Drinking Beer!

So I am finally enjoying my first batch of Bangladesh Beer. The recipe is a Dark Lager kit from The Beverage People in Santa Rosa. If you know your beers, a lager goes through a period of refrigerated fermenting (or Lagering) before its second fermentation and then bottling. As you can imagine i have no way of lagering five gallons of beer for weeks at a time so I did not lager my beer. So I am not really sure what to call it... For those familiar with the Ukiah Brewing Company it is remarkably similar to a 10 Guilder. For all you others out there the closest thing I can come up with is a bit darker and more flavorful version of a Negro Modelo. There are some issue that have taken me a few days to figure out. When I added my priming sugar to the beer apparently I did not mix it very well because all the early bottles are carbonated well and all the later bottles have no carbonation at all. So now I need to go back and re-prime the uncabonated ones... At least I will have some to drink while I do it!

Check Out My Other Blog

I have started another blog for my Middle School Bike Club. We are building a rickshaw that will carry about six kids. Here is a link for you: http://bikeswithpurpose.blogspot.com/

All Bottled Up...

Just finish bottling my beer. I tasked it and it seems to be on the right track. I ended up with 26 - 22oz bottles. The capper (the one I scored at a thrift store in Ukiah for $5) was amazing. One-two weeks until I can drink it. Any guesses on if I'll wait one week or two? Yeah, when a range is given for something like the date that you can drink beer, do you think anyone actually waits the two weeks?

Some shirtless brewing action. Thanks to Jessica for snapping some pics.

Critical Mass #3 Bangladesh

So the critical mass in Bangladesh is three months old today. I missed the first two so I made a point to make this one. I am not sure about an actual count but there were over 200 riders! Bangladesh keeps surprising me with how progressive certain aspects are and how unbelievable backwards other parts are. I never would have thought that there would be a critical mas here and would have laughed if you told me there were more riders than I ever saw a the critical mass in San Luis Obispo.

I took the cargo bike and was going to take Lola but was glad that I did not! We rode a little over 12 miles and the entire ordeal took about 3 hours. There was lots of energy in the air and the number of cultures represented was pretty impressive. But I have to take my hat off to the number of Bangladeshi riders out there.

The Cargo bike was a hit and I became a shuttle for a couple of young kids that had run out of steam. The streets were lined with people pointing and clapping and cheering. There were riders blocking traffic and press photographers on motorcycles, guys with megaphones and all kinds of bikes. Here are some pics from the day.

The first riders trickle in...

 The big group amasses

Bike Parking

Couldn't resist...

I am thinking about importing a limited run of these. The demand would be epic...

Some live dancing and drumming. All part of the package.

Ken testing out the trail-a-bike during the mass photo.

I just rode single track!

So Bangladesh just moved up on my list and I owe it all to my newest aquaintence, Ken. My principal's wife Sara sent me "biker guy" Ken's email and sent Ken my email. Within hours Ken had emailed me letting me know that he would be out of town for a bit but when he got back he would contact me about a ride. He also mentioned a 15 day bike trek he would be taking to Nepal in April. All I could think was, "Seriously? 15 days in Nepal for the sole purpose of riding. This guy is legit!"

So Ken made it back and we set up a "Mountain Bike" ride which I was thinking would be lame dirt roads but that I was hoping would be more. We met at 7:00 am with 4 other riders and started the mad dash to get out of Dhaka. After about 5 miles of road riding Ken just hangs a left onto a trail I never would have seen. For the next 50 Km Ken led us on a dizzying maze of interconnected trails and paths in the delta areas outside of Dhaka. When I got home we had riden 70 Km, my legs were sore, and I was beat! I had ridden hills, hucked my bike off of 6 foot drops, crossed levy trails that were 6-12 inches wide, ridden through bamboo forests, seen ferrets, walked over bamboo bridges, had some close calls, and laughed like a kid again. One of the guys on the ride, Satish, took some pics and here they are:

TRAILS IN BANGLADESH!

And they were fun too. All the excitement of Mt. biking with a people factor. Kids would run out from their homes to yell greetings and wave. Some would just laugh! It was like a mountain bike race with people on the course cheering us on. Most of the trails were walking paths for people getting between villages, getting to the fields or from animals being led out to pasture. We were never far from civilizations but I felt like i was in nature. Cool sights fun riding and cool people.

Oh yeah, and it turns out I did not have the first Santa Cruz bike in Bangladesh... Yep, Ken has a SC Nomad... Bro-mance? I hope I don't come on too strong and scare Ken away! At least our bikes are different colors. Anyway, Thank you Ken for showing me some dirt, I needed it.

You don't want pics of this...

A couple of weekends ago it was the second Eid (religious holiday) here in Bangladesh. This Eid is known as the Bloody Eid as the people who can afford it, sacrifice a cow. For the three days leading up to Eid there was a livestock auction just outside of our neighborhood. After the auction cows were herded throughout the city to their new owners. Some well off families would have many cows. So for two days these cows were tied up outside of houses and washed daily. Some of these cows were good looking animals. Here are a few pictures of cows that were just down the street.

Conrad (one of the interns at the school) called the day before and asked if I wanted to go on a bike ride. I have been finding it very hard to get motivated to ride because the air quality here makes riding hard. So the outside motivation was welcomed and we agreed to meet at 7am to ride.

The ride was nice and we got out of Dhaka enough to see the pace of life slow. On the way out the the kids were all huddled around nondiscript locations on the side of the road. As we would ride by they would all turn around and yell what English they knew. Usually consisting of "Hi", "How are you (as a statement not a question), and "Thank you". Once in a while they would yell "What's your name?" like they expected us to stop and shoot the breeze with them. They would run after us for a little ways. We finally realized that because all the adults were at mosque they were trying to keep the kids occupied so they had set up these roadsides stands to distribute sweets.

On the way home all of the Mosques seemed to get out at the same time so the roads were flooded with people. Adults and children all dressed up in new and overly ornate clothes walking to their homes. We were just outside of Dhaka when we came upon our first cow being slaughtered. We road by in quiet shock. The next one we passed was right on the side of the main road. This gets pretty gruesome, so if you just ate you may want to skip it.


The cows are hobbled and then tipped over. The owner and friends or staff will hold the animal down and a special person then does the sacrificing. They cut the main artaries in the neck of the animal. Then they cut through the throat and pull the head back to let the animal bleed to death. For the next minute or two the animal is alive and is kicking and making the most horrible breathing noises through its now cut wind pipe. Pretty intense to watch. The rest of the ride home we saw countless cows in various stages of being butchered. Cows being skinned, being litterally hacked apart, cows being gutted... The worst was that part of our ride was through a small village where the streets were narrow with barely room for a rickshaw and people to walk through. The streets were boardered by walls on either side with doorways every so often leading to peoples homes. In this small street we were forced to get very intimate with the process.


I am not sure why it had so much significance to me but at this point I had to ride through a stream of cow blood that was running out of on of these poor animals. The worst was watching one cow be wrestled to the ground. There were cows that had already been slaughtered about 20 feet away so the cow must have known what was coming. There were about 40 people standing around watching so there was no way to get by. The cow was tied up around his neck and was kicking to keep the people off of him. It was quite dangerous in those tight of quarters. They eventually got some rope around the cows legs and then eight guys worked really hard to get this cow on the ground. The cow fought amaizingly well. The guys where pushing it over and twisting the cow's head by the horns to force it to the ground. It finally made it to the ground and I used the oportunity to sneak by.


Once we were back in Dhaka, cows were mostly in the skinning stage and they were everywhere. The main streets were lined with spectators, blood and cows. Animal sacrifice seems so dated. I eat meat and I realize that an animal had to die for it. I know millions of animals die every day to feed the human population of this earth. It is just the unnecessary cruelty that bothers me. Why not kill the animal quickly and painlessly and then let it bleed? I am not sure how I feel about the next aspect.

The owners of the cows are expected to give away a good portion of the meat to those in need. On the surface I think, yeah that is cool. In reality it is a bit more complicated. Begging is a profession here in Bangladesh. Women rent babies and then walk through the major intersections where traffic is stopped. Anyone with any kind of physical deformity will draw attention to it. Holding clubbed hands up to the window of your car. Part of the culture here is this attitude of giving to those in need but it has created a huge problem. It is said that the beggars can make a really good amount of money but then they have to give most of it to these pimps (I can't think of a more appropriate word) that bring them to town from the villages. Pretty crazy aspects of the culture here. Glad that Eid is over!

Finally Brewing!

Finally got my act together and brewed some beer! It is a Dark Lager Kit from The Beverage People in Santa Rosa. Everything went pretty well and now it is just a waiting game. There is something so satisfying about making things like beer and bread and mayonnaise from scratch. Things that we usually just buy at the store. Things that we take for granted. We go to the store to buy bread or beer like it is a singular item. But when you make these things you realize that they are a collection of ingredients and time and meticulous actions and stress and mistakes. It means so much more and tastes so much better. The next time you go to the store and buy a loaf of bread you appreciate everything about it. "My, what lovely crust. The airy quality of the bread" or "Oh, this beer has a great fresh hop flavor!" and you read the bottle and it talks of the variety and region of the hops used in the beer. Appreciation is back. Brewing your own beer makes other people's beer more interesting. Alright, I'll stop! Here are some pics of the process.

Steeping the brewers barley

Boiling the malt extract and barley tea. I am also sanitizing the copper wort chiller.

 The spent grains

 My wort chiller chillin. Tap water to ice bath to wort and to the drain. Worked ok, was not as fast as I was hoping... need larger coils I guess. It took about 40 minutes to get it from boiling to 80 degrees...

 Siphoning from the pot to the primary fermenter.

Overall the process is surprisingly easy and only took about 3 hours. It seemed so daunting and I have been putting it off because I was a bit intimidated... but of course there was no need! Should have started brewing sooner!

Random Tidbits

Ride number three today. Good to get out in the sticks again. I met up with two other teachers from school and road with them. Three foreigners riding bikes for fun... Needless to say we were a magnetic sight. Kids were running out from the roadside, yelling from across the river and generally going crazy. I felt like a greater at MallWart, having to say hi to every one I passed.

Went to the air conditioning shop and bought copper to make a wort chiller. No, not for removing strange growths on my body but for cooling my beer after boiling. I am getting close to brewing...

The first quarter is already over here! Time is flying with so much to do.

Our lime tree just exploded with blossoms last week. Can't wait for a G-n-T with home grown limes.

Lost my wedding ring for the second time at the soccer field. This time I was not successful in locating it... I am not superstitious so this is not a bad omen for our marriage or anything. Just kind of a bummer. Now I can say, "I left my ring in Bangladesh."

We are done unpacking our shipment from the states and just need to hang a few more pics on the wall. Nice to have a home again!

The cargo bike is a hit at school. The little kids just go crazy when they see it and start firing off questions that never occurred to me to ask.

Other than that, just living.

Thialand

We just returned from a week in Thialand... It seems so strange to still be teachers and yet now we are able to travel comfortably. We flew from Dhaka to Bangkok and stayed one night in a nice hotel there. The next morning we flew to Krabi and that was when it really started to feel like a vacation. We where greeted at the airport with a killer van and driver who drove us to the coast.

Good thing they don't sell these in the US, because I would go into debt for that!

On the way to the coast I snapped this epicness. This is a scooter with a sidecar, oil drum BBQ and many expandable storage options. The best part? The fish still on the BBQ while doing 35 MPH!

Here is a shot of the boats in the bay

 A shot for the gearheads out there... whomever you are. The boats have these ridiculously long drive shafts with the prop just hanging out there about 10-12 feet off the engine.

The ladies enjoying the 15 minute Boat ride to Railay Bay

 A shot of the Railay Bay in the distance. Unbelievable rock formations.

Here is a shot of the Railay Bay area. Our hotel is the green roof just to the right of the middle of the screen... Bummer!You may notice the ocean on the far side and the ocean on the bottom of the pic. That strip of land is it!

Our little cabin.

Night shot of the next beach down

Night Shot of the rock at our beach.

The ladies in the water.

Lola learned how to snorkle

Our little flower child singing to herself on the beach.

It rained a lot so this was one of our only sunsets

We had one really nice and sunny day on the beach (notice the umbrella just in case it rained again).

 You just can't help photographing these guys, they must get tired of all the attention.

There were some other great sights but I didn't do them justice or I didn't have a camera. I took a total of four pictures in Bangkok, none of which were any good. I failed to document our hotels which were amazing. I need to get better at this photojournalism thing! Overall feelings of Thailand? It felt a lot like Hawaii. The people are friendly, laid back and reserved (unless they see your child and then look out. Lola was grabbed and tickled and cheeks pinched multiple times). I was not impressed with the food in Railay Beach. I was expecting great Thai food but we mostly ate over priced decent Thai food. Most of the menus were over loaded with western and European cuisine which is a bummer. I would still recommend Railay as we had a blast despite the food and the weather and would be interested in seeing more of Thailand.

Learn Something New Every Day

Moving to a totally new place... pretty cool.
Getting out of a rut in my professional life... very cool.
Getting paid more to do it... bonus!
Seeing a whole new set of travel options open up in front of us... just keeps getting better.
Learning something new about my wife... fun!
I just watched Jessica play softball today. I knew she played in college and knew she was probably good. People have told me, "Jessica is a really good softball player." but I never really knew. Jessica is a REALLY good softball player. She exudes confidence and her movements show a history of practice and fine tuning. I missed her home run today but I did get to see some great field work and a nice base hit, but it is the way she carries herself on the field. You just know she is good. Here are some pics of her crushing it.

Nice extension!

Warming up

Let 'er rip

This weekend's project.

We have been trying to do some customizing to our home and since we don't have all our furniture yet we are kind of limited to paint. We had the apartment painted and the idea for the entry way is to do some gold fleur di lis. So I was at the hardware store and picked up some paint and here is the result...

This was the original that I modified. There were more ruffles on all the petals that I filled in. 

(Thank you graphics factory)

This is the design doubled in size.

The stencil cut out.

The first one done!

The finished look. I may do some gold lines between... Jessica says she wants more! but it is very time consuming.

Fabric Market

Jessica organized a trip to the local fabric market. First stop was the "New Market" and the next was "Chadni Chowk". We were a caravan of two cars and a total of 5 people and a baby. It took us about 30 minutes to get there as traffic was light and both cars made it at the same time (a feat I still cannot explain). We started wandering through the New Market which is just a collection of permanent, semi-permanent and temporary shops. The vast majority of which are completely useless because they are not what we were shopping for or were a near exact copy of the ten other stores right next door. Here are some gems from the New Market:

If this were the US the guy would have boxed them up and used a hand truck or maybe a small golf cart to deliver these. It is not only simpler here but it just looks better!

The stairway in the middle of the market. The best part? Guy in the middle is rocking a half shirt and it is not pretty.

The real deal

Veggies. Is it wrong that it looks better on some nasty concrete than it does under some florescent lights in a grocery store. The grocery store still wins though because it would take about 10 minutes of bargaining to get a decent price here.

Not sure I even need to caption this...

Its the little things. I still have not figured out the color coding system.

The next stop was Chadni Chowk's. I huge fabric market. The outside is temporary tarp covered stands selling shoes, clothing and the like. Inside are tiny little stalls, the largest about 8feet by 10 feet and the norm was about 6 feet by 4 feet. Each owned by a different person. Lined floor to ceiling with folded fabrics of pretty much any style. At this point all were overwhelmed and we just wandered through a fraction of the stalls. We will be back though! My mom would love it. It was really hard to get good pictures because of the close quarters and the florescent lighting but here are a few to give you the idea:

Jessica in the zone.

Hands on the hips signifying the resignation that there is no way any decisions are being made today.

Liz with baby and Wendy wheeling and dealing.

Michelle and Jessica.

The Stacks. I have no idea how things stay so neat.