Destined to Think

I'm on this spiritual journey to figure out what I need to do, where I need to be, and how I'm going to get there.  I ask God to grace me with the spirit of patience so that when the time comes for me fulfill my destiny, I won't be alarmed, surprised, or disobedient.  I am destined to be a scientist (or at least that's what I think).  Nights upon nights, I dream of solutions to problems in my sleep.

 I create scenarios in which I have to speak to people in a formal manner.  I think about how I'm going to approach someone or get something done.  I dream about how I can solve that math problem that was just bothering me so much the night before.  I organize things in my dreams, like the real Maleshia J. would do.

Do ordinary people think of science, even while they're sleeping?  I'd say most don't, but I could be wrong.  I'm going to take that as a sign that I'm supposed to remain in the STEM fields, PhD or not.  I love this stuff, but my passion is not focused or defined at this point.  There's still more time for me to get things figured out. [Yes, I know that last sentence was very passive.  That's because God's going to handle it and guide me.]

I love people watching, photography, looking at art and designs, building structures.  Architectural engineering sounds fun.  I've determined within the last few weeks that I want to be somewhere that fuses beauty/art with design to create things are can be used and are aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  I think that's what I want to do. If I pursue a PhD, it has to be something that is engineering-related but has a touch of art/design (not completely mechanical design).

Wow! I feel a lot better.  Just jotting this down will help me keep my word and uphold my faith.  One thing I have no doubt about is that I am destined to think.

Beer & Food: Food & Beer

Note
Let me start by saying that I do not consume of much alcohol, but I've tried a few different types while in college. The only exception so far is beer. Since I am in France for the the summer, I figure I should take advantage of the low drinking age (18 years old; not abuse it) and try out different kinds of wines and beers (not really hard liquors = lame-o lol). Metz, France is very close to a lot of areas that have wine shops and breweries. I'm excited about seeing what types of drinks I like the most.

This week [so far] I had the opportunity to try two different kinds of beer.

Desperados & Doner Kebab

The first one I tried (my first beer ever!!!) is called Desperados. Don't be fooled by it's Mexican-inspired name (I don't know where the French got it from). When I traveled to Paris last week, I saw so many advertisements for this beer. I thought to myself, I've got to try it if it's so popular. It's actually an authentic, popular French tequila-flavored beer. Yes, I said it - TEQUILA FLAVORED.

Desperado is a 5.9% ABV (alcohol by volume) premium beer with a tequila flavor. I purchased a 33cl bottle for 3€ (~$4.30) at a local doner kebob restaurant called Mamresto in Metz, France (picture below; that was tasty as well). I'm sure you can get a pack of Desperados for a reasonable price.

I had never had beer or tried tequila before. I could only base what I thought it would taste like on what some of my more experienced friends had told me. When I first tasted it, it had a nice and easy feel to it. It wasn't bitter and nasty like I thought it would be. I could smell the lime or tequila smell of the beer. Overall, I thought it tasted good for my first beer. I'd definitely drink it again. I hear it's kind of hard to find them in the states. But if you ever come to France, make sure you try it out.

Check out the website for yourself: http://desperadosbeer.co.uk/

Panaché (aka Shandy) &Flammenküche with Choucroute
This is the second beer that I had at a restaurant today (7.6.11) in Strasbourg, a town in France about 2 hours away from Metz. For lunch, me and a friend ate at this place called Fischer where we ate Flammenküche from Alsace with choucroute. Flammenküche is a dish from Alsace that is like a small pan pizza composed of onions, sauerkraut (sour cabbage), lardons (ham), and crème fraîche (instead of tomato sauce. Choucroute is French for dressed sauerkraut, which is originally a German dish of shredded sour cabbage; it is usually fermented in vinegar to provide that sour taste that I like.

In France, this particular beer is called panaché ("mixed"). Panaché is a beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, normally half-and-half. It has a very low alcohol content but it's taste speaks volumes. The panaché was very smooth, tasty, and refreshing. It didn't even taste like your typical beer. It was nice and light, and is definitely a beer I would try over and over again.

While in Strasbourg, I also tried two types of gelahto. I tried melon (tasted like canteloupe) and run raisin gelahto (above, right: melon on top, rum raisin on bottom). The melon was very tasty and sweet. Now as for the rum raisin, my first reaction to tasting it was "WOW." Those grapes really packed a punch! I knew that the gelahto would have a rum flavor, but there was actually a lot of rum inside of the little raisins inside (I guess because the raisins absorb alcohol really well). The rum was really strong. After I ate all the raisins, the rest of the gelahto was fine (lol). The melon mixed with the rum raisin gelahto tasted really good though.

My Paris Bucket List!!!

Visit the Eiffel Tower (go to the top) and take pictures in front of the tower and the rest of the city

Visit and shop on Avenue de Champs Elysees

Visit Notre Dame Cathedral

Visit Sacre Coeur

Take multiple pictures of the Arc de Triomphe

Stop by the Moulin Rouge area

Go to the Louvre Museum

Take picture in front of famous stores (like Chanel, D&G, Prada, etc.)

Louis Vuitton

Swaroski

Mercedes-Benz

Take picture with a cute French guy

The Crepe Man!!! He's very fond of Maryland.

He was such a nice guy and he made the best crepes with love!

Beauty is more than skin deep.

Take lots of food pictures and fashion

Unchecked Items

Visit Place du Tertre (dome) and Versailles

6.26.11 Paris: Day 4 - Leaving Paris

Well Sunday has finally arrived and it's time to head back to Metz (my home away from home). I can truly say that these past four days have been the most exciting days I've had since I've been in France. We were a little exhausted at the end of the day, but we practically got to see everything that we wanted to.

We saw all the major landmarks (Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, La Seine River, Moulin Rouge, Sacre Coeur, and The Louvre Museum and its big triangle. We saw everything (for the most part). And I was able to check basically everything off my Paris Bucket list, which is even better! I took pictures of famous fashion brands (Louis Vuitton), visited all the major landmarks, ate many delicious and affordable French cuisines, and took many pictures of my "punished" plates. I tried my best to capture glimpses of French fashion and culture. It was great.

I had pink wine twice (I like it; I didn't drink more than two glasses but that's alright with me). I ate Hagen Daz. They seem to have a lot of shops near the Sacre Coeur. And to top all this, Anthony was such a great host! I know he was tired at times or didn't have as much money (running low on cash; poor baby has been here a whole month and hasn't laid hands on his check from his internship - come on; help a brother out (Black Power!!!)), but he gave me and Zaide so much. He let us stay with him in his dorm, he lent us his metro pass so we could explore Paris while he was in lab (I think I perfected my technique to cheat the system), he took us to all these really cool places and really nice (and cheap) restaurants. Everything was just great!

Before I left, I wrote him a little thank you note to show my appreciation. I thought about writing it on behalf of me and Zaide, but I don't want to speak for her or force her to do perform any gesture that she doesn't want to do. I suggested the idea to her though. And besides, I'm a little selfish (lol). I slipped him a little €20 to help him out a little. I knew he wouldn't take it if I gave it to him directly. The secret note adds a little bit more of an interesting twist to the story anyway (:).

All in all, I just give all praises to God for allowing me to see everything I did, for being able (physically, mentally, and emotionally) to experience all that I did, and for being merciful by protecting us all while we were all so far away from home. I cannot give the credit to anyone else but Him. Well this has been great. I feel refreshed and restored. This trip was just what I needed. I've got one more month to go. I've got to work hard at GTL this last month, get published, get that recommendation letter, and start showing up earlier (i.e. by 9:30AM). It's never too late to change. Change is inevitable.

6.25.11 Paris: Day 3 - The Louvre Museum and Food Babies

Inside the Louvre Museum; time to purchase tickets!

My English tour guide

The Louvre museum took all day and I didn't even get to explore the whole museum or all the exhibits that I wanted to. I really like the Greek sculptures and the paintings during the romanticism era. I like to draw sometimes when I am inspired. I took many photographs of details of facial features and body proportions. I hope to apply them to my sketches. These artists are so talented.

I took so many short breaks while exploring the museum.  The museum is so FRICKIN huge.  It's like a massive mansion.  Lunch at the Louvre was great and of course I punished it.  I had steamed salmon with a side of rice and Orangina (which taste really good, unlike the Orange Fanta here).  All of that for €10.70.  That's pretty reasonable for a meal and a drink in a very famous museum.  I was very satisfied after eating it.

There was one particular painting that I looked at for a good 5 minutes (that's quite a long time compared to how fast I was moving around the museum).  The painting is called "Les Licteurs Rapportent a Brutus Les Corps de Ses Fils" by Jacques-Louis David.  Translation title is "The lictors bring Brutus the bodies of his dead sons."  Something about it struck out to me. I could see the emotion in the face of each character in the painting.  The emotions that I felt while looking at the picture reminded me of my brother, who passed away last year.  I just thought about how much it hurt to lose him or to even see him at his funeral.  Imagine what my family was also going through.  I definitely could relate to this painting.

The Mona Lisa painting is smaller than I thought it would be.  People were pushing and shoving to get a good shot.  I don't think the painting is going anywhere people (lol).  I am very grateful of the man who decided to take a picture of me in front of the painting.  God bless his life.

The Mona Lisa Crowd

At the end of the day, I took plenty of pictures in front of the pyramid.  

Then we headed out to the streets of Paris, off to Notre Dame which was open to the public. We walked across the Pont Des Arts Bridge also known as the Love Locks Bridge.  It symbolizes the everlasting love of two people for each other.  Usually, couples place the lock on the bridge and throw the key in the water.  This is the most romantic bridge in Paris (so cute).  There were some pretty decked out locks.  I kind of wish I had one to throw in for my future love (lol).

We had this lasagna in St. Michel and more pink wine (i had 1.5 glasses).  This lasagna was so good.  See for yourself. I gave birth to a food baby afterwards.  I wasn't even in need of a dessert afterwards.  My last night in Paris couldn't have been any better.  I'm definitely grateful of the experiences I've had while I was here.  I did many touristy things, ate great food, and just soaked it all in.  I'm going to miss Pahhh-reeeee! <3

My food baby (for food baby reference check out http://brain-food.tumblr.com)

The Crepe Man!!! He made the best crepe especially for me!!! :)