One of my favorite recipes for a nice winter meal, as much comfort as a nice big portion of my mum's mashed potatoes, but a bit healthier - my own version of a red lentil daal:
Ingredients for 4-5 portions:
- 2 onions (I prefer red ones)
- 1-2 chili
- 2 carrots
- 1 zucchini
- 2 tomatoes
- Half a package of red lentils (about 250g)
- water
- salt, pepper
- paprika powder
- cumin
- other spices after taste: cinnamon, cardamom, chili...
- optional: 2 sweet potatoes, previously baked in the oven for 20 min, to be added towards the end together with the additional spices.
Fry the chopped onions and chili in some olive oil in a pan until transparent. Add the chopped carrots and zucchini to fry for a while. Add the chopped tomatoes and the lentils. Add water so that it just about covers all ingredients. Add some salt, black pepper, paprika and cumin (about 1 tsp). Let cook until most of the water is absorbed - the lentils should be slightly 'overcooked'. Taste, and add some cinnamon and cardamom for extra taste, and/or chili for extra spiciness. Serve with some natural yoghurt. Enjoy :)
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Morning smiles
- Hearing someone whistling 'Don't worry, be happy' while walking into work on an all gray morning.
- Seeing an all gray curly little dog, with one completely WHITE paw, wonder if he might have had a milk-related accident as a puppy ;) Cute!
- Seeing an all gray curly little dog, with one completely WHITE paw, wonder if he might have had a milk-related accident as a puppy ;) Cute!
Friday 22 January 2010
Yesterday's discussion with a sleeping boyfriend
Green fairy - why don't you go to bed my love?
N - ehhhh what? But there are 5 minutes left of the movie I'm watching!
GF - but the movie has finished...
N - ?
GF - look at the screen, it's all black.
A bit later in bed:
N - you know, I wasn't sleeping before, I was only thinking about the movie with my eyes closed.
A very normal evening in the fairy house ;))
N - ehhhh what? But there are 5 minutes left of the movie I'm watching!
GF - but the movie has finished...
N - ?
GF - look at the screen, it's all black.
A bit later in bed:
N - you know, I wasn't sleeping before, I was only thinking about the movie with my eyes closed.
A very normal evening in the fairy house ;))
Morning challenge
Playing chicken with car drivers on my way into work.
The most efficient way to cross the road in Geneva on a zebra crossing as no one stops if you wait patiently.
The most efficient way to cross the road in Geneva on a zebra crossing as no one stops if you wait patiently.
Wednesday 20 January 2010
Promotion finally, but....
Finally got promoted after more than a year of discussions with my boss about it and half-promises that were never fulfilled. Until today that is!
So great news that makes me feel good as it is (or should be) a sign of my work being appreciated! And it will look good on my CV to actually have the title of the work I have been performing for the last year. This will if nothing else make it easier when searching for another job after my travels as telling someone about what role you had and how well you worked does not weigh as high as actually being able to put the title in your CV and show that you were promoted twice (or kind of three times) in 5 years.
The bad news? Well, the promotion was not really followed by any salary increase. As they have just made up some guidelines for the salary brackets and criteria for each position, and with this lowered the salary brackets for several positions (including my new one), my raise was only a mere 1%, landing me on the minimum salary for my position. If I had been promoted a year ago, my raise would most probably have been 7% and this is what I had been expected as it would have brought me up to the same salary as the others who were promoted into this position in 2009. Hence one can say that with the delays of my promotion for a year I have been doubly penalized - first, as I have had to wait for a year and stress about it, pushing my boss with questions every 6 months or so, not getting the title beforehand etc. Second, as I got a 6% smaller raise than I would have gotten a year ago!
Oh well, luckily that I am planning to leave this ship in about 7 months. But of course, a raise would also have meant more money to put aside for my RTW ;)
So, happy but with a pinch of salty irritation. It feels like they did not really make any effort in my regards, as this promotion cost them the price of 1-2 regional flight tickets. Is this all that I am worth?
So great news that makes me feel good as it is (or should be) a sign of my work being appreciated! And it will look good on my CV to actually have the title of the work I have been performing for the last year. This will if nothing else make it easier when searching for another job after my travels as telling someone about what role you had and how well you worked does not weigh as high as actually being able to put the title in your CV and show that you were promoted twice (or kind of three times) in 5 years.
The bad news? Well, the promotion was not really followed by any salary increase. As they have just made up some guidelines for the salary brackets and criteria for each position, and with this lowered the salary brackets for several positions (including my new one), my raise was only a mere 1%, landing me on the minimum salary for my position. If I had been promoted a year ago, my raise would most probably have been 7% and this is what I had been expected as it would have brought me up to the same salary as the others who were promoted into this position in 2009. Hence one can say that with the delays of my promotion for a year I have been doubly penalized - first, as I have had to wait for a year and stress about it, pushing my boss with questions every 6 months or so, not getting the title beforehand etc. Second, as I got a 6% smaller raise than I would have gotten a year ago!
Oh well, luckily that I am planning to leave this ship in about 7 months. But of course, a raise would also have meant more money to put aside for my RTW ;)
So, happy but with a pinch of salty irritation. It feels like they did not really make any effort in my regards, as this promotion cost them the price of 1-2 regional flight tickets. Is this all that I am worth?
Monday 18 January 2010
Sunny beautiful Geneva
Today is the kind of day that reminds me why I love living in Geneva and why I am still here, more than 12 years after I first arrived with the plan to stay for just one year ;)
It started with a great day of skiing Saturday in La Clusaz, with beautiful mounds of snow, regretfully already traced, but still lots of fun allowing us to use the whole La Balme part of the station as our own playground. Fluffy, lovely, but quite tiring snow. A great day, spent with a great group of people (there were about 12 of us and we managed to stay together almost the whole day and have fun - the advantage of a station such as La Clusaz being that those that ski well can go off and play in the 'half-off piste' slopes, while the ones that are less fast and secure on their skis can go down the normal pistes and everyone can then meet again down by the chairs!).
And then today we woke up to a blue sunny sky :D Walked into work, down by the lake in the sunshine and just enjoyed everything. The view of the snow-filled Jura Mountains in the background, the lake filled with birds, the sunshine, and the fact that I can walk into work and just enjoy it all. And I felt how much I love this place!
In how many cities can you find the following:
- Great skiing in less than 1h drive from the centre;
- A beautiful lake, filled with birds and boats, which is great for swimming in the summer, and lovely to walk by in the winter;
- A city surrounded by mountains in 3 directions (the Jura on one side, the Alps on the other, le Salève in the third) only in the direction of the lake is there no mountains;
- A 15 min walking distance from your apartment to your work, with more than half of the way passing down by the lake - probably one of the more beautiful walks to work anywhere;
- Lots of international people making the place full of life, and allowing us to meet and make friends from all over the world!;
- Good working opportunities, especially when one is interested in international relations, NGOs, development, humanitarian and human rights issues etc;
- A very good standard of living;
- An airport with flights all over Europe, many to a very good price; and situated in the centre of Europe meaning that you can be in Italy in 3h by train or car, in France, well in less than 10 minutes, but in Paris in 3.5h by train, etc etc;
- Loads of restaurants with food from everywhere in the world;
- and so on...
So, today is a day when I remember very clearly why this is where I am living - as this place was my choice. I was not born here. My family does not live here (although I am lucky to have one cousin that has also fallen in love with this city). The language is not my mother tongue. I do not really have any reason to have ended up here. It was a choice, and sometimes I tend to forget how lucky I am. But not today. Today I'm in love with this beautiful beautiful city - and it has put a stupid smile on my face ever since this morning. No matter that it is Monday today. No matter that I am at work instead of on the slopes as I would have wished. I am still very happy :D
And now it is time for me to go down by the lake for lunch!
It started with a great day of skiing Saturday in La Clusaz, with beautiful mounds of snow, regretfully already traced, but still lots of fun allowing us to use the whole La Balme part of the station as our own playground. Fluffy, lovely, but quite tiring snow. A great day, spent with a great group of people (there were about 12 of us and we managed to stay together almost the whole day and have fun - the advantage of a station such as La Clusaz being that those that ski well can go off and play in the 'half-off piste' slopes, while the ones that are less fast and secure on their skis can go down the normal pistes and everyone can then meet again down by the chairs!).
And then today we woke up to a blue sunny sky :D Walked into work, down by the lake in the sunshine and just enjoyed everything. The view of the snow-filled Jura Mountains in the background, the lake filled with birds, the sunshine, and the fact that I can walk into work and just enjoy it all. And I felt how much I love this place!
In how many cities can you find the following:
- Great skiing in less than 1h drive from the centre;
- A beautiful lake, filled with birds and boats, which is great for swimming in the summer, and lovely to walk by in the winter;
- A city surrounded by mountains in 3 directions (the Jura on one side, the Alps on the other, le Salève in the third) only in the direction of the lake is there no mountains;
- A 15 min walking distance from your apartment to your work, with more than half of the way passing down by the lake - probably one of the more beautiful walks to work anywhere;
- Lots of international people making the place full of life, and allowing us to meet and make friends from all over the world!;
- Good working opportunities, especially when one is interested in international relations, NGOs, development, humanitarian and human rights issues etc;
- A very good standard of living;
- An airport with flights all over Europe, many to a very good price; and situated in the centre of Europe meaning that you can be in Italy in 3h by train or car, in France, well in less than 10 minutes, but in Paris in 3.5h by train, etc etc;
- Loads of restaurants with food from everywhere in the world;
- and so on...
So, today is a day when I remember very clearly why this is where I am living - as this place was my choice. I was not born here. My family does not live here (although I am lucky to have one cousin that has also fallen in love with this city). The language is not my mother tongue. I do not really have any reason to have ended up here. It was a choice, and sometimes I tend to forget how lucky I am. But not today. Today I'm in love with this beautiful beautiful city - and it has put a stupid smile on my face ever since this morning. No matter that it is Monday today. No matter that I am at work instead of on the slopes as I would have wished. I am still very happy :D
And now it is time for me to go down by the lake for lunch!
Monday 11 January 2010
Weekend of snowfilled activities
Yesterday was my first skiing day of the season - and what a lovely day it was. We went to Les Getz in France, in the Porte de Soleil system and had a great day with friends, mostly good snow and even quite a lot of sunshine :D
Les Getz was a new experience for me (or perhaps I have just forgotten skiing there before) and perhaps not one I will try again anytime soon as although we had a real good day, the station itself was not top. Or rather, after all the fresh snow that had fallen on Geneva (and it hardly ever snows in Geneva, and even less often does this snow stay - yesterday we woke up to 20 centimetres of fresh powder snow in the city!!) we were expecting a day full of loads and loads of powder. But the 20 centimetres that came down just during the night in Geneva, had only come down as 10 centimetres for the full 24h in Les Getz. For once the mountains got less snow than the city. A pity. Next time we will bring some with us up ;)
But it was sooooo great to ski again. I was feeling a bit reluctant the night before - the early rise, the time spent to find all skiing gears... Crazy green fairy! I just LOVE to ski! And once we were on the slopes and I made my first turns, my face was split in a huge tremendous smile :D
How incredible that the body remembers the movements from one year to another. Has been about 8 months since I last went down a slope, and after just a few turns I was directly ready to hit the 'off' pist deeper snow which was already full of traces, making it more difficult to glide down. The body remembers the moves indeed. But the muscles don't really have the strength left, so yes, a few more stops than usual to allow my poor legs some rest and then I was off again.
A lovely lovely day made possible by the close situation of Geneva to some great skiing resorts!
Ahh and the other winter activity of the day was the new sport of carrying car tyres back and from the car. About 1km with one tyre after another in my arms. Beat that! And all this while my boyfriend was doing the more precise but less muscular job of changing the tyres on the car. My arms are feeling quite sore indeed today... But.... Winter tyres on the car allowed for the skiing experience yesterday, so it was all quite worth it!
Les Getz was a new experience for me (or perhaps I have just forgotten skiing there before) and perhaps not one I will try again anytime soon as although we had a real good day, the station itself was not top. Or rather, after all the fresh snow that had fallen on Geneva (and it hardly ever snows in Geneva, and even less often does this snow stay - yesterday we woke up to 20 centimetres of fresh powder snow in the city!!) we were expecting a day full of loads and loads of powder. But the 20 centimetres that came down just during the night in Geneva, had only come down as 10 centimetres for the full 24h in Les Getz. For once the mountains got less snow than the city. A pity. Next time we will bring some with us up ;)
But it was sooooo great to ski again. I was feeling a bit reluctant the night before - the early rise, the time spent to find all skiing gears... Crazy green fairy! I just LOVE to ski! And once we were on the slopes and I made my first turns, my face was split in a huge tremendous smile :D
How incredible that the body remembers the movements from one year to another. Has been about 8 months since I last went down a slope, and after just a few turns I was directly ready to hit the 'off' pist deeper snow which was already full of traces, making it more difficult to glide down. The body remembers the moves indeed. But the muscles don't really have the strength left, so yes, a few more stops than usual to allow my poor legs some rest and then I was off again.
A lovely lovely day made possible by the close situation of Geneva to some great skiing resorts!
Ahh and the other winter activity of the day was the new sport of carrying car tyres back and from the car. About 1km with one tyre after another in my arms. Beat that! And all this while my boyfriend was doing the more precise but less muscular job of changing the tyres on the car. My arms are feeling quite sore indeed today... But.... Winter tyres on the car allowed for the skiing experience yesterday, so it was all quite worth it!
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