9/9/2012

9/9/2012

I woke up at 8am today- yes that is my best attempt at sleeping in. That is a highlight in itself. I did a face mask with Diandra so now my face is softer, but I hope it doesn't make me any whiter that is really that last thing  I need (to be even whiter that I already am). Diandra wants us to make a cake for her Mom's birthday in a couple of days and so I agreed thinking it would be a relatively easy task because I am a good baker. I cook with my mom all the time and I knew that I could make a cake really well. So I got a recipe from my mom. I went to ask Diandra what units I needed to convert the recipe too and she looked at the recipe. She said "a cup that's like segelas right?" Segelas in Indonesian literally means a glass. I told her that it wasn't and that it was an actual unit of measure which confused her. And then she returned to reading the recipe,

Diandra: "what's vegetable oil"

Me: " What do you mean what's vegetable oil, it's pretty common we use it in everything in America." Diandra: "We have two types of oil here coconut and olive"

Me: "??"

Diandra: "We have an old oven is that OK?"

Me: "Sure, I guess so."

Diandra: "It's really a metal box that you put on the stove and it heats up but there is not temperature control."

Me: "?? What??"

Diandra: "Is that OK?"

Me: "Well I guess it has to be, it might take 3 hours to bake the cake but whatever."

Then I spent another several hours converting the units to grams then to mL then the dry ingredients to grams and the milk and water to mL. I am scared of this cake, I never thought a would be defeated by a cake, I have been proved wrong again. Oh, and we don't have ANY of the ingredients at our house including Sugar and flour because apparently they buy exactly how much they need at a time not a 10pound bag like we do in America. So to say that international cooking is a little difficult is an understatement. It is another culture shock to me, in America baking is a science one that only the most talented can really master (Sis Mortensen I'm talking to you) here it is a science experiment. Like "let's throw in some of this and some of that and that is about right." And to think that I was worried about leveling all of the flour with a butter knife perfectly. I guess making this cake is going to be really fun, I don't know if it will turn out but if it does...I might be able to do anything. For dinner today we went over to my grandparents and cousins' house. The food was good but the fruit afterward was even better. I feel like I could try a different fruit everyday for my entire exchange and still never run out of fruit- the beauty of being in a tropical country. I played cards with my two cousins and Diandra for a while. I have now been on the computer for about two hours catching up with my blogs and doing other things that I have been putting off. While I have been sitting here I have killed no less than 12 mosquitoes. I am getting better at killing them every day but, they are like that ancient Greek monster when you cut off one head two more grow in its place. I thought mosquitoes were bad in Florida turns out they are just another identifier that says I am a spoiled American. Those little devils.

 

9/9/2012

 

I was able to catch up on a lot of work today, including my blog. I was also able to get some more sleep. Productive day, yaaa!!!And my blog just got over 1,000 views (thanks to all of you). Can't wait for school tomorrow, I love it here! Goodnight Everyone :)