very international food

I almost never eat in restaurants or go out to coffee shops, so this past week was really unusual. As previously written, I went with my sister and some friends for a lovely Moroccan meal on Monday night, but the eating out didn't end there. My brother had wanted to take me out to eat the first week I returned to So. Cal, but our work schedules didn't coincide until Thursday of this past week. At lunch, he took me to a Japanese restaurant which has excellent food. Just the day before, my parents paid for lunch at Souplantation. Well, I should go away for almost a year more often. As for coffee shops, a friend that I hadn't seen for over a year was in the area, and she paid for Starbucks twice when we went out walking at the beach.

Incidentally, I found a recipe for the Moroccan dish bastilla here. I made it Thursday, it was super easy to make, and it turned out very well.

Tuesday night I briefly visited the Huntington Beach Main Street fair, but I didn't get there in time to see the flamenco brothers or any of the other favorites of mine. I did get to briefly see this bagpiper, but even he didn't stick around long after I arrived.

Next week I'll be working all week at the church office, but this past week I only worked three days. Friday I answered phones which was mostly quite easy since not very many people called in. If many people had called in, it would have been quite stressful because I haven't learned all the extensions and information that the regular secretary knows.

These last few days have been really hot - which I actually enjoy where we live because we almost always have a lovely breeze. Yesterday was the perfect time for an evening kayak, and I joined a small group paddling around Back Bay for several hours. I had had a semester kayaking class with OCC about two years ago, and the instructor periodically emails us to ask for helpers when he puts together moonlight paddles. Since we're helpers, we don't have to pay - although last night I think there were many more 'helpers' than actual paid customers. We know a good thing when it's presented!

Thursday I prayed fervently and tackled the various online airline ticket sites to find the cheapest tickets to return to Puebla. The first half hour was grim - nothing under $550 was coming up, no matter how I altered the ticket search. However, after some searching, I found some reasonably decent tickets on Orbitz and snapped them up. I'll be returning to Puebla Aug. 19th. My dad also bought tickets for him and Mom to visit in September. No reason to wait, since tickets will only go up in price from now on. Guess what? Just after paying more than I really wanted to for tickets, I received my notice of the government's economic stimulus coming my way; they'll be paying for my tickets with some left over after! Hallelujah!