Spring, Food, Flowers, Plans!

I just love spring time! There are flowers everywhere and its finally warm enough that I dont have to wear thermals anymore!! I have arms, legs and a chest again! They dont have to be coved by five layers of clothing to keep warm! I am going to spend as much time in shorts and a tanktop as possible because I cant do it in Turkey, or India for that matter!

I wake to birds singing in the morning (lets be real here, afternoon) and the sun shining in through the windows! It all makes me so happy! I just miss all the dogwood trees in Portland. They should be blooming about now. There dont seem to be any here which is a bummer because they are my favorite!



Its been nice enough here that Char and I have been up on the guys roof making travel plans and talking about life. There is a nice view of the city too! I could stay up there for hours.








Other than that, I have been spending my days cooking and getting fat. I made Meloui, the Moroccan pancakes, and friend aubergene the other night and ate until I thought I would puke. I altered the Meloui a bit and cooked it with the filling already inside and it was amazing! I hope to try it again before I leave. And once I am settled somewhere again, Ill try it with real yeast from sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast!! Oh yes, not traditional but so good!




I am finding that I love to cook which is quite amusing after years of fearing the stove. Turns out Im pretty good at it too! I still think everyone is lying to me about it but I am coming around to the idea, slowly. I want to keep posting on the other blog with recipes I have found or have come up with but its a lot of work and I can barely keep up with this. Maybe when I settle somewhere....

I drink too much tea, stare at maps and read travel books all day long. I havent even been into the city once since I got here.... I really should go! Im feeling much more relaxed and rested and ready to get on with my trip!







I leave for Belgium on Saturday! I am very excited about meeting some girls there and then its off to Berlin! Im not quite sure how long Im staying in either place just yet.

So overall, things are looking up! I am feeling much less depressed and more excited about life in general! I still miss everyone like hell but its getting easier to deal with. The massive doses of chocolate in my diet are probably helping a lot too. Actually its probably the hords of aphrodisiacs (sp?) in my diet as a whole: chocolate, strawberries, ginger, the Moroccan spice mix I put on everything! Its like drugs but not.

As it turns out Charlotte and I have quite a bit in common as far as our family history is concerned. It may sound wrong but I was pleased to find out that she has also experienced the death of a parent. There is something comforting about friends who have experienced this. Its like they know something about me or share something that most other people can not relate to in any way. The best part is that they are usually the only people who know how to react to hearing it. They never apologize.