The Happiest Place on Earth

Green (most happy), Blue, Purple, Orange, Red (least happy)

When someone says, “I just got back from the happiest place on Earth,”  what usually comes to mind is a sweet dream about candyland or Disney World.  Maybe not anymore.  According to the New Economics Foundation, a British independent “think-and-do” tank, Costa Rica turns out to be this planet’s nirvana.  The Happy Planet Index measure not the value of a country in dollar amounts, but rather the greater well being, happiness, and healthiness of the country.  In addition it measures the sustainable development footprint, which will improve the lives in the future.

This challenges the thought that countries with higher GDPs and HDIs live happier lives, as the study doesn’t even take those measures into account.  In a world where we think of development as a form of government, pumping money into projects, and driving fancy cars, this has to make you think.  Central America pretty much swept the top.  Following Costa Rica in happiness was the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guatemala and Vietnam.   Out of the 143 countries in the study, the US ranked a pitiful 114.  That may come as no surprise considering 1 in 10 women in the U.S. are on antidepressants, with men just slightly behind.  On top of that, our sustainability footprint is one of the worst in the world, bringing down our grade for the future.

Developed nations are so quick to judge our less developed neighbors, and seem to have all the right answers for them.  We tell them how to run their countries, plant their crops, build their homes and drive their cars.  We tell them where money should go and who shouldn’t have any.  We support military coups and fund military operations.  We teach their children that our way is the right way.  But the right way to what?  Hot water and clean cloths?  Maybe it is.  Happiness?  Probably not.

I think this just goes to show that we too have a lot to learn.  The ‘Pura Vida‘ lifestyle seems to be working, what is holding us back from embracing it?  Or maybe we just need monkeys, beautiful beaches and tasty food.

They Won! Twice!

Adam Dunn after his 300th Home Run

I feel like I’m one of the lucky Nationals fan who has actually seen them win, at home, at the stadium.  I’ve tried to go to as many games this year that I can, but I have yet to see them win.  I have to tell you, watching a winning game is much more enjoyable than another loss.  To have the crowd on their feet for the last out is a great feeling.

This weekend brought two out of three victories over the Braves.  In addition, Dunn crushed his 300th homer on Saturday.  All in all a great weekend for the worst team in the MLB.

Because I’m Not Too Cool: Medieval Times

Medieval Times

Because I’m Not Too Cool is a new series about things that some people might think they are just too cool to do, when in fact, when done, turn out to be some of the best things ever.

I know what you are thinking, because well, I thought it too.  Before committing to this adventure, I thought Medieval Times would be the last place you’d catch me on a Saturday night.  It is expensive, it is kind of weird, and it is for kids, right?  Well, partially.  It is definitely expensive, it could be considered weird, but I think I had a better time than any kid there.  We found some discounted tickets, a good crew, and a reason to go.  Kareem’s life long dream of becoming a knight was about to come a birthday reality.

They have a pretty brilliant business plan.  They force you to get there early, in order to get the best seats, and trap you in while selling you anything from handmade swords to overpriced knight paperweights.  While we didn’t get any souvenirs, the bar certainly made a few of our bucks.  After all, what better way to celebrate the knighting of Sir Kareem than a Medieval Margarita, served in a killer commemorative chalice?

The feast turned out to actually be one fit for kings.  Everyone was fed soup, half a chicken, ribs, potatoes and dessert.  All of it surprisingly well seasoned and tasty, and all served without utensils.

But the food was nothing compared to the show.  I think it probably helped that our view was slightly blurred with vodka, but man was it exciting.  Each section is given a Knight to cheer for.  We had the Black and White Knight.  Our crew cheered on his successes and moaned when he was struck.  We booed his opponents, and were on our feet when he was victorious.  It felt a little like I imagine a kid feels like when he/she goes to their first sporting event.  They didn’t care who won before arriving, but would be devastated when the team they started cheering for lost. Thank God we won, because I don’t know what I would have done had we been defeated.

It really was a hilarious night.  When you are surrounded by 200 other people (some of them actually Medieval buffs, others just as hesitant as you), it is hard to not let lose and have a great time.  A true Knight (get it?) to remember.

Or the Starbucks

Urban Farms

Photo taken from http://www.commongoodcityfarm.org/

I saw this on NBC’s Nightly News the other night and thought it was great.  Glad to see DC can make it to the news for something other than crime and Obama.  Be sure to check out the video and the Common Good City Farm website.

If you plant it, they will come.  MSNBC

Litterbug for Life?

International Tidy Man

DC neighborhood blogs, like the Prince of Petworth have been writing about this for a long time.  PoP even started a neighborhood Clean Up day because of it.  For the most part, I’ve just been able to blow it off as “part of living in the city,” but today I saw something that really rubbed me the wrong way.

I was sitting out on my porch talking on the phone when I saw a guy walking down the sidewalk.  I didn’t think anything of it, as he was just strolling down the street.  I did notice he had a brown bag, most likely with a 40 of Old English nestled inside, but that seems far too normal around here, so I didn’t take a second glance.  Surprisingly, a cop rolls up from around the corner and asks the man to dump out the beer.   He seemed a little pissed (as anyone who just bought a new bottle of booze would be), but complied without trouble.  It was when the cop started to slowly ride off that the man got angry.  He yelled something, threw up his hands, and slammed the bottle on the middle of the alley he was standing in.  The bottle smashes, and 40 oz of glass spew all over the street.  The po po, who I’m sure saw the whole thing, didn’t seem to care.  What got me was that the cop cared enough to make the man pour out his beverage, but not enough to get angry about breaking a bottle all over the street!  Clearly the neighborhood would have been better off with a drunk guy walking home, than a street full of glass.

I’d say that most people will agree with me that littering goes hand in hand with economic levels.  Around the world, trash lined streets haunt poor neighborhoods.  Yet it would be hard to find a gum rapper in McLean.  So what is it that makes people litter?  Do people litter because they don’t care?  Because they don’t know better?  As a way of sticking it to the man?  No one wants to live in a dumpster, so why treat your community like a trash can?

I think it is probably a combination of several reasons.  First off people don’t care.  If you take no ownership of your neighborhood, why does it matter if you throw your empty cigarette box on the ground.  I’d say that most people who litter have seen their parents, friends, and neighbors do it their whole lives.  They know that maybe someone will come by and clean it up, and if they don’t, oh well.  Secondly, because they have never learned not to.  I’m sure people say, “don’t litter” when you are in elementary school, but they probably have not learned the effects of trash on local rivers, water supplies, and children’s hygiene.

While I think that neighborhood clean ups are great, and I love the initiative, it isn’t curing the problem.  Children need to learn from day one that it is not ok.  The problem lies when their families don’t know that.  It creates this never ending cycle, forming litterbugs that will most likely be littering lifers.  How can you make someone care?

Did You Know?

Breaking Down White Lightning

Parked in Van Ness

It finally happened to me.  Someone busted a hole in poor little White Lightning.  Just before I set off to the ‘developing world’ a few weeks ago, I received the unfortunate reminder that the place I call home is still far from perfect.  It was a very weak moment for me.  One filled with frustration, anger, curse words, and fist slams.  Who would have thought my car was safer in Columbia Heights than Van Ness?

By getting me and another car down the street, they caused over $300 in damage, 7 hours (between the two of us) of lost vacation time, and two royally pissed off drivers.  All for 1 cell phone charger.

So I’m left asking myself, why would anyone do this?  Are times tough, and you need any buck you can get?  If that were the case, you would have thought they would look through the cars a little better to get a few cds, bike seat, and a couple of Frisbees.  Instead I’d say it was a bored, lazy, good for nothing, looking for a cheap thrill.  I’m sure he sold my charger for $5, but that obviously isn’t worth the risk of jail time.

Just the other day, when I was out for a run, I noticed two smashed windows near U st.  This is a huge problem in the city, with no solution, that I know of, in sight.  So what can we do about it?  Keep kids in school?  Set up a curfew?  Have a more noticeable police presence around the city?  Probably all of those would help, but I just don’t think it would fix the problem.  We have to start at the root.  Figure out the motivations, and fix them.

The Quest for the Perfect Pig: Urban BBQ – By Kareem

Pulled Pork

Quest for the Perfect Pig is a series on local BBQ.  Be sure to check out reviews of Rib Pit, Rocklands and Mr. B’s.

Our hunt for BBQ takes us to the Urban Bar-B-Que Company in Bethesda.  I certainly didn’t expect to find anything special in Bethesda but I was pleasantly surprised.

I’ve been eating enough BBQ lately to have a general idea of what I want when I get to these places. So like usual, I ordered a BBQ beef brisket sandwich with a side of mac and cheese. Doug ordered pulled pork with fries and cole slaw. I must say that this place was so far the best of all the places I’ve been. For your meat you had two sauce choices, red sauce and yellow sauce. Me being the not so exciting person I am went for the red (which is your regular brown) sauce. The meat was very very very tender and smoked to a smoky goodness. The bun that it came on could have been a little better (if I recall, it was a hamburger like bun) but it wasn’t bad. The mac and cheese seemed like it was basic velveeta mix but they compensated for it by sprinkling freshly shredded cheddar on top…I found that to be a very nice touch and it tasted good to me.

No BBQ trip would be complete without having a few ribs so that’s exactly what we did! We ordered a full rack of ribs and layed them on the table to stare in awe. They were were a long brown smoked smelling sight to behold. I’m pretty sure they use a dry rub on the meat and I for one will not complain. It made for a tender and tasty party in my oral cavity.  I think most of you would approve of such an event! Unfortunately all good thing must come to an end and this BBQ outing was no exception, by the time we left, there was very little to show for all the food we ordered but sauce drippings and a tiny bit of food that we brought with us to enjoy later. I think everyone should experience the food served at Urban BBQ, I for one will be back!

Flavorfly Yours,

Kareem

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Reflections on Guatemala

Lago Atitlan

I’m not going to write some sad post about the state of Guatemala.  I’m not going to talk about poverty, hardship, or corruption.  I’m not going to write about that because frankly, Guatemala deserves better.  Well, that and The Haysayers didn’t wander too far from the tourist bubble.

Street Scene in La Antigua Guatemala

Instead, I’m going to write about how our trip was pretty awesome.  We did as much as we could, with the short time we had.  We hiked Volcan Pacaya, shopped the markets, wandered through towns, napped, ate, swam in Lago Atitlan, and toured the coffee farm, Finca Filidelfia.  We met people on the street, tried to get to know some of our vendors, drank our fair share of Gallo and coffee, and talked government with a bar tender.

View from Casa Elena in San Pedra La Laguna

Starting in the historic former capital of Antigua, and continuing over to the hillside villages of Lago Atitlan, allowed for the perfect mix of adventure and relaxation.

The small towns around Lago Atitlan offered hammocks, incredible views, cheap food and leisure.  As we boarded a small boat to cross the lake from Panajachel to San Pedro, I couldn’t help but feel blown away by the three towering volcanoes casting their shadows on the clear water.  It was so easy to just sit around the lake and take it all in.

Arco Santa Catarina

Antigua offered wonderful architecture, lining the cobblestone streets.  The town was obviously home to many tourists, and everything comes with them.  There was no shortage of traditionally dressed women hawking their colorful tapestries and jewelry, or Spanish/English menus in the downtown restaurants.  But it was easy to see more than just that side of the city, as it had so much to offer.  We would sit for hours at a time around the Parque Central, watching the children run around in their school uniforms, or the men shinning shoes.

Volcan Pacaya

It was from Antigua that we headed to one of the surrounding volcanoes for a climb.  The reason everyone chooses Volcan Pacaya, is certainly not easy access or the just mediocre views, but the scene at sunset from the top.  The volcano is very active, offering hikers the opportunity to get a close as they want to the rivers of lava.  At one point I could see the lava flowing beneath my feet.  Needless to say, the bottoms of my shoes will never be the same.

But this trip left me hanging.  Not that I didn’t get what I wanted to out of the trip, because I most certainly did, but it left me longing for so much more.  It made me realize how much I ignore all of the adventure in my every day life.  How I get stuck in this work, go out, do the same thing nearly every week routine.  There is so much more to see in this world.  There are so many more people left for me to meet.  I can say that I’ve been to 15 countries, but how much did I really see in those countries?  I could live in Guatemala for years and still not know what the country is all about.  Reality is, Columbia Heights offers so much more than I realize.  The adventures should start there.

Walkway around Parque Central, La Antigua

Parrilla in Panajachel

Bananas on the boat

Cerro de la Cruz, La Antigua