Mango Lassi Success!

Shewara and I have been trying to produce the perfect mango lassi; an Indian mango beverage a little like a smoothie, but lighter. We went on a big shopping spree all around some of Madison's more esoteric grocery stores for the key ingredients: whole-milk yogurt, mango nectar (we had to buy the Egyptian kind), cardamom powder, lime juice, and castor sugar. The recipe online called for too much yogurt and far too little mango, but with some fooling around we made it perfect. I had it tonight with my barbecue chicken dinner - how's that for transcultural?

Tomorrow I am heading home to watch some movies and then go see Jane Goodall on Sunday!

Grant Application Finished!

I've been working super hard on a grant application to do some fieldwork in southern Mexico this summer, spending a little time with some Afromestizos (Afro-Mexicans) in Oaxaca and Guerrero states. It'll be a great boost to my grad school work, and also be a great topic for my M.A. thesis. I'm excited. I should also be hearing soon about the status of my FLAS application, which would allow me to study Swahili for one whole year and get paid for it (so I don't have to work any more). If I get both of these, I am pretty much set through my M.A. Awesome!

In other news, tonight the Illini play the hated Indiana Hoosiers in my sweet home Chicago, where the orange and blue have won 17 consecutive games. If we win this one, we are pretty much in the NCAA tournament. Indiana has it coming to them, so I hope we crush them.

Lastly, I thought this picture was absolutely hilarious: