Tales from the Damp Side: International Month

Iraq
Last week I was trolling around in Google and found a review for an Iraqi restaurant a few miles from our home. According to the review Dar Salam is the only Iraqi restaurant in Oregon. No surprise there. The description sounded pretty tasty: large platters of squash-colored chickpea stew, carvings of lamb, fresh-baked flat bread, and dollops of hummus and baba ghanouj. All the staples of good Middle Eastern fare. Having never been to (or even heard of) an Iraqi restaurant I was curious to give it a try. Off we went. The owners are childhood friends who were bombed out of their homes by a certain country which shall remain nameless. Mama helps them cook the food in a trailer behind the restaurant. I was rooting for this place, hoping for good food so that I could make it one of our regular spots. After all, we ruined their lives, the least I could do was support their business. Unfortunately the food was mediocre. And just down the street is the Blue Olive, a Mediterranean / Middle Eastern restaurant that we visit on regular basis that has similar but better food. So long, Dar Salam, we hardly knew yah.

Germany
A few weeks ago we Netflixed a movie called Downfall, a 2005 German film about the final weeks inside Hitler's bunker in Berlin. The only sympathetic character in the whole lot was Blondi who, through no fault of his own, was Hitler's dog. In the end Blondi was given cyanide, as were all six children of Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. It's an interesting film, worth watching if you don't mind reading the translation.

France

This week I was supposed to begin a non-credit French class at the local community college. It was a "fast paced" beginner class for people like myself who took french in college 10 or 20 or more years ago (yikes!) and don't need to start entirely from scratch. But the class was cancelled and there wasn't another that I could substitute in that was at the right level for me and/or a good location. I thought I was out at luck. Enter Google again. Behold, the Alliance Française de Portland. What is that? "The Alliance Française, headquartered in Paris, is a worldwide non-profit organization with the mission of promoting Francophone culture and language and cross-cultural understanding. There are over 1,000 Alliances in the world. Of 100 Alliances in the U.S., the Portland group is the only Alliance in Oregon and ranks 11th in the United States." Better yet, they offer french language classes. Their spring term already started, I'd missed two classes. But they will let me start in the third week at a pro-rated fee. They offer a 'true beginner' class, then five levels of classes in what they call their 'Low Beginner' series. I elected to start at the first level of Low Beginner, one class up from rank newbie. This series goes for 8 more weeks, then in the summer term I will bump up to the second level of Low Beginner.

Why the french? We are going to France, possibly Switzerland, for two weeks in September. I thought I should brush up. The last time I attempted to speak french was four or five years ago when we were in Switzerland and I had to ask a hotel clerk if any rooms were available. The thrill comes when you realize they have understood you. You have communicated in a foreign language! The fear quickly follows, when they respond in kind, in that same foreign language. I suppose it was my rabbit-in-the-headlights expression that made her quickly switch to English to close the deal. This time I'd like to be a little more prepared. Or at least feel like I am. Oui?

Cycling
In preparation for the Tour of the Unknown Coast I have been trying to up the ante in my cycling miles. Mind you, that doesn't take much. A typical ride for me is usually only 18 - 25 miles. Short distances, but hilly. I like a workout but don't want to spend much time at it. But for TUC I have to get used to the idea of riding more miles. Even though I know I can physically do it (I had no problem last summer jumping to 50+ miles on occasional outings with the local bike club), I need to spend more time on the bike to get mentally ready. Because when you are used to riding just 18 or 20 or 25 miles and you go past that limit, your brain is like, whoa, hold on there girl, let's not be hasty, isn't it time to go home and take a shower and eat a cookie and have kitty on your lap while you Google? Riding more miles helps physically of course but it also trains my mind to accept its fate, so that it works for rather than against me.

Toward that end, last weekend I upped my ride to all of 30 miles (hey, ya gotta start somewhere). And I got a flat tire. Coincidentally, Duckbill Tin Snip was riding only a few miles away, and via the magic of cell phones I was able to put out my distress call. DTS, aka Chris, gave himself this nickname after a few of our overly serious cycling friends started calling themselves things like Hammer... as in, he can really Hammer on a bike, he's really fast, that kind of thing. Not wanting to be without his own nickname, and concluding that having a tool as a nickname, like Hammer, would make him sound really powerful, he anointed our small, stocky Russian cycling friend Drill Bit, and selected Duckbill Tin Snip for himself.

So Duckbill Tin Snip swung by and helped me change my flat tire. It was my first flat tire in two years and I was a little rusty. I know how to do it but got frazzled in this 'real world' situation. The storm clouds gathering overhead didn't help. This week I practiced a few times at home to be sure I can do it on my own if DTS isn't around. I need to practice more before TUC. Because even though these events always advertise sag wagons and mechanics you almost never see those guys. So I need to get very comfortable with changing a flat.

Wow, March went by quickly. After a relatively dry winter the Weatherman proclaimed March to be the rainiest in Portland history since they started keeping records in 1940. The rainiest in history. That made it somewhat difficult to get outside and ride. But ride we must.

But Who's Counting, We're Just In It for the Scenery

CHRIS YEAR-TO-DATE, ENDING MARCH 2012