Watch the Walk

“That’s not how you make it!”   She laughed at me, but with a shocked look on her face. “Your mouth will burn up that way!” Hmm. That sounds about right. How you really cook it. See, there’s this strange grass-like thing in the market. I see women selling big bags full of it, and I’ve asked them what it is, but knowing the name doesn’t really help unless you already know the plant. Then I realized that it was actually a big leaf that they cut into thin strips to sell. So not grass-like at all. And still a mystery. One day there was a distinct lack of vegetables in the market, so I started asking more questions about this unfamiliar plant. I asked if you could eat it like a salad, and the ladies of the market assured me that it tasted delicious. Chances are, they didn’t understand my question, but just wanted me to buy from them!  So I took the new plant home and added it to a salad. Have you ever tried eating shredded fiberglass? I haven’t either, but that’s the impression I ...

Once upon a time, a group of white(or somewhat white) people went hiking on their little island. I'd say the hike was no fairy tale, but even Little Red Riding Hood got chased (or eaten, depending on the version) by a wolf. So fairy tales are sometimes more dangerous than expected also. Are you enjoying the suspense yet? Well, our hike was full of suspense too! It all started with a friend of our team leader who suggested that we climb the tallest mountain on the island. It's only a little over 5,000 feet high, and we'd be starting at a decent elevation, so it sounded like a fun adventure. Plus, many people said you could see all the surrounding islands from the top of this mountain. Most of the rest of the team though it sounded like fun too, so we started planning. Reports from islanders about the trip were varied and vague. Would it be 3 hours roundtrip? Six hours? We planned for the longer estimate, figuring that at the latest we'd be back mid-afternoon. Would it ra...