Great News

The investigator I have been teaching with the sister missionaries (and whose kids I've been corralling at church for the past month or so) is getting baptized!

She is getting baptized a week after I get home, on June 27, and I couldn't be happier for her.

She is from the Ivory Coast, and she is incredible. I can't even tell you what a difference I have seen in her over the last couple of months. I love that the Gospel has such a big impact on people that you can literally see the change in their faces.

I will be so sad to leave them behind. Her daughters (3 and 1) are the sweetest little girls, and the 3 year old has taken a particular liking to me. She loves to say "Amen!" at the end of prayers, talks, and testimonies during Sacrament Meeting. So cute.

P.S., this investigator is also an amazing cook. When I asked her if she uses recipes, she and another African lady who was at our last teaching appointment-turned-awesome African dinner burst out laughing. The other lady, who is in my ward, said, "Sarah, most of the people where we come from can't even read. How would they know what to do with a recipe? Cooking is just something you learn from doing it all the time."
P.P.S. Our delicious african meal included eating amazing chicken in a spicy--as in, lots of different spices, almost like a curry--sauce; fish; a carrot, tomato, and onion salad; and fried bananas with our hands! Forks are for the faint of heart... but the food was all incredible.

Quinoa

Denise asked what quinoa is, and to be honest I wouldn't know, either, unless someone had made it as part of our community dinner a few years ago in the Foreign Language Student Residence at BYU.

Here is a brief excerpt from the Wikipedia page about quinoa. There's information about it's use and cultivation, etc. which is interesting as well, but I thought I would just include the information about the nutritional aspect of quinoa, which is really what interests me.

-------------------------------------------------

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthful choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[3] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.[3]

-------------------------------------------------

The orange text is what I think is so great, in addition to the fact that quinoa tastes great and seems very versatile. (I haven't ever cooked it myself, I've only enjoyed it in pre-cooked meals or meals made by others, but I've liked it every time.)

I had a great quinoa and coral lentil salad last week that I bought at Monop' across from the Centre Pompidou (along with an awesome bulgur wheat salad), and then Black*Eiffel posted about it, which lead to me getting the recipe I mentioned from one of the people who commented.

Do you guys ever use quinoa? Have any recipes you especially like?

The one I'm going to make for my family reunion is here.

What is Your Favorite

vegetarian or vegan recipe?

Mine is currently tabouleh. Can't get enough of it. Good thing there are a bazillion Lebanese places in Paris.

But I have to admit, I also really love fresh (not fried) veggie spring rolls for a light lunch. (I like the fried ones, too... but let's be honest. They may be vegetarian, but that doesn't make them healthy...)

And I just got the most amazing recipe for quinoa apple curry salad. Hello! Doesn't that sound good?

Any big favorites you're inclined to share?

I'm a Sucker For...

... books, earrings, and anachronistic correspondence items.

I bought a glass pen today at my favorite writing store in Paris, l'Ecritoire.

I love it. It writes beautifully with the stylographic ink I bought. I'm going to have to go back and buy some calligraphy ink, though, because it's a bit thicker and more opaque.

I even bought invisible ink and wrote letters to Taylor and Easton that I'll be mailing on Monday. Shhhh... Don't tell.

I also love wax seals. I think they're so cool, and I need to use the ones I have more often. Who doesn't like getting a letter sealed with a cool wax design? (Seriously, who? If you don't, let me know... 'cause I'll try to never send you one.) I know I love it.

Proof of the book problem? I sent an entire suitcase full of books home with my parents, and I'll be bringing another full suitcase of books home myself. It's kind of sad, really. Though since one day I plan to have a library in my home, I guess I have to build up a book collection somehow, and accumulating books over the years seems to make more sense than buying hundreds of books once the library is built. (The problem is where to put them in the meantime, right Jessica?)

I've started packing. One suitcase is all ready to go, my books are in piles with Post-Its indicating the pile's weight in kilos on top, and everything I won't be using in the next two weeks has been piled into my recently purchased enormo-gem of a suitcase.

We'll see how much I end up shipping...

Chilly

Today it's a bit chilly in Paris. Right now it's 52, with a likely high of 62 today. I just looked over the 10-day forecast, and it looks like we won't (fingers crossed) break 80 over the next week and a half.

Hooray! I won't melt, after all.

But today I'm bringing out a scarf, just in case.

Vienna

Vienna is a beautiful and very clean city. Overall, it wasn't my favorite city. I think mostly that stems from the fact that we spent a lot of time trying to find the tram that circles the city (as described in our Rick Steve's guidebook). Unfortunately, even though the guidebook was just published in 2008, as of January 1st 2009 that tram route no longer exists. When we finally stopped at a tram station and looked confused enough (and 'discussed' it loud enough), someone who spoke English told us the tram route doesn't exist anymore.


So. Should you go to Vienna, don't plan on using the tram to get an 'overall feel' of the city, unless you're planning to get on, hop off, change trams, go back, etc. If there's one of those sightseeing buses, I would suggest doing that instead if you want to get a feel for where everything is and snap some exterior pictures, etc.

That slightly annoying part aside, Vienna is really pretty, and if we had more time there, I think I would have liked it better. I feel like we just didn't have time to see everything. I don't even know how long we were there, but it didn't feel like long at all.

The Hofburg, ever-added-onto Imperial Palace of the Hapsburg family.

A church that I don't know the name of.

I loved the way the sunlight sent the colors of the windows pouring onto the floors, arches, columns, and benches of the church.

The Karlskirche

In the Kunsthistorisches Museum

This was built as a museum, which to me says a lot about the wealth of the Hapsburgs. The Louvre is beautiful, but it was built as a palace, and later became a museum. To put this much effort and detail into a building whose sole purpose is to house an art collection shows how much they appreciated their collection. (Or shows how much they wanted to one-up everyone... Maybe? Don't really know. Either way, it's really pretty.)

You may or may not remember this guy. What talent, and what patience. I like his version better because it's brighter. To be fair, the original was probably brighter when it was first painted, so a nice restoration would probably help the colors look less muddy.

Some park in the city that has a statue of Mozart.

The Opera (Staatsoper)

I loved the view from the back--no tram cables, and no ugly Children's Opera banners. (Though I do think it's cool that they have programs or shows that appeal to children to help interest them in the opera.)

The Capuchin's Church, below which you will find the Hapsburg's Imperial Crypt.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

One thing I thought was really interesting about Vienna is that many of the buildings had nets like the one below covering sides of buildings to prevent pigeons from landing on the building and... pooping all over the building. They did this in Prague, as well. Somewhat annoying for close-up pictures of some of the details, but logistically it totally makes sense.

Ames by the Danube.

Et moi, aussi.

The next morning, we got up and visited the Schonbrunn Palace. It was really beautiful, but pictures are only allowed outside on the grounds. So, here you go. :)

After Schonbrunn, we hopped in the car, fueled up, and headed for Prague!

HOME - Yann Arthus-Bertrand Film

Today is the big launch of Yann Arthus-Bertrand's film HOME, which tells "the history of the Earth" with gorgeous footage and a custom soundtrack.

Can't tell you whether I recommend it yet, but the visual aspect is bound to be gorgeous. Here's a little sneak peek.

Watch it here for free on Youtube (Mr. Arthus-Bertrand and his colleagues launched it on YouTube for free on purpose to make it more accessible, along with the theaters who will feature it. It will also be available on DVD for very little cost).

There's definitely an envorinmental message woven through the whole film--that's the purpose of the film, really. So be ready for that. It's not just pretty pictures. :)