Supriya Uchil

Priyas Dad writing this post.

For the first time I entered a highway of six lanes with contradictory advise from my dear daughter. She said to me once watch the blind spot. I was looking for a blind spot to park my car when still in the fast lane. I was looking at the drivers side view mirror and i did not see any cars. I looked at my daughter who is still concerned about the blind spot. Finally I turned back and saw whether any cars are touching my bumper. Fortunately there were none. I drove around ten miles perfectly from my point of view. However, my daughter will all the tensions written on her face bluntly told me to pull over to the next exit. Well story ends. 

Dad knows the ambassador of Liberia and we got invited for the Independence Day celebration of Liberia in Washington DC yesterday. We drove down from Philly, Dad wanted to stop for an obligatory meal no. 10 (fish fillet) and strawberry milk shake at McDonalds on the way. He loves the milk shake and was happy slurping away at it.

The celebration was excellent, we saw several people with Liberian attire. The colors of the headress and gowns are just gorgeous. We heard the Liberian national anthem and had a pretty good time. I am glad we went and am excited to see whether I can figure out a way to help the country while still in school.

Yesterday my friend Saurabh made me feel guilty about not cooking for my father. Dad has been doing a lot of the cooking and assembling of furniture, while I have been whining about how much work there is to do but not really doing anything.

So today I made Dad tandoori chicken, it turned out really well. On Friday I am inviting a bunch of the newcomers to dinner at my place and I will make tandoori chicken again.

• chocolate milk
• strawberry milk
• orange juice
• little wallaby yogurt containers
• chips and 5 layer dip
• dark chocolate
• blueberry icecream
• butter pecan icecream
• lemon pound cake
• coconut macaroons
• blueberry pie

Its driving me nuts to see him eat all these things, he is diabetic and should be on a diet. I think he is doing all this because Mom is not here to chastize him. This morning I looked at my fridge and couldnt understand why  there were so many things in there.

Today Dad and I went and saw the musical Lion King in the afternoon. My Dad doesnt enjoy movies and cultural shows in general and he thought I was taking him to a childrens movie. We dressed up and walked to the Kimmel Center which is just a few blocks away. He really enjoyed the show, the costumes, the music, the colors, the ambience. It was so pretty. Hours later he said he could still see the colors. I am so happy I took him to the show, it was his birthday gift from me. Its the first musical he has seen and I was worried that he would get bored. At the end of the show, he said he wanted to see the Philadelphia Symphony. I asked him if he wanted to listen to Beethoven and he didnt know who that was. So now I am wondering whether he will really enjoy the orchestra.

After the show, I went over to my friend Sels place. Sel is from Ghana and is into dancing. So we salsa danced at his place, we are both just beginners and have learnt separately so it was funny when we named our moves differently and got all mixed up with the names. Sel is into experimental cooking and made me an avacado honey smoothie which inspite of the green color is delicious. Sel teases me a lot and reminds me of my brother Ameet. Finally I have one friend in Philly. I have been quite lonely here in Philadelphia so far. The time difference between Seattle and here means I always miss my friends on the phone.

Yesterday after we went to ikea, we went to a store that sold all kinds of sporting equipment. Dad finally bought his golf set and tons of golfing gear. I was so surprised when he told me at the check out counter that he felt he needed more time in the store. So we went back again, my Dad hates shopping. He normally sits in the chair closest to the entrance when Mom goes shopping. And every ten minutes he will call or tell Mom that we are late for whatever event we are supposed to go to next. Even if the event is the next day! So anyway I was surprised when he said he wanted to shop some more. I agreed and sat in a corner and listened to my ipod while Dad tried on all sorts of stuff. Needless to say, he came out very contented about the whole experience.

On our way out, we found a beer outlet. I have never been to a beer outlet. Its kind of cool, they have tons and tons of beer in large boxes. Dad picked a box and complained that it was heavier than his golf kit. That evening we had our first homecooked meal in Philadelphia. Rice, dal, fish fry and beer. Comfort food from back in India. The good old times.

The plates were broken and some idiot (me) packed some liquid in one of the boxes. Needless to say its all over the box and on every single item on it. Dad and I cleaned it up, what a mess. We went to ikea yesterday and bought like every single thing in the store. It was a draining experience. My furniture arrives today and my Dad timidly admitted yesterday that he hasnt assembled a single thing in his entire life. He will be venturing into new territory when he assembles everything we bought.  It will be fun, I dont know how many screws we will have left behind. When Gabriel assembled my dresser, there were plenty of screws left behind but he convinced me that ikea put extra screws in there for all items. I totally believed him too. How gullible!

What a totally boring weekend, I went shopping at Trader Joes and went and bought a bunch of stuff at Target. I am waiting for my father to arrive today so I will have someone to talk to. I dont know anyone in town yet so I have been staring a lot at my ceiling. The apartment is air conditioned which is a welcome respite from the humidity. On Saturday night I met a bunch of second year students at this place called Continental, this has been my social activity for the last three days.

I have been calling my friends incessantly in Seattle, Saurabh has been very very kind and has been putting up with multiple calls at all times of the night and day. I think I am done with my brownie points with Saurabh now.

I am at the library using the internet right now and the guy next to me is exhibiting some rage. He has broken two pens with his bare hands and is all red in the face. This is making me quite nervous so am keeping this short.

Today is my last day in Seattle, yesterday the movers came and finally picked up my 20 boxes weighing 850 pounds. What an insane amount of junk I have collected over the years.

I just had lunch with Jigna and am off for a jog now in Queen Anne. For dinner I am taking Dave out to Caseulitas, my favorite place for dinner. Bye bye Seattle, and to all the people who have meant so much to me.
Yahoo, Philadelphia here I come! My friend Rene is taking me for a ride in his private aeroplane over Pennsylvania and New York this Sunday. What a wonderful treat!!!

Its my last week in Seattle and I am really nostalgic. This means sometimes I feel bad about leaving and think of all my friends here.

A hike with Gabriel

Yesterday Gabriel and I went for a hike in the eastern cascades. People who go on hikes with me know that patience is a virtue, I get all excited for the first 10 minutes and then wear myself out. and eat everything I can find.

True to myself, I ate my lunch at 10:30am right outside the trailhead. Gabriel wanted to know if I was really hungry and I pretended I was. It was a pretty day and I took my ipod along which Gabriel thinks is a lame thing to do on a hike. But I had a great time. We went up the pass so we could see Stewart Mountain and I took a nap. We got back home around 6pm, I fell asleep as soon I entered the car. Hiking is tiring but you get to see cool things and you get to bond with a friend whom you wont see for a while.

A fun activity with Dave

Dave and I are best friends, he is like family. That just means I dont really listen to him well and we have gotten into the habit of just doing our own things when we hang out together. Last week Dave and I talked about having a fun activity together. Since Daves arm is broken and perhaps his rib too, he is a little whiny nowadays so we couldnt do anything active. So we went and bought tons of ice and then took some rosemary mint from Daves garden.

Then we sat in lawnchairs underneath a huge madrona tree in his frontyard, it was a warm sunny day in Seattle and there was a light breeze going. And we had the best activity in the world. We talked and giggled and drank lemonade filled with ice. I am really going to miss Dave a lot.

Cooking Indian food with Asayo and Jigna

Last week, Jigna, Asayo and I got together for a cookout at her place. I was showing Asayo how to make palak with chole, an Indian dish with spinach and garbanzos. We talked a lot, we ate a lot. We looked at her dog Luna a lot. Good times. Asayo taught me how to make miso soup and its now my favorite soup in the world.

Seattle has so many memories with so many friends.