My life in here in Beba has been similar to the previous posts I have written. I am still living here at the church and teaching English in two different towns. I have a couple more stories about Egyptians that I find telling about the culture as a whole.

Both of them actually happened as I was travelling between one of the towns where I teach and the one where I live. As you may recall I have been taking microbuses between these two towns which they pack completely full of people and then go careening off down the road to try and make as many trips as possible in the day so they can make enough money to pay rent. They aren’t the wealthiest people, these microbus drivers, but they do seem to normally make enough to at least feed their families.

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The One-Straw Revolution is Masanobu Fukuoka’s manifesto about natural food and farming. It is a collection of short essays that were translated from Japanese. Masanobu was trained as a scientist, but rejected modern agribusiness and centuries of agriculture lore. He perfected what he called the “do-nothing” technique of farming. Masanobu Fukuoka died in 2008 at a ripe old age yet still stunning the world with his highly effective no-work farming techniques.

This little book is filled with amazing insights into modern life. These excerpts were taken from sections on food and natural diet. Masanobu Fukuoka puts into clear and concise language a practical way to return to a state of health for our world and ourselves. I highly recommend getting your own copy as this book is so full of profound understandings of nature that they are best absorbed in small doses.

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It’s hard to climb the corporate ladder in size 22 shoes.

Despite not being able to drink because we just started the GAPS diet two months ago, we had a very special and wonderful St. Patrick’s Day this year. We spent the evening busting our sides at a play by Sebastien Archibald called The Death of a Clown. I found it especially pertinent at this time with the Olympics over and Vancouver settling down to think about the debt we now have to pay for our two weeks of extravagance.

Humour is always a good way to get your point through and I spent the whole evening laughing (except at the end). I thought everyone did an excellent job and was just wondering why there wasn’t a bunch of folks taking photos and recording the whole production–I wish I had gotten some good photos! We were fortunate to see it, because the play was only in Vancouver for one night before it goes on tour to Gabriola, Tofino, Saltspring and Victoria by April 4th, 2010. The full schedule and details can be found on the ITSAZOO Productions website.

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I have had quite the exciting, travel-filled, and busy month which I will regal you all with presently. However, I have been thinking for the past few months that I need to talk about the generosity of the culture here. It really is quite remarkable the extent to which this generosity is a part of the everyday life of the people.

I wanted to make sure that I knew a little bit more about the culture before I talked about it, because I wasn’t sure how different my experience as a foreigner would be from the average Egyptian. Although my experience is certainly different as a foreigner, I don’t think that this takes away from the culture as a whole.

In Cairo, and probably some of the more touristy places where they are used to foreigners it is common for people to try and take advantage of the foreigner. So for the first month this was mostly my experience in Egypt. I had to make sure I knew how much things should cost so that I wasn’t charged extra for being a foreigner. And there are some touristy places, like the pyramids, or the Egyptian Museum where foreigners actually have a separate entrance price than Egyptians. I understand that these places take up-keep and that foreigners in general have much more money that Egyptians, so I understand why they have this policy, but it still meant that I had to be aware.

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I figured since I have been living at a Coptic Orthodox center in the church compound I should probably write about what the Coptic Church is exactly. Although what I know of the Coptic Church is mostly from my observations and conversations I have had with people, I have only read one book on the subject so this is mostly my opinion.

Although I consider myself to be fairly educated, especially about Christianity as a whole, I did not realize until much too recently that the Middle East contained an indigenous Christian population which traces its routes to the first disciples. The Coptic Orthodox Church is one of those Christian populations and traces its roots to the apostle Mark. It currently makes up about 10% of the population in Egypt.

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Now here is a great alternative for cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, especially if you like the flavors of Asia this is modeled on Sally Fallon’s raisin chutney recipe in Nourishing Traditions.

• 1 lb (500g) fresh dates (pitted)
• 1 lb (500g) fresh cranberries
• 1 t red chili flakes
• 1/2 head garlic, crushed
• 2 T coriander seeds
• 1 T cumin seeds
• 1 T anise seeds
• 1 T fenugreek seeds
• 5 black peppercorns
• 2 inches ginger, grated
• 2 t sea salt
• 1/4 c whey
• 1/2 c water

Method: Cook cranberries with water until soft. Add dates and mash. Peel and pound ginger and garlic in a morter and pestle. Place the spices in a pan and dry roast until the aroma rises from the pan. Process until well ground.

Mix the date and cranberries with the spices, ginger and garlic, add the salt and whey. Place in jars, pour in enough whey to cover the top of the chutney. Let stand about 2 days in a warm spot in your kitchen. Transfer to fridge and eat within 2 months.

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I finally realized that even though I spend a lot of time raving on about the wonders of kombucha I haven’t posted a basic description for how to make it. Every ten days I follow this routine which provides me and my man with tasty kombucha tea while the next batch ferments on the countertop. Halve the recipe if you are the only one drinking the kombucha tea.

• 6 liters (quarts) water
• 8 bags strong black tea
• 2 c sugar
• kombucha mushroom (SCOBY)
• 3/4 – 1 c kombucha tea

Method Bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and dissolve. I often like to use unrefined palm sugar or raw cane sugar instead of refined sugar, but this gives the kombucha a different sort of flavor, the refined sugar is meant to be the best to use for kombucha and gives it a light and crisp flavor. I just don’t like using Rogers sugar as I heard they were using GM sugar beets. Add the tea bags and cover the pot (I use a stainless steel stock pot). Let this steep well and cool to at least room temperature.

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I stumbled across this really practical and well done video on how to make water kefir. Although I have been reading about kefir for years, I hadn’t had an opportunity to make it myself until this year when my sister brought some up to me from a friend who had given her some. This stuff is fantastic. Convenient, quick to make, and very healthy. I love that she uses the ole fashioned cane sugar. It is said to be good for your drains too–who’d have thunk it, right?

Anyway I had to share this video, it is short as well, exactly the amount of time it takes to refresh your kefir gems for the next batch.

This video is by castingvaldes.

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Published August 2009 in Healthy Options magazine, New Zealand

Recipe for homemade lacto-fermented dill pickles.

Lactic Acid Fermentation: Symbiotic Man’s Secret Ingredient for Health and Longevity

Many years ago, I worked at the Inya Lake Hotel in Myanmar which also does catering and events for the various embassies in Yangon. It was Korea’s National Day and the embassy was having a big function in the hotel ball room. While the rest of the kitchen was in the usual uproar creating the hot dishes for the buffet, I stepped into the cool room we normally reserved for ripening fruit. It was like stepping into a different world.

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This is a very simple recipe, but has a fantastic flavor. Any type of cabbage can be used.

• One firm cabbage
• 2-3 chilis
• 6 keffir lime leaves
• 2 Tablespoon coarse sea salt

Method Cut cabbage into quarters, remove inner core and slice thinly. Alternatively grate or put through a food processor. Put into a bowl. Add sea salt and toss.

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