammates. I sweat all day long but it doesn't quite bother me. I think it's because of my time in the backcountry. And maybe all the Power yoga that I've done. I'm used to being sweaty, I suppose!

That's all for now. We'll see how the rest of the week goes. I miss my Adam and I already have work emergencies not related to the project that I need to take care of. What a challenge this kind of international project is. Don't tell anyone, but I've already considered quitting! But not seriously, of course. But I'm not that excited to do this kind of field work again. At least on such a tight budget.

I should just mention that I really love my teammates. They are so supportive and have so much knowledge and how-to about this country. I don't know what we would do without them. Yamel is hilarious. Jairo is very kind and friendly, and Arisleyda is great in a crisis. She's also friendly and compassionate. I love her.

Okay, now I'm really done. Time to shower. Love to all!

Burrito Salad

Last night, Adam and I had a very late dinner that I'm calling the Burrito Salad. We had lots of greens, so we started with those on a big plate. I reheated some white rice leftover from takeout, and mixed in chopped cilantro and lime juice. I also reheated some refried black beans. We chopped up some cherry tomatoes for garnish, and piled everything on top of the lettuce, with salsa and sliced avocado on top. It was delicious, and, as Adam said, if you ate that meal every day of your life (maybe mixing in some kale) you would live to be 5 billion years old. The truth is, all of this is incredibly good for you, and the only fat is in the avocado and beans. I might try some brown rice and still eat blueberries from time to time, but this is a good recipe to guide you through a long, healthy life. And one that won't make you feel guilty for eating dinner at 10:00 PM.

Sesame Cashew Noodles

I'm trying out this recipe for a picnic potluck this afternoon. I may toss in some fried tofu. I used Sriracha sauce instead of chili flakes.

23 things I love about my birthday

1. Sharing it with my wombmate
2. 7/23 is a beautiful number, isn't it? :)
3. Chicory
4. Queen Anne's Lace
5. Blueberries
6. Peaches
7. Plums
8. Eggplant (Emily Eggplant!)
9. Summer storms
10. Cool lake breezes in the morning
11. Full farmers markets
12. Fireflies
13. Summer concerts
14. Freckles
15. Heat lightning
16. Patio dinners
17. Sunflowers
18. Vacations
19. Iced tea
20. Vegging out in cool places
21. Sundresses
22. Homemade pies
23. Beach weather on the Great Lakes (a rare sight!)

BIRTHDAY!

Well, all I can say is that life continues to get better the older I get. At 25, I am blessed to be as active and energetic as I've ever been, and significantly wiser about the world. Mostly, I'm happier. For a long time I thought it was better to be brooding and unhappy but thankfully I've grown out of that phase. Having a cheerful, fun-loving and compassionate partner makes being happy a breeze.

So, I had a wonderful birthday spent with family. My mom is in town and Betsy, Charlie, Adam, Mom, Chuck and Ryan and I had dinner at a new pizzeria. They graciously let Adam and me bring our own vegan cheese to the restaurant to put on our pizza. It was a little dry and could have used more flavor, but I'll definitely try it again. The day was full of downpours and thunder, but it cleared up in the evening and we had a lovely dinner out on the patio between Boulder and the pizzeria. Complete with a pretty sky.

We came back to our house for cupcakes and presents. I made coconut cupcakes with chocolate coconut frosting....yum! The presents were very nice and it was so good to spend time with my family. Adam got us a cooler to transport all of our vegan treats (vegenaise, margarine, tofu, soy milk, etc.) when we travel, and he made me the best gift ever! We're biking to his family's vacation cottage on Keuka Lake next weekend, and he designed and printed beautiful vouchers for an overnight in Geneva and a shopping spree at Geneva's health food store. We're going to bike to Geneva after work on Friday, spend the night at a hotel, and then go shopping for our food needs before biking another hour to Keuka. How fabulous! He also got me a lovely brown frock which I really love. Perfect for work, and especially for biking to work! Awesome!

So here's to another year older, another year to continue growing, to keep on adventuring, and keep on loving.