Meeting with the shaman

Last night, I went with my groupmembers to interview an Arowakan lady. She's an aunt from one of our colleague students and he said that she might help with our school project. The first impression when I saw her is that she's very down to earth and the usual feeling when I see an elderly person: respect. However I didn't know beforehand that she's a spiritual person, I felt weird. I don't know how to describe it, it felt as if something was not as it seems. The feeling that I was off balanced and people, who know me, know I am mostly confident and sure of the things to do or say, but this meeting knocked me off my feet in some sort of way.
During the interview, she talked the Arowak customs, their traditional costume and a lot about spiritual subjects. So near the end of the interview, it became clear that she was a Shaman or how we call it in Suriname "piaiman" or in this context " piaiwoman". According to thefreedictionary.com the definition of a Shaman is:

"A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events."

And I believe she is one too. She was very patient, super friendly and proud of her culture!! Even though she has a modern belief now, she still practices the traditional, medicinal rituals. She even made some statements that seemed a little too close to the truth. All in all, it was a very enlightening experience meeting a Shaman. She even taught us some Arowak words:

Alikaja Kuba- How are you? ( to greet someone)
Do Sabo - I am leaving
Aban Kiba - See you
Dashi Kabu - I love you

Awesome!! I can add another language to my resume, sort of. Oh well,,, Aban Kiba!!

back to school

  

Last night, I wanted to be young again and go back to school. Yeah I know,,,believe me, I am not a nerd and it's not like 'I love school'. I am just the average person, who can't wait to finish up my college.
This feeling is created by looking at a youtube video about the educational system in Singapore and to be specifically, Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/M_pIK7ghGw4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen

In this video you saw teenage students already learning the basics about programming. Back when I was their age, I hardly knew anything about the computer. Of course, it was a new phenomenon in Suriname, so everyone went to cybercafe's to browse and go on ICQ. But learning the indepth stuff?? The best example I can give about anything indepth that I've learned about the computer is programming in Pascal at university and I didn't like it. Yeah, so why would I want to go back for that right?
I think it's the way they positioned education. It is really cool. Like all modern, innovative and teachers who are really thinking of ways to get student's attention and involvement. I think that is something I really miss in Suriname's educational system. Most teachers became teacher, because of the wrong reasons: the many school breaks, the short working hours and the possibility to do another job after school. Only a handful really think of sharing the knowledge and creating a better future ( the kids of today are the future of tomorrow).
Even the vision of Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore is made so attractive: "Connecting Minds, Unlocking Talents and Creating Value ". How awesome does that sound?
I'm not sure if they are really that good a school, but they sure got me with the informercials on youtube.

Pyramid Network

Last saturday I went to a Multi Level Marketing (MLM) meeting. I don't want to mention the product, because it is the idea I want to write about, not the product. It might be a great product, but since I haven't tried it out, I don't want to give an opinion yet.
MLM is also known as a pyramid network. One mastermind starts with any product, sell it to others as a way to gain an extra income and so it goes on and on till noone believes in this idea anymore. It never was about the product itself, it is always about recruiting others to do the hard work. And some while ago, I myself was part of such a pyramid network, Avon. The only thing that I liked about Avon is that they always come with new products, new ideas and that's what make it worth the while.
After that meeting, I went online and searched for other MLM opportunities. It is unbelievable how many there are out there. And to emphasize that it never was about the product: you can have this opportunity from underwear to cleaning solutions, jewelry to baking pans, even video software.
So I took the MLM-idea and really took my time to think about the concept. Questions came up like: Why choose a MLM opportunity? What makes it succesful? Why would great brands like Victoria's Secret or Pro Active not use this concept?
I came to many conclusions and one thing is for sure: at the end, the winner is the distributor!If your network goes worldwide, that means extra products will be sold and extra distribution, extra production and extra income. The most important thing for MLMs to work is that they sell a great, nearly ideal story and gain people's trust. Make it sound so easy to make money without doing too much work. How easy does it sound when they say: ' are you willing to give up 7-10 hours per week to gain $500,- dollars per week?' It is like giving candy to a kid and saying ' if you can be quiet for 3 hours a day, you will get the whole bag of candy at the end of the week'.
But MLMs are not all bad though. However they are maybe not the easy way out, but it is A way to get extra income. Just remember, IF you are interested in such an opportunity, focus on recruiting others than on selling. That will bring you more money and less work than doing the hard part yourself.

Coffee in the morning

Nothing beats coffee in the morning. The rich aroma, the bittersweet taste and the hot feeling reaching my cold, empty stomach. Sigh...it's always an immense enjoyment: that very first gulp in the morning. The only thing I'm missing at the moment is a piece very chocolaty chocolate cake. And I can only think of one recipe:

1 cup sugar
175 g butter (softened)
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup self rising flour
3 tbs cacao powder
1/2 cup pure chocolate (melted)

Whisk the sugar and butter until fluffy, add eggs gradually, add the other ingredients. Pour the batter into a 9" round pan and bake it 45 minutes in a preheated oven at 350F.

And the more melted chocolate you add, the chocolatier the cake will be.
And DON'T peak within the 45 minutes, otherwise the cake will fall.

This is a really easy and awesome tasting recipe. Just wish I made it yesterday, so that I could enjoy a piece at this moment with my awesome cup of Senseo.

A New Start

For months I have been thinking about starting my own blog. And I quess today is the day I finally took action. It never was a question what I was gonna blog about. That was one thing I am certain about: Food.
I think it's best if I start explaining why I call myself  'The Taster'.
Back in university, we had a group of friends who was in the hype of cocktails. We started with mixing simple, cheap rums to create easy to make cocktails like screwdriver and rumcoke till a point where we were making great cocktails like flaming Lamborghini and cocktails with all colors of the rainbow. Back in the days, we never called it drinking, it was always 'just tasting'. I know many won't agree with me since we had sunken countless bottles of liquor. But I quess it's just one of those things you do when  you're young and wished you could go back to.
Besides that fact, I believe the first bite of anything is mostly the extreme one. Whether it's good or gross, you will never get back the first 'taste' of anything. It's the feeling, the adaption of all your senses at that moment creating your wonderful dream or worst nightmare.
With this Blog, I will not only put my personal recipes, but also my opinion of anything that I have every tasted.