Friday, December 11, 2009

Happy Hanukkah

Living at my parents' house hasn't been too bad, apart from the mile walk from the T in the freezing cold and the constant reminders to sort out the stuff in my room. I haven't been cooking as much as I've been meaning to because I've been going out for dinner with friends, but I have made some of my typical meals for my parents. They loved my tofu pot pie and the "best mac and cheese" from VegWeb that Victoria always requested. I also made a blueberry pie with some of the summer-picked blueberries in the freezer. Yum!


So I am now all signed up for international health insurance, which is a relief. And it's a good thing, too, because you never know what might happen! On Monday I was playing tag outside with the kids at work. I slipped on the play structure and hit my shin on a metal bar that's meant for climbing. Hobbling over to a place to sit down, failing at holding back tears, I pulled up my pant leg and saw blood gushing out of a gash about an inch long. Meghan, our lead teacher, immediately got the first aid kit and did an impressive job bandaging my leg, while I nearly passed out from the shock. Luckily my mom was nearby and drove me to the hospital, where I got 2 layers of stitches to fix me up. It was pretty exciting to get stitches for the first time and I love showing them off.


Sorry.

Today I got a 2nd large suitcase to carry my things over to Berlin. It's magenta, hard-sided, and 4-wheeled. Very elegant.

19 days until I leave!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Preparations

I moved from my wonderful apartment in Somerville back to my parents' house this past Sunday. Most of my things are still in boxes because I need to clear out a lot of stuff in my childhood bedroom before I can put away my current things. But by the end of December all of my favorite clothes and cooking supplies will be packed up again, in suitcases this time, and flying with me to Berlin.

The most important thing I need to do this week is sign up for international health insurance. I am going to get a plan through Allianz Worldwide Care but I am not yet sure what to sign up for. It's too bad that I am leaving my job as an after school teacher, not only because I'll miss my first graders terribly, but also because I'm giving up my full health and dental insurance coverage. *sigh* It will be okay though. I'm so thrilled to be moving to Germany that problems like this aren't even getting to me.

So what is this blog going to be about? Definitely not health insurance, I promise. I've been wanting to start a vegan food blog for a while but I never really had a strong point of view or creativity in my cooking and simply never got around to it. But now that I am moving to Berlin, which is full of exciting vegan things, believe it or not, I think I have a good excuse to start a blog. I will write about my day to day life, post photos of the delicious food I cook, and describe the adventures I hope to have in country where I don't (yet) speak the language.

Oh, and the title, "go buy altitude, it's the best game ever"? That came out of the conversation I had with Shawn (the one I'm moving to Berlin for) when I asked him what I should name it.

Amara

what should I name my blog?

Shawn
blogs are lame
booo

Amara
NO
Shawn
actually name it "go buy altitude, it's the best game ever"

And so I did. I'll even put a link to his game http://altitudegame.com/

Sprechen Sie Vegan is the real title though. All I really need to understand is if my food is vegan, right?