Monkey Island is this tourist park a few minutes from Can Tho, and Imy had us hooked up. We left around 5:00 am, saw the sunrise, walked on the deserted side of the island, then hit up the park. It's called Monkey Island because there are monkeys there. So here's the layout: a raised walkway connects a bunch of little huts that you can rent, and on the path are three cages, with three crocs, two ducks, and one old monkey. Then, above you, in the trees, are tons and tons of other monkeys.
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| Melissa at sunrise |
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| Hammocks rock |
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| Because Mom and Dad want to see a picture of me once in a while |
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| Adam was the first one down the slide - it was dry |
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| I literally had no zoom on my Powershot |
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| That close, yeah |
So I set up my hammock in the hut, cracked a beer at 9:00 am, and watched monkeys bounce around in the trees. This is my Study Abroad, you know.
(Feel free to tune out unless you're Amelia, Caitlin or Roz)
I saw this article on the New York Times website (I'm trying to stay updated): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/us/06fin.html?_r=1&hp
An excerpt:
"As the once-ceremonial dish becomes more accessible, up to 73 million sharks are being killed a year."
That's the issue with a growing middle class, at least when it comes to food - everyone starts eating up the food chain. While I do think it's fun to do that sometimes, I'd rather eat down. Tons of classic French dishes, Southern classics, the comfort foods we think of: most of them came from poor people experimenting with how to make the less desirable cuts of meat and produce into something delicious. Learning how to make a tough, chewy rooster into something as delicious as coq au vin takes some effort, more than just grilling some tender breast meat, but it is more sustainable (gasp) and delicious to boot. Yeah, things get updated and even Julia Child would probably use a tender chicken instead of a rooster, but the point is that it works. That's how we had New Dwight. So good.
Mom and Dad thank you :)
ReplyDeleteNew Dwight was so good.
ReplyDeleteI love studying food culture. Passing through the markets here (I talk about them so much!) you can tell that no part of the animal is wasted. They have no shame in showing the animal in its entirety (so refreshing compared to our pale patties of mystery meat). Chickens heads are kept on bodies and large slabs of tripe make for a fantastic delicacy. I'm all in there for the cheap meats made right. A cook may be good as their ingredients but a great cook invents them.
ReplyDelete