I don't like bugs.

I was making a sort of black bean salsa the other day and grabbed a green pepper out of my fridge. When I cut it open it was the grossest thing I've seen in awhile; the inside was covered in brown stuff and half the seeds were gone. Then I took an even closer look, and screamed; there was a full grown caterpillar inside my green pepper. Ew ew ew... I have no idea how it got there since the pepper had no holes in it, but judging from the amount of caterpillar poo in the vegetable, it had probably hatched and grown up there.

Of course, I don't kill bugs (I'm vegan, yo) so I just put the little veggie house on the ground outside. If the caterpillar lives, whatev and if he gets eaten by a bird or something then it's natural.

I wonder if other vegans would agree with this? What do y'all think about killing bugs? I don't agree with it (how could I refuse to eat honey or wear silk but walk around squishing bugs, right?)

But I hate bugs.

Especially ants. We have an ant problem in our house (and this entire city I think). It's pretty bad, I can't leave food out for literally five minutes without it becoming covered in ants. Sometimes I have to brush off a table before I can use it because it's covered in ants. It's gross. But I don't kill them, and I don't let my family use poison in the house (mainly because I'm worried about it hurting my cat, and also because the ants will just come back anyways)


Ants are small so you can't tell how gross they are. So here's a close up picture I took in my kitchen the other day...


(click on it to see more detail... if you dare)

Look at those crazy Middle Eastern ants.

I'm creeping myself out here. And I've just realized that writing a post about bugs right before I have a nap isn't the best idea. I bet I'll imagine bugs crawling on me as I try to sleep. Or actually will have bugs on me, it's pretty likely judging from this post.

ew ew ew

A quick meal and a bit about Ramadan

So here's my meal... I tried Linda McCartney sausages for the first time today, and I was pretty impressed. They had a great texture and taste, but were very salty. I'm scared to see how much sodium I just ate... So just had those with some mashed potatoes (with soy milk, a bit of vegan margarine, and some parsley and garlic powder) and a bunch of plain steamed green beans.
Mmmm....

So this is just something quick and easy. I thought I had a bad cold, but it's been almost a week now, so I'm guessing it's a flu. So, anyways I haven't been cooking much, some veggie stew (and whole wheat dumplings of course) the other day, but it's mostly just peanut butter on toast and fresh fruit.

So, aside from food... what's been going on? Well it's Ramadan now. While I'm not Muslim, Ramadan has a huge effect on life when you're living in an Islamic country.
(What's Ramadan? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan)

Besides not being allowed to eat or drink in public during the day, Ramadan is certainly felt at my school as well. We've had more absences since it started, and some children have been a bit worse-behaved. I guess it's because the parents are allowing their kids to stay up until all hours with the rest of the family...

"Most practicing Muslims, especially children and the elderly, have a light meal or snack before dawn. This light meal is called Suhoor or Sohoor or Sehri, and is considered an act of Sunnah. This tradition is practised by Muslims worldwide. Cafes and restaurants, in Muslim countries, stay open till early morning hours in Ramadan to serve food and drink for Suhoor."
-from the Wikipedia article

(I guess it's easier to fast all day if you stay up all night...)

But I can handle the tired children because of Ramadan working hours! Normally I'd start work at 7:30 (technically, but I would actually get in by 7 everyday) and finish at 2. Ramadan hours are 8:30 (but I'm getting to school at 7:45) till 1:30...

So I have quite a bit more to write about but things just aren't flowing tonight and I'm sleepy, so tomorrow or sometime this weekend I'll finish this up.