Out and About in Edmonton

On Thursday, I got up early, had Egg McMuffins with Bart before he went to work and then sat at home and wrapped presents all morning until it was time to meet the girls (Leslie and Benita) for lunch.  I bundled up and headed out to catch a bus downtown.  Of course, I just missed the #2, so I ended up having to take the #112 which made my walk to Karma about 1 block longer.  Not a big deal as there wasn't much wind outside so it was just a normal crisp and cold day.  The food was tasty, like usual, and the company was lovely, like usual!

After we exchanged gifts, the three of us walked over to the Legislature.  Benita carried on across the River Valley to head back to work, and Leslie and I went inside the visitor centre so that she could go back to work and I could do some shopping for things to bring back to the Dominican.  Before we headed in though, we took a couple shots of me outside for my Dominican friends:

Face tuck when the wind blows.

Full face showing when wind isn't blowing

After I bought a few gifts, I hopped on the LRT to go to Holt Renfrew.  I had a particular item I wanted to pick up for Bart, but when I got there, I found out that they only carry it in their Vancouver and Toronto stores.  So I ended up just getting him some awesome socks!

I then met up with Bart and we headed back towards my place, making a quick stop for groceries on the way.  We dropped off a bunch of the groceries at my place and took the rest with us.  Our next stop was Bart's parent's house for a quick dinner.  I was greeted at the door by giant hugs - even a running hug from Ola!  It was a nice evening!  Afterwards, we headed over to Bart's place to just relax for the rest of the evening.  It was so nice to have the fireplace on and to be all cozy in my favorite sweater.

I also had a few gifts that I got to open from Bart.  They included some sweet pink headphones, tea, chocolate, a "commemorative" Will & Kate magazine, and a bookmark!

We finished off the evening by eating the gingerbread men that Leslie had made for us!  Very yummy!!

La Cucaracha! La Cucaracha!

On Monday evening, I decided to open up a little package that Leslie had given me before I came back to the Dominican.  On the back it read, "open when you need a reminder of Edmonton." Well a week of being away from Edmonton was enough of a wait.  When I opened it, I was so happy to discover an adorable card and two lovely and unique pendants from both Leslie and Benita, which they had bought at the City Market back in the spring.  It was such a thoughtful gift and made me so thankful to have amazing friends like the two of them!   Here are some pictures of the pendants - they are made from Scrabble tiles!  Funny thing, when I opened the card, the Scrabble tile side was showing and I kept thinking, why I and E.  And then I turned them over and realized there were pretty designs on the other side!  Silly me.

Cute black and white design and a birdie

I and E

On the weekend I bought my first plantain (platano) as I was determined to cook something that was more Dominican.  So on Monday evening, my goal was to make platanos frites - which are essentially fried plantains.  The ones in the restaurants look (and taste) much better than the ones I made.  But for my first try, I was happy.  Usually in the restaurant they are more squished/spread out... but when I tried to squish mine, they just broke apart.  I also think that sometimes they are deep-fried.  I'm also unsure of the right ripeness.  

Plantain in the peel

Chop Chop Chop

Add a bit of salt and pepper

Frying

Done!

Tuesday was very hectic at the office.  However, I am so excited to be working on a project for an international firm that involves me doing real actual International Business work - the stuff I learned in school!  It has me quite excited.  It's actually a project that I kind of took on voluntarily.  When it was originally assigned to me, I was given a contact in another Caribbean Island to speak to in order to get the information.  But once I looked at the list of questions in more detail, I figured it was all information I had the knowledge to understand and obtain.  So I've been working away at it and have, so far, been successful.  Lunch was spent at Pola again with Robert and Mari, and again, we went to the bakery afterwards for an espresso.  We're enjoying going there a lot, especially now that we are regulars!  I also learned something random that I should have known before.  While in the pest killing device section of Nacional we came across some traps for cockroaches.  I then read the Spanish text which indicated it was to get rid of cucarachas.  Cucarachas?!  My entire view of the song, "La Cucaracha" was suddenly changed.  And then I felt silly - how did I not know this before?

Chocolate Croissants that rival ones I've had in France

In the evening, I went to pilates with Mari.  It was a good workout!  We also bought tickets for an event there on Friday, where there will be sushi and a jujitsu presentation.  While it is not really my thing, it will be nice to spend time with the ladies.  After I had my nightly chat with Bart, I went over to Robert and Mari's apartment to try Mari's guacamole.  We found out that people think we both make excellent guacamole and we make it differently.  So it was time for me to try her version.  It was very yummy!  She also showed me this crazy bug.  He looks like a bunch of leaves and is quite large and sort of scary!

Mari checking out her guacamole

Crazy Leaf Creature

Today has been another busy day.  I forgot to buy more cereal yesterday, so I didn't eat any breakfast at home.  However, this did not upset me since it meant I had an excuse to purchase multiple pastries at Sweet Bakery.  Along with the Croissant de Chocolate, I also decided to try a Croissant Dulce con Queso Crema.  I'm pretty sure my face says it all.

Mmm cream cheese goodness!

 The power was out at the office, so J and I packed up our stuff and headed over to the framing shop to do our work there.  On the way there, J was driving down this kind of narrow street, when he turns to me and says, "I think maybe this is one-way..." This kind of made sense since all the traffic was going in the opposite direction.  I loved how no one, not even the other drivers, was fazed by this.  I do enjoy working at the shop (and there were less ants as compared to last time) since I get to check out the art well working.  I was sad though because going there meant that I had to miss out on lunch with Robert and Mari at Wendy's.   Instead, I ate lunch with J at La Sirena.  It was kind of awkward but not as bad as I thought it might be.  However, their salad bar did not compare with the one at Pola and I ended up throwing most of it away.  We stayed at the framing shop for the rest of the day.  It was nice to work in a silent, air conditioned space.  Every once and a while, J would interrupt the silence with some random story.  Usually they didn't have a point, but they were kind of amusing. 

The plan for tonight is to head to the colmado and celebrate both Costa Rica and Guatemala's Independence Days!

My Last Week at Home

The remainder of my week was extremely relaxing.  For the most part, Bart and I just lazed around home, eating yummy food and watching Alias (we're nearly finished Season 2).  On Sunday night, Leslie and Ryan stopped by with pizza from Funky Pickle for a games night.  Even though we were just having pizza, I set the table nicely and we opened a bottle of my favorite wine.

Luigi Bosca 2007 Malbec

After dinner we played Monopoly City and Pictionary.  The results were similar to our last game night.  Leslie won Monopoly, followed by myself, then Bart and then Ryan.  Pictionary was won by Leslie and I, although Ryan and Bart put up a much better fight than the last time.

Monday was a lazy day - I don't even remember what we did.

Tuesday was similar, although in the evening we went over to Bart's parent's house for dinner.  As always, there was way too much food and I was stuffed by the end of dinner.

On Wednesday, Bart had an interview so I left the house for the majority of the day so that he could prepare and such.  I went over to my condo, did some laundry and then went out to Oliver Square to run a few errands.  I picked up Leslie at around 2:00 and we headed to West Edmonton Mall to do a bit of shopping.  I had to drop off a bottle of rum that Pavol had sent with me to give to a fellow Rum Expert from Edmonton.  I took care of that and then had lunch at Jugo Juice.  I tried to find a pair of dress pants on sale.  While I was able to find some nice ones that were a good price, nothing seemed to fit me.  I gave up.  We met up with Ola and Eva and did some more shopping with them.  Ola decided to get a makeover done at Sephora and since Leslie and I were on a bit of a timeframe, we continued on just the two of us.  We went into the new Victoria Secret store.  It is quite nice, although, of course, the one thing I did like didn't come in my size.  So frustrating.  We also made a quick trip to Bath and Body Works since I was wanting to get a new Body Mist.  I was successful in that endeavor.   When it was time to leave, I had Bart call Karma to order some Indian takeout for dinner that I would pick up once I was back downtown.

Rice, Naan, Chana Masala, Gobhi Kaju Masala and Samosas!

Ola also came over that night and we rented Date Night.

We decided to take a mini-vacation to Lloydminster so that Bart could relax and recover in a new setting and I could see my family.  After Bart's appointment and my running around we drove back to my home town.  The first evening, after a lovely dinner with BBQ pineapple chicken burgers, rice, and asparagus, we headed out to the neighbourhood park to partake in some Bocce.  Dad was the overall winner.

Jonathan's Mad Bocce Skills

On Friday, I took Bart out and about to see the sights of the city, which included Bart's first trip to Saskatchewan (hee hee).  I had a terrible time attempting to find a couple kettles like the one I took to the Dominican with me.  However, I was finally successful at Home Hardware, even though I had to return again today to pick them up since they had not yet been unpacked from their warehouse.  Mom made her very yummy broccoli casserole for me that night and the rest of the family had ribs.  In the evening, we went out to the tennis courts and played a few matches.  I was better than I remembered myself being.  I don't think I had played tennis since high school.

Me and mom playing against Jonathan

Me with a great shot (obviously!)

Today, I was able to finish my errands before heading to Bud Miller Park for a friendly game of mini golf.  Dad ended up getting 3 hole in one's which was ridiculous.  That gave him a hefty lead over the rest of us and he ended up being the only one under par at the end of the game.

Putting

Bart and I

Hello Gorilla

Jonathan and Dad

Dad and Jonathan then went over to play some more tennis while mom, Bart and I took a walk around the lake.

Oak Tree

Flowers

Canadian Geese

Dad's Serve

Mom had cold feet

Spectator Bart

Jonathan

We had another lovely meal.  My other food request was zucchini casserole and my mom made that for me tonight.  After dinner, Bart and Jonathan played a lot of Mario Kart on DS.  It was pretty funny as the two of them kept giggling whenever they took the other one out or visa-versa.   I find it hard to believe that I will be heading to the airport in 24 hours.  My visit home has been so enjoyable.  A part of me wishes that I didn't have to go back, but at the same time, I want to go back and to carry on with the life I have built in the Dominican.  I am now half done my internship and I know that the next 5.5 months will go by very fast!

Hospitals, Markets and Brunch

Thursday was spent at the hospital essentially the entire day.  Bart and I arrived at 7:30 am to get him checked in and prepped for surgery.  They finally ended up taking him into surgery at just before 10:00 am.  His entire surgical team was really nice and they were also quite funny.

Bart and his awesome hat.

I had a few hours to kill so I headed downstairs to the cafeteria to get something to eat and to wait for Ola to arrive.  I was going to get some breakfast type food, but then I saw grilled cheese, fries and gravy on the menu - and I mean, nothing beats those items made cafeteria style.

Grilled cheese, fries and gravy

Ola arrived as I was just finishing up my meal.  We did a bit of shopping at one of the hospital gift shops.  I bought Bart this adorable little hamster and Ola got him a funny random mug.  We then decided to go outside to a nearby cafe - Good Earth - to get some coffee.  We ended up having iced mocha frappes and oatmeal raisin cookies.  Every 15 min to half an hour we would call up to the wing that Bart was to be moved to when the surgery was finished, to see if he had arrived yet.  Finally, after 1:00 pm he had arrived.  We went to visit him.  He was still pretty groggy and because he had no facial expressions, we had a hard time telling when he was being sarcastic and when he was being serious.

Hamster in the random cup

Me and Ola

Ola left shortly after so that she could go home and prepare for the Lady Gaga concert she was attending that night.  I remained at the hospital, reading, napping and keeping Bart company for the rest of the evening.  At around 7:00, his parents showed up.  They even brought me dinner (rice, fish, cucumbers, peaches and chocolates).

On Friday, I got up early to ensure I was at the hospital by 9:00 am since that was the time Bart was supposed to be released.  Instead, we didn't end up leaving until after 12:00 pm since his doctor was called into surgery and thus couldn't stop by to release Bart.  While we were waiting, Bart's friend Rory stopped by to see how he was doing.  I actually had yet to meet Rory so it was nice to be able to put a face to the name.  Once Bart was released we headed back to his place to relax for the rest of the day.  We watched some Alias and did a lot of napping.  Ola and her friend Kim stopped by and brought us strawberries and right after they left, Bart's parents came too with dinner.  His mom had made a squash soup and pierogies for us.

Pierogies

After dinner, Amer came by, then my mom and Jonathan and then Nelson.  It was nice to see everyone again!

Saturday morning, I was up early again to meet Leslie, Benita and Angie at the City Market downtown.  It was FREEZING that morning.  Because it was so cold, I decided not to wait at our regular meeting place but to head over to Credo to get some coffee and wait for them there.  First Benita showed up, followed by Leslie and Angie.  While there, I saw one of my History professors from my first degree - it is still funny to see him pushing around a baby stroller now.  Anyway, we finally got up the courage to brave the cold and the wind to do our market shopping.

Benita, Leslie and Angie (she bought that hat!)

Leslie is really excited about the giant kale

Beet variety

Chard

When we couldn't take the cold anymore, it was time to head to Blue Plate Diner for brunch.  Benita and Angie went to get a table while Leslie and I walked back to my car to put our purchases inside and to put more money in the parking meter.  On the way we saw my friend Brad - it was nice to run into him too!  The restaurant was quite busy so we had to wait about 15 minutes to get in.  But it was well worth it.  Angie and I both had the Florentine Benny and Benita and Leslie had the Ranch Eggs.  And we all had more coffee too - of course!

Benita

Florentine Benny

Ranch Eggs

After brunch we headed our separate ways.  Leslie came with me though, and as we headed back to the car I spotted a few other people I knew, but wasn't able to get a chance to talk to them (Brianna, David and Karley).  Leslie and I headed over to her house to grab her sister, Cathy, so that we could go to Noteables to help Cathy get a new travel purse.  It was so hard for me to be in that store and not buy anything.  But I am proud that I made it out without opening up my wallet, even though there were a few items that made me seriously consider it.  After the shopping adventure with Leslie and Cathy, I headed back to my place to pick up some ingredients for a bit of baking I did later.  I also made a stop at Safeway to get additional groceries.  When I arrived back at Bart's, he was fast asleep on the couch.  When he woke up I made him go and sleep in the bedroom so that I could do some cooking.  I ended up making goodie bars and a strawberry rhubarb pie.

PIE!

We headed over to my place for dinner with my mom, Jonathan, Grandma, Uncle Duane and Aunt Sandra.  We ordered in Chinese.  It was really yummy.

I was hungry

After dinner, mom, Jonathan, Bart and I played a quick game of Scattergories before we headed back to Bart's.