The Christmas season is casting its magical glow on Cambridge. I cannot get enough of the lights and the music and the presents. I admit, somewhat ashamedly, that I am easily reeled in by the commercialized nature of it all. Not that I buy into the idea that shopping and entertaining and decorating are the ultimate goals of the holidays, but I don't think being merry, giving gifts, and making things pretty are bad things either. Anyway, one reason I love the season is that it is a valid excuse to eat delicious meals. "I only have (fill in the blank) once a year, so I better eat enough to last me!" = Instant justification for stuffing my face. Yesterday I got to eat a lovely Christmas lunch with my friend Asha at Wolfson Court, the graduate housing complex for Girton College. I'm so glad she invited me! It was the first time I had ventured all 100 yards down the street to eat at the cafeteria, and after my enjoyable experience, it will not be the last. I know it seems a bit early to have Christmas celebrations, but the undergraduates are already done with their Michaelmas term. Some graduates are too. Chad left today to head back to Oklahoma and a month-long break. Lucky! But Matt's program gets done in July instead of August, so I guess it's a trade-off.
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| Asha and me! |
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| Yummy for my tummy! |
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| Cracker! |
The food was similar to the Thanksgiving lunch we had last week. Not surprisingly, I think the dessert was my favorite part. It was like a giant Little Debbie's Swiss Cake Roll with some fruit mixed in the cream. Delicious! And we also got crackers. Not the saltine variety. I'm talking about Christmas crackers! I've seen them being sold all over the place, and I don't know what the story is behind them, but I do know that they are exciting. With Asha's instruction, I discovered that I was supposed to hold one end while she held the other. On the count of three, you both pull, and CRACK! The thing pops open, and a Christmas surprise pops out. In our case, our little souvenir was a nail file. One girl got a bottle opener. Another had a paper airplane. Fun (and loud) times. Piñata meets firecracker, minus the actual explosive, fiery part.
This morning, Matthew went with me to do a wee bit of Christmas shopping. There are now cheerful little presents under our charming little paper tree for everyone who is coming to visit us in a couple weeks. (15 days, to be exact! Squeal!!!) I think the only people we have yet to get gifts for are each other. Unless, of course, Matthew is super sneaky and already got me something... Maybe he is figuring out a way to teleport Bullitt across the pond. I sure would love to have our little buddy with us on Christmas. Alas, I think I will have to wait until next year. Not that Matthew will have teleportation figured out by then; just that we will be on the same continent as our furry friend. Maybe Bullitt will get a goldendoodle puppy friend next year for Christmas... Hint, hint. But I digress.
While we were browsing around the market, we got to be entertained once again by an awesome live band. This time, they were ultra-hippie-ish instead of ultra-British/Bob Dylan-ish. The girl singing and chanting and beating on the percussion box had on pink bell-bottom corduroy pants. The stand-up bass player was grooving like nobody's business, and the guitar player looked oh-too-cool-for-school with his crocheted beanie and sunglasses on. At first the music was a little too Enya for my taste - high-pitched, unintelligible syllables strung over soothing instrumental music. But then, much to the crowd's liking as well as my own, they switched with one swift cry of, "Para España!" and flawlessly transitioned to a legitimate flamenco piece. The guitarist was a classical Spanish guitar aficionado, and the music was really quite impressive for a street corner performance. There were these three guys who looked like they were from Spain standing in the audience. They started clapping in perfect chaotic flamenco style, and I half expected them to bust a move out in the center of the circle that had gathered 'round. You could tell they were suppressing an instinctual need for stomping and spinning around a ruffled señorita bonita. We had to pull ourselves away to run a couple more errands (grocery store and bike repair) before going home.
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| Hippie band. Beautiful, man. Straight groovy. A group of real cool cats. |
The other season consuming our Saturday is football season. We will be eating our crockpot lamb stew and homemade cornbread while waiting for the OSU Cowboys to kickoff against the OU Sooners at 1:00am. That's right, folks. One o'clock in the morning is when the game starts. No telling when we will get to sleep, but no matter. That's what dedicated members of the Poke community do, right? I'm just praying for a win. Otherwise, I will not be a happy camper come 5:00am. But, I am thankful that we will be watching the game from the comfort of our warm living room. I do not envy the thousands of people who will freeze their tushes off tonight, sitting on the bleachers and orange seats of Boone Pickens Stadium.
Well, I'm off to craft, read, and possibly nap for the next 7 hours before the game starts. O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A...Oklahoma STATE!!!
I love the band that you got to see! Sadly, they play they same 5-10 songs all year round, but there is no denying it! They are fun to listen to, and always draw a crowd. How late in July are you guys going to be there? We are coming back to England for Mark's graduation then.
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