Couscous

We were at a friend's house last night for a delicious meal, which included couscous, and the discussion turned to what is couscous. I always thought it was pasta, sort of like pastini, which according to Wikipedia is about half right:

Couscous (pronounced /ˈkʊskʊs/ or /ˈkuːskuːs/) is a food consisting of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour. The finished granules are about one millimetre in diameter before cooking. The name couscous is also used for prepared dishes made from other grains, such as barley, pearl millet, sorghum, rice or maize.

Attiéké, a variety of couscous that is a staple food in Côte d'Ivoire and is also known to surrounding areas of West Africa, made from grated cassava.

But I discovered that couscous is steamed. What we had last night was very light and fluffy, so I'm thinking it was steamed, although I need to confirm that with the chef. I need to know how to make it -- I think it's the first time I've had it where I really enjoyed it. So now I'm in the market for a couscous steamer! Actually I'll try it with the steamer I have. Wikipedia says you can do that, just cover the bottom with cheese cloth to keep them from falling through the bigger holes. I still have some pearled barley, and I may try it and see if it tastes like couscous. Or better yet, I'll just get a couscous lesson from Juste.

Tirana Qender I

Qender means center, and in this usage is akin to "downtown," although it has a narrower connotation than does downtown, but not as specific as stadtmitte, which as I remember from Germany was not only a loose term for city center, but was an actual marker in the exact "center" of the city, and from which the mileage calculations were made. Which was totally different from the U.S., where mileage calculations are from the city limits. So in the U.S., from Jackson to Ridgeland may be 0 miles, since their city limits adjoin; in Germany it might be 10 miles, center to center. Not sure why this is relevant here, but it's late. These photos are all from the Qender, taken over Christmas/New Year's vacation, when we went downtown in an effort to cure a bout of cabin fever. Qender is pronounced Chender, like lender, and the ch is like the ch in church. Close as I can come.

This first photo is the mosque on Skanderbeg Square. In the background, dissected by the minaret, is a new building under construction. Construction has slowed substantially in Tirana during this downturn, and although work is still progressing on this building, it is extremely slow. I keep up with the position of the crane, so I know it is still moving, and I'm assuming from that that work is ongoing.

Just to the right of the mosque is one of the ministry buildings built by the Italians in the pre-war period.

This is me, as Susan pointed out on facebook regarding another photo, sans glasses. Since my two cataract surgeries I now have Alcon plastic lenses embedded in place of my old ones, which were corroded. There is another more precise medical term which escapes me. I used to occasionally take the deposition of a Dr. Guy Vise in Jackson, an orthopedic surgeon, who would self-deprecatingly describe orthopedic surgery as carpentry, using drills and saws and screws and just repairing the framing. That's kind of what they did to my lenses -- took out the old ones and put in new plastic ones. Since they can put in any sort of lens they want, they match my glasses prescription, so with the new lenses my vision is almost 20/20. Except for reading. Since the lenses are plastic they don't adjust to closeup, so I have reading glasses. To which I will adjust, hopefully, eventually. Actually, now that I have a lanyard and they continually dangle from my neck, at least I can find them, which is a great improvement.

Anyway, behind me is the Tajwan Center, which has a few restaurants, a bowling alley, ringed by coffee houses, and surrounded by a one-square block park. It is the only park in the area. Tirana has a serious shortage of public spaces. We have Sunday lunch here occasionally and eat and watch the people.

Compare this scaffolding to the top photo. This is all wooden frame scaffolding on the new Orthodox Church being built close to the square. It has the main building plus baptistry and clock tower. The first Albanian Orthodox bishop was ordained in Boston (I think Boston -- may have been New York) in 1908 (I think 1908.) I may be misremembering the time and place. Fan Noli was his name, and he was active in Albanian politics and religion.

This is the mosaic on the front of the national history museum. It was built by the Russians, but the mosaic was designed and constructed by Albanian artists. It is a typical revolutionary motif, and one of these days I'll post a closeup and more explanation. Not too many years ago there was a movement to destroy it as not being appropriate for a democratic country, and a reminder of the dictatorship, but preservationists won out and it's still here. I think it would be a mistake to just obliterate all reminders of Albania's communist past. It is healthier to recognize it and deal with it, and not deny it.

The Efrem Bey mosque from the opera house. The mosque dates from the 18th century.
The painting on the arches. It looks sort of drab from a distance, but close up it is quite tastefully colorful.

Burns Ball

Well, here we are at the Burns Ball last night. It was fun -- a little long on the program side and even longer for the meal. We had the same problem at the Marine Ball -- I don't know the reason, whether the kitchen is too small, planning is not sufficient, not enough prior food prep, but the Sheraton is pretty slow to bring out the courses. So we do a lot of visiting among different tables while we're waiting and probably end up having more wine or scotch than ordinarily prudent. That was a nice plus -- each table had a bottle of scotch. It may be planned this way on purpose -- it was a great chance to catch up with a lot of people we don't see on a regular basis.

We had a glass of champagne and "mingled" for an hour or so when we first arrived, and then went in and sat at our appointed table. Our table was named "To a Kiss." "To a Louse" was not represented by an eponymous table. Then our ambassador gave a little talk about Robert Burns and why he was so popular; then the English ambassador read a Burns' poem, one was read in Albanian, followed by toasts to the laddies and lassies, reasonably long and humorous. A lady from our embassy sang a Scottish song somewhere in there. Then we ate and some people danced. In fact probably most people danced. There was a piper from Scotland, who led the procession of the haggis around the room, which we later ate with mashed potatoes.

It was my first haggis tasting, and it was pretty tasty.

Happy Birthday to Me

Tomorrow is my birthday, number 62. That used to seem pretty old, but of course it doesn't anymore. Now I can sign up for Social Security whenever I want, but there's no point as long as I'm working. It is 75% at age 62, and 100% at age 66, so I get roughly half a percent more each month I don't get benefits. Isn't that wonderful news? I'll be on the dole! I'll keep working here until we leave, which will be a year and a half or maybe two years, and then maybe I'll apply. It depends on where we go and whether they have any jobs I might want. I'm leaning toward not working, but like I say, it depends.

Tirana is wet -- it's been raining a lot. It reminds me of Seattle -- everything is wet, but it seldom rains hard. That's not been true in the mountains and areas in the north of the country. It has rained extremely hard there, and the hydroelectric dam reservoirs are filled to capacity and they've had to open the floodgates, which has caused much flooding. Two of the major highways to the north are impassable due to flooding. The army has been trying to evacuate people, but resistance to leaving their homes is widespread.

A new USAID person moved in just down the street a week ago, and Taylor has enjoyed the two twelve-year-olds. They have all spent a lot of time together -- they're the first American girls that are sort of her age who have lived in the neighborhood since we've been here.

The Saints-Cardinals game next week might be just like the Packers-Cardinals yesterday -- neither team seems to have a defense, so 55-49 is definitely a possibility. I won't be watching it, though -- 4:30 in New Orleans is 11:30 here, which is past my bedtime. On Armed Forces Network we get a sportscenter show and reruns of games, so I can keep up with them. I did watch some of the Baltimore/New England game, because it came on here at 6:30 or 7.

So far this winter seems much wetter and colder and just all around uncomfortable than last winter. So I'm hoping for an early spring.