I don’t know about you, but I read a lot of “how to” blogs. I guess I’ve really gotten into it this last year since I moved here.
I feel like this blog is supposed to be about interesting cross cultural things, so i haven’t mentioned most of my little “experiments,” but that’s often what I’m really excited about…
And the cultural things are so tricky to write about…you never know when it’s going to sound like you are criticizing people!
Ok, for example, when you hear that someone is not married, it is polite here to say, I hope you get married soon, or that you marry a good man. Which is very kind, but totally different from what an almost complete stranger would say to you in America. So that is something I’m getting used to!
Here’s a fun thing I did yesterday: my friend and I went to “Mish Normal” a store for clothes made here for export (mostly to the US) that did not make the cut. “Mish” means not. But these “not normal” things look great and include some quite fancy brands!
I think it’s a cultural universal to enjoy the feeling that you are getting a deal : )
Ok, back to the original topic of this post. My apartment mate suggests that people would actually like to read about my little “experiments.” Most of them involve trying to substitute local ingredients, or just what I have on hand into recipes… So here’s a list of some of my little projects (I’m sure there’s more I don’t remember):
1. Growing basil from seed. I’m trying to have most of the herbs I use regularly growing. I should go plant shopping!
2. Sprouting lentils for salads and curries. I haven’t tried putting them in bread yet.
3. Growing and maintaining my own sourdough starter. (It’s like having a pet, except if you get bored or busy you can put it in the back of the fridge and forget about it for up to 3 months.)
4. Putting (un-sprouted) lentils in my bread to help make it more multi-grain.
5. Making my own face mask/scrub out of ingredients from my kitchen (honey and brown sugar, yum)
What I plan to experiment on today:
6. Following the directions on Kandee Johnson’s youtube video about “how to get perfect looking skin”
Except, since I’m not a professional makeup artist, I will be seeing how closely I can follow her directions with the make up and tools I already have at home… Her directions include using makeup that still looks ok if you are being shown in high definition…where you can see pores and blemishes not visible to the human eye…fortunately I’m not planning to appear in high definition on your local station any time soon!
Let me know if any of my experiments sound interesting and I will post about them.
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