The Anthropologist

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So Long Farewell.

I’ve decided its time to try something a little different. While I’ve loved being a backpacker, it’s not really my life anymore. I’ve uploaded all my posts to a new blog, and don’t worry – I’ll keep writing about travel. I just need something more versatile. So thanks friends for all your support, but stay tuned to the peony papers.

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Can’t it look more like the Delorian?

According to a late post from cnet.com the FAA has approved the first flying car. The regulations for a light sports aircraft weigh in at a 1,320 pound limit, but thanks to the bad-assedness of the plane’s MIT developers, the  Terrafugia Transition is a whopping 110 pounds overweight. Thanks FAA for letting passengers have airbags and other road safety features. But if I were driving one, I’d probably try to keep the road time to a minimum. Maybe now I’ll take flying classes!

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Derby Day

Today is the first Saturday in May. That means it’s serious horse racing season. Races have been going on for the past few weeks, but with the Kentucky Derby this afternoon, things are really getting going.

After thousands of years, humanity is still searching for entertainment, for sport, and for competition. The ancient Olympics, the Coliseum in Rome, and even medieval tournaments haven’t changed much. At the end of the day, there are a bunch of guys sitting on a horse going around in a circle. And it’s so exciting.

Unfortunately today, I won’t be at the races. Elon’s DC Alumni Chapter is going to Gold Cup out near Warrenton, and I never got it together to buy a ticket. And someday soon I’ll be making a guest appearance at the Derby, just once. But there will be races all summer in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and good ole Virginia, so hopefully I can show up to one and get a good use out of my nice big derby hat.

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Granada

Today, Ali and I took a bus up to Granada. It’s a beautiful city at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which still have a bit of snow up at the top. We hiked through the hilly streets, and climbed straight up to the Alhambra, the 800-year-old Moor/Spanish fortress and palace. While the tickets were sold out, it was incredible to see just how massive the place really is.

We walked along the walls, through lush trees, past fountains and water drains, and down to the Albaicín. This neighborhood is a traditionally Arab one, with more modern Jewish residents. Many of the houses here are over 400 years old. How cool would that be?

Stopping for lunch at a little cafe, we rested from the afternoon heat. Off the coast, the sun gets to you a lot quicker than you’d like. We wandered down through the streets to the city center, finding a bazaar of tourist trinkets, printed African picnic blankets, and fresh hookahs. In only a few hours, we had covered enough of the city. When I come back, it will be to get inside the Alhambra, then I’ll go finish my day at the beach in Malaga.

This past week has been interesting. It’s nice to get a taste for my friend’s lives here on the Continent. Things in Europe are definitely a lot farther apart than they seem. I never made it down to Gibralter and across to Morocco (next time), I’m lucky I didn’t have any major flight issues with this silly Icelandic volcano erupting. I’m excited to go home tomorrow. To not have to go to the airport for a while. To have my entire closet of clothes accessible. To start working a little and figure out the next step in my life. To get on skype with my amazing boyfriend who’s in China until Christmas. To save up for the next trip.

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A Toast to your Health

After 5 months of Cadbury’s Caramello bars, returning to a healthy body has become really important to me. Self recently put out a list of ‘12 Cheap and Healthy Foods:’

– Brown rice
– Raisins
– Snap peas
– Green tea
– Broccoli
– Plain yogurt
– Bananas
– Black beans
– Whole-wheat penne
– Apples
– Lentils
– Sweet potatoes

The only problem for me is my allergy to yogurt, but otherwise not eating these foods would be a matter of personal preference. I love this list for lots of reasons. Sweet potatoes are my ultimate comfort food. From now on I’ll just have to watch the butter and cinnamon sugar I normally pile on top. I’m a fan of apples and bananas as well, and I think fresh fruit is really important. The thing is, I’m really not sure what the heck a lentil is. I’ve tried to look it up online, and from pictures it looks like a weird bean, but I still have no idea (pictured right). I did find interesting ideas for lentil soup, lentil salad, and lentil cookies (which look really healthy) on The Food Network. So between your yogurt snack pack and broccoli alfredo, you can have an afternoon treat that’s healthy for you. I also found a really yummy recipe for lamb kabobs with broccoli lime rice. Something to try!

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Standards

Last weekend, Adam and I went and stayed at The Standard Hotel and Spa in Miami Beach for our anniversary. It was amazing.

The hotel is a registered landmark, so it maintains the original facade. Most of Miami Beach makes up the art deco district, a complete architectural throw-back to the ’60s. The buildings all have old school neon signs and post-modern geometric patterns next to classical Greek columns. It’s a great place to walk around both during the day and at night.

In the afternoon, we checked in early and headed to the spa. We baked on the deck covered in rejuvenating golden mud, dipped in the infinity pool and checked out the steam room, sauna, and sound shower. It was a fun few hours of being grown-ups in a luxuriously kid-free zone.

That night, we headed to Creek 28 at Indian Creek Hotel, a short drive from our hotel. Sitting out on the patio, we started out having the whole place to ourselves. We each had a bowl of tomato soup with cheesy croutons to start, then I had the pork with veggies and Adam had the Mahi fish of the day. Our waitress came out and mentioned that the kitchen had received the wrong cut of pork, and would two pieces be alright instead of one? I said sure, not realizing I was getting myself involved with two gigantic pieces that I had no chance of finishing. Adam and I split a bottle of white wine and a strawberry shortcake dessert before heading back to our room to watch the Duke-Butler championship game. We also polished off two bottles of Pinot Noir from my mom during the game. Then Duke won, and we went to sleep happy.

The next morning, we slept in and headed back out to the deck. We tried out the swinging chairs in the garden, disappointed there was nowhere to put our feet up as well. The pool was a bit chilly, so we sat out on the deck relaxing for our last few hours at the Standard.

We headed back into Miami Beach and walked down Ocean Boulevard to find some lunch before taking an obligatory beach photo. Adam really enjoyed the architecture, and it was so refreshing to be somewhere bright, sunny, and colorful again. March on the East Coast isn’t the most exciting time of year, and after New Zealand it can be a bit dismal. We had a great time at the Standard, looking forward to going back, and a great time in the sun.

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Word Ban

Lake Superior State University in Michigan releases a list each year of words to be ‘banished’ from English speech. You can read this year’s list at: http://www.lssu.edu/banished. I thought this was interesting. On the list are several phrases over-used by politicians: “transparency” and “in these economic times….” The great thing about these two is that they will never go away. There will always be something going on with the economy to talk about, and nothing about business practices or government will ever truly be transparent.

This was not the only interesting factor. The list creators cite that a word or phrase can be included because of over-use particularly by teenagers. Thus the appeal of axing “bromance.” While this term has been helpful to describe that strange love males give to each other, it does put a bad taste in your mouth. Another choice in the banished list is “tweet,” and I completely agree with this one. Google may have invaded our lives so that using the site to search for something has become a verb, but Twitter is just another social media fad that should not become an action of daily life. Texting and messaging is one thing, but I hope a guy never says to me, “I’ll tweet you later to set up that date.” No personal connection at all. Just ask for my number while I’m standing in front of you.

So, the next time there is a useless word coming up on MTV or CNN, let’s think America about whether we want our kids to speak in abbrevs or  actually use language.

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