happy bellies

Lately, Ashley and I have pretty close to perfected the art of cooking for yourself when limited to a small selection of foods in a foreign country. (Yes this is a post about food. Ashley and I have been the sluggiest of slugs this week because we can, so food and laundry are the most exciting things I have to write about)

We've sauteed soba noodles in soy sauce,  fixed up our own version of fried rice in our skillet (red peppers, broccoli and carrot), whipped together the best dessert we've had here yet (something called baumkuchen, tastes like a slightly cinnamon-y light pound cake, accompanied by strawberries, banana and waffle cone covered ice cream squares), not to mention mastering the art of cooking rice and fashioning miso soup just right. Safe to say, we've been eating much better than the first few meals we scrounged together here (pokemon tofu night.....................).

this photo, for some reason, really desperately wants to be sideways. 

And I had pictures of these creations of ours, and the processes and everything, but was distracted while putting them on my computer which somehow resulted in their deletion from both my laptop and my SD card.

So, instead of the intended photo dump of our delicious meals that we've been whipping up in our little kitchen here at JCMU, here are some pictures including or of me from the Politics of Peace program (since typically I just post my photos and they are typically of Ashley or the surroundings and my parents wanted to see more of me).

Everyone in the last picture has returned to Michigan now, with the exception of Rory (the power ranger's t-shirt wearer), Ashley and Tori (the blonde sitting in front of me). The May program flew by so very quickly, and it's sad to be in the dormitories when they're constantly quiet and dark instead of alive with students.

To avoid some of the dreariness of this empty place, the four of us who are still scheduled to stay in Japan for the summer are Tokyo bound for the weekend before the new program starts. We're meeting our friend Jenny at our hostel in the city, and are ready for a little bit of fun, a little bit of relaxation and a lot of shopping.
I'll be sure to share the events as they unfold this weekend!