Going Out with a (Very Civilized) Boom!

Adam writes:

Hey everyone! So for those of you who don't know this, my wife is one of the most thoughtful gift givers. This year for Christmas she got us reservations at a restaurant in Chicago called Schwa. Now a little background on this. I read a feature story in GQ Magazine early this year on this place. The short story is that it was hailed as one of the greatest food experiences ever. I was more than smittened, however, reservations are hard to get because they don't pick up the phone and return messages when it is convenient for them. However, Jess decided that she would call them every single day until she talked to someone and could make reservations. So. For Christmas I got reservations at Schwa for two on Jan. 9. And after a few minutes of jumping up and down and giggling like a school girl, I immediately called Ricky. To brag. And explained to him that since Jess had gone to all the trouble of getting the reservations I was taking her instead of him. He was quite sad but he understood and I am happy to say that our friendship has recovered from such a blow quickly and easily. On top of this, Mona and K.C. decided that they didn't want us in the house that night, so they had booked us a room at The Palmer House for Christmas. (Thanks again!)

So. Now we had dinner plans at a fancy restaraunt and a room at a fancy hotel. So I did what seemed the only reasonable thing to do and started making plans to go to a fancy bar in between. That bar was The Violet Hour. It seemed to fit the bill as it was as intensely focused on great cocktails as Schwa is on food, and where Schwa is tough with reservations The Violet Hour doesn't take them but they also don't allow standing room so it can be really tough to get in sometimes. . . like on a Sat. night. So we had our plans for what promised to be one of the best nights out on the town ever.

So we packed an overnight bag and loaded the car and head towards. . .Sandwich! "Why Sandwich?" you ask. Because in Sandwich there were motorcycles, duh! Phil and Lynn Hoffman of Black Magic Customs were hosting there 2nd annual Wicked Wheels Weekends and the only way to make such an awesome day better is to add motorcycles because motorcycles make everyday better. So Jess and I met my folks in Sandwich and spent the early afternoon ogling beautifaul custom builds and chatting with Donny who was there manning a booth for his folks. Then after Mom and Dad spent a good amount of time talking to a painter about pinstriping the trike (can't wait to get those photos in the spring(US)/fall(SA)), they took Jess and I to lunch (Thanks again guys!) and sent us on our way to the city.

We arrrived at The Palmer and got checked in quickly and headed to the lobby so that Jess could take three thousand pictures of it (at this point I will refer you the slide show below that Jess so kindly set up for me) and I could chat with the concierge about the best way to get to Schwa and The Violet Hour. I walked up to the concierge with my list of venues and addresses and he took one look at them and said "Sir, I like where this list is headed". I had made a friend and his name was Phillipe. We quickly sorted out that the L was going to be the way to the restaurant and Phillipe even got on the phone and did that great thing that concierges do where they step to the side and lower their voices so you can only pick out a few words like they are discussing something of national importance with the person on the other end and got us on a list at The Violet Hour (Thanks Phillipe!).

So the rest of this blog will be subtitled "Down The Rabbit Hole We Go". Also at this point the slide show will come in handy as it will follow what I am typing course by course till the end of the evening. When we walked up to Schwa it looked like it had been closed for a few months. Though I loved this effect, Jess started to get nervous. But once we opened the outer door you could see a little bit of a nice restaraunt, like looking through the rabbit hole. (Now you will start seeing what I am getting at with the subtitle.) We were greeted as we walked in and they took our sparkling wine and meritage to prepare for bottle service. As we ordered our three course meals Jess mentioned that we were leaving for the Peace Corps in roughly two weeks. Soon, the sous chef came out to greet us and ask if we had any food allergies (no), if we were adventurous eaters (yes), and if we had time (yes). "So, if we were to just, like , throw some different stuff at you, that would be cool?" (Yes, really f@$&*n cool!) We ended up with nine courses and they are as follows:

Course one was the amuse. One bite to wake up the palate and get you excited about the coming meal. The amuse was an oyster encapsulated in golden raisin topped with warm and salty almond bubbles seasoned with cinnamon and a dab of golden raisin puree. This was the most difficult dish of the evening and had the two of us worried for a bit. The salty sweet of the dish seemed to work opposition of each other until the brineyness of the oyster cut through and brought them together. It definately had our palates awake and on their toes, er, tongues?

Any worries we had after the first course were quickly dispelled by the second course: Red beat rissotto served with an aged spanish cheese sauce, parsnip sauce, horseradish bubbles, edible flowers, and pickled beets. Every component individually was fantastic but when you ate all of them at once is was trancendent. The rissotto was perfectly firm, the beet flavor was clean, and the cheese added a pungent richness to the dish. Now you have to understand, Jess does not like beets or rissotto, and yet her plate was surprisingly clean at the end, as if someone had been licking it.

The third course came out accompanied with a small food history lesson about the origin of apple pie as a savory dish. In an esspresso cup was a savory apple pie soup and it was accompanied by a consome of the herb savory, a salad of light cheese and shaved apples and a section of piecrust with aged gruyere melted on top. Here was another dish where independently the parts were delicious, but together they were magnificent. And the flaky piecrust squares with melted cheese might need to be made at home.

The fourth course was hand-cut tagliatelle pasta in a honey and yuzu gellee with aged Spanish goat cheese, micro arugala, finely minced veal heart, huckleberry, and black truffle. This was my favorite course of the evening. Don't get me wrong, everything was phenomenal, but this I could have eaten everyday for the rest of my life. I want to name one of my children after this dish!

Course number five was a sushi dish with root beer as its theme. Green curry pickled carrots, green curry and rice rolls, rolled in a leaf from South America with root beer characteristics, with mint puree, and sprinkled with flying fish roe, accompanied by a shot of house-brewed root beer and root beer infused soy sauce. Before this dish I had no idea how you could possibly make green curry and root beer harmonious on the plate, but now I know that the answer is mint. Is anybody elses mind blown? Fantastic! And I need to mention that the house-brewed root beer was phenomenol, it was smooth and pepperey.

Course six was kona kampachi with lime gell, daikon, pickeled daikon, and (a thai cousin of ginger that I don't remember the name of) "glass". This was probably the best fish dish I have ever tasted. The fish was lightly seared so it was firm and the glass was delightfully crunchy and the pickled daikon had a real punch to it. Jess continued to nibble on the glass far after her fish was gone.

Course seven was pork swimming in a parsnip broth with beer bubbles, mustard greens, little balls of parsnip and peanut sauce. I don't know if there is really anything more to say about this dish than "pork at Schwa". Cooked to perfection, executed perfectly, and able be be delicate and complex at the same time.

This is where we hit course eight. Now, for those of you who have taken the time to watch the slide show and are observent you will have noticed that there is no picture of this course. Let me tell you a story that explains why. The cook comes to our table and places an olive tray down with what looks to be two more amuses and says, "This is the cheese course. For this course we have a pretzel (I can't remember the name so we'll say) fritter injected with bleu cheese fondue, topped with Red Chimay beer bubbles and mustard skin." Jess and I responded by diving straight in, I enjoying this course in a single bite, and Jess eating half of it. I started to ask what she thought of it and she responded with, "Don't talk to me." After five minutes of silence she ate the other half and then sat in silence a while longer until the taste had completely vanished. Apparently it was so good she needed a personal moment.

The final course was dessert and it was a celery root cake with celery puree, white chocolate, salted caramel and a rum roasted bannana. It was the perfect end to the entire meal. It was the most well composed dish, balancing savory and sweet and adding just the right hint of salty. Really outstanding.

And so our meal ended at Schwa. I know the next few statements will sound like more sarcasim and wit but they are anything but. All of my ideas about food had changed. My definition of delicious was redefined. And my life was forever changed in some small way. It was simply the best meal I have ever had.

So on to the next rabbit hole, The Violet Hour. At the end of some wood paneling that looks like it is housing a storefront undergoing rennovations is a door that is a bit difficult to make out. Through that door is a hallway that is fairly nondescript apart from giant curtains hanging from the ceiling sectioning it off. Matt was there waiting. After talking to a man and handing him a card we were escorted past people who had been waiting for the better part of half an hour and were seated. (Thanks again Phillipe!)

The inside of The Velvet Hour was gorgeous, like a grand ballroom sectioned off by curtains and furniture. The libations were truly magnifecent. They have mastered the alchemy of mixing several boozes together to create great flavor and remove the flavor of alcohol. Between the three of us we had five different cocktails and one after the other was stupendous. I had a whiskey cocktail that is my new favorite and as soon as I figure out the recipe will be my "go to" drink. I had another that made me a believer in gin. Jess had a cocktail that was the most refreshing thing we had ever tasted, like sherbert, only with sparkling wine and rum and liquor. Really amazing stuff.

So folks, that's it. That was our (Very Civilized) Boom! It really was the best way to spend one last night in Chicago before we go. Thanks for reading and we'll be posting again soon.

Getting Closer

Jess writes:

The last couple of days have brought about some additional specifics about our staging, training and service that might be of interest. They are listed below:

• We depart Jan. 27th (9:00am) for staging (orientation, introductions, shots, etc.) in Washington D.C.
• We will complete staging Jan. 27th & 28th
• We leave from D.C. Jan. 28th (5:40pm) for South Africa
• We arrive in Johannesburg on Jan. 29th (6:20pm)
• We will be training 1.5 hours NW of Pretoria for 8 weeks
• We will be learning isiZulu or a related dialect
• Our permanent service sites will likely be in the Mpumlanga or KwaZulu Natal provinces (likely rural areas)
• There are roughly 35 members in our program

Here's some nifty sites related to the tidbits above that I found interesting:

• http://isizulu.net/ : A Zulu-English Dictionary site - be sure to check out the podcasts to hear the actual spoken language (there's clicks!!)
• http://www.mpumalanga.com/splash/splash.asp : The official Mpumalanga Tourism bureau - has some great pictures and info on popular hot spots.
• http://www.zulu.org.za/ : The official KwaZulu Natal Tourism bureau - also has some great pictures and interesting info on Zulu history.

Enjoy! We'll keep you posted!!

Applicants: Revisited

Jess writes:

As 2010 begins, I can't help but do the so-overly-cliche thing and start thinking back on how we got to this point. It certainly seemed that this journey to Peace Corps service was never ending at times... It has been a long and often bumpy ride to 2010.

While it feels now like several lifetimes ago, our first Peace Corps application was submitted in December, 2006. That's right, this last Christmas marked our 3 year anniversary as Peace Corps applicants. (Turns out, that's not uncommon for couples - Yikes.) That December was the beginning of something that Adam and I couldn't possibly comprehend at the time... one of the longest and hardest processes I've ever endured. The rollercoaster ride that is Peace Corps application as a couple has taught Adam and I more about ourselves, our relationship, and our dreams than we ever could have imagined. Especially those times - those many times - when service began slipping through our hands... again. So many times in the last three years we have felt the pang of losing our sense of reality and our grip on certain hopes. And yet, we have also felt the cautious and often strangely fearful exuberance of discovering that possibilities might once again be possible.

Dear endurance: how have you endured? (Usually, you didn't. It's okay.)

And through all the ups and downs of Peace Corps-ness, the rest of our lives slowly began to take shape, to fall into place. We received our degrees in Sustainable Community & Economic Development and Interdisciplinary Studies, we planned and enjoyed a truly beautiful wedding in Wine Country, we moved a couple of times and, thus, held down several jobs and/or related internships, Adam cooked, I cleaned (usually!), we had drinks with other couples and occasionally went out to dinner. All these pieces of the day-to-day slowly began to fit into their pre-determined places for continued life. Thus, to the unknowing eye, our days probably looked as though they were forming quite nicely into normal, typical, lives.

Dear unknowing eye: how little you did know.

Adam and I often joked that the rigors of Peace Corps may actually seem like a glorious vacation after the last few years (hence the somewhat ironic, but still pruposefully suited, blog title.) We are not so naive to think that this may be true, but then again, a few days of village boredom after training will most likely be met with a very warm welcome. Oh the things I might do again with boredom...

So, we enter 2010 with several long years in our wake and many unknowns about the near future. But, to be honest, I know we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The last few years, despite all the trials, have made us stronger, bound us closer, and brought us to our great adventure... to this journey together that will define each of us and us as one, to that place where we felt our lives together would truly begin. So there it is...

Dear 2010: Go ahead, let life begin.

Ringing in the New Year!

Jess writes:

Merry Christmas & Happy New Years to everyone!

If you're new to our blog, we hope our Christmas cards have directed you well! Please check back often as we plan to update regularly (at least during January... ha!) Not quite sure what our internet will look like in South Africa, but we'll try our best to keep everyone as updated as possible.

Speaking of updates... we've received our Staging emails today and we are set to leave for South Africa on January 28th, at 5:40pm!! We are also confirmed for staging in Washington D.C. on January 27th, at 12:30pm, and will be setting up our flight planes for that arrival tomorrow.

In January we will provide some more in-depth details concerning staging, training, contact info, blog specifics, etc. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, have a great New Years and we'll see you in 2010!!

Ribbons on my Fingers

Jess writes:

Needless to say, I miss good ol' clam chowder (Cape Cod style, of course). The funny thing is, I didn't realize how much I missed good ol' clam chowder until our recent trip back to Massachusetts in October. I can honestly say that growing up, the smell of that creamy concoction wouldn't have made me blink an eye, and yet, our first afternoon in Concord, the mere whiff of that cup-o-wonderfulness made me swoon. Quite seriously.

I guess its got me thinking about what we miss in our day-to-day lives... and more importantly, what we forget to miss. (How could I have ever forgotten about the everyday beauty of Cape Cod clam chowder?) So I realize now, with our days to departure drawing nearer, that I am far more conscious of such things than in the past. That is, when I have gone someplace for an extended time before, I have been very aware of what I might miss, but never very aware of what I might forget to miss. It's a funny concept...

On my first trip to France - at a precarious age of 16 - I was very aware that I would miss talking to my friends for two to three hours every night and I would become quickly aware that my hair dryer was not compatible. And yet, even after that short trip, it was the feel of my dog's fur that made me feel most at home when I returned.

When I left for college - at a horribly more precarious age of 18 - I was certain that the lack of my own washer/dryer (and mom's help!) and a full fridge would be the greatest possible misery of life away. But after three months away, it was the way my body sank perfectly into the couch cushions to watch a family movie that reminded most of home.

Perhaps the most obvious examples are those that are most foreign - a year abroad, a trip to the other side of the world - these were months and years when it seemed like such a long, long time to be so far, far away. And at times, I missed everything about home. But still, I was always astonished at how much I had forgotten to miss when I returned... the smell of BBQ's, the ease of talking, the chill of air conditioning, driving a car (ha!)!!

And while Paris and Asia may seem the most exotic, the period of time spent "away" from some "home" that has struck me the most has been my time here, in Illinois. It is the first time, in my life, that I have felt the full effect of those things that I had forgotten to miss. And it wasn't until that trip back to Massachusetts that I found myself saying aloud, "Oh, I hadn't thought about ____(fill_in_the_memory)_____ in ____(fill_in_the_number)____ years!" It turns out, those statements kinda throw you off a bit...

So what's the point?

Well, I've come to realize that those super, uber important icons of home that we forget to miss aren't lost because of a lack of past memories, but quite the opposite, because of the creation of new ones. The last few years have helped me to realize that we spend a lot of our lives creating new "homes" wherever we go, and the great deal of time and effort that goes into that process leaves little room in our limited space that we call a memory for all the nuances of our previous "homes".

Thus, and most importantly, these last few years have taught me that because those super, uber important icons of home fade, we must be diligent about returning home, or to our many homes, in order to remember. So that the creation of a new home doesn't entirely replace the very special place of our homes before... So that the smell of stewing clam chowder doesn't fall so far to the past that we can't recognize its unique place in our life...

It reminds me: Before one departure, my mom bought me a placard that read, "Go out and see the world, but come home for love." I realize now how very important that sentiment is. We go out to college, to travel, to serve... but we come home for family, for friends, for memories... We come home for "home".

I look forward to our new home in South Africa... but I also look forward to those return trips home - to revisiting, in their various locations, the small pieces of ourselves that remain a part of those places and that remind us to miss them so carefully. Simply put, I look forward to remembering what I have forgotten to miss, so that I can miss it lovingly again.