It's summer and it's time to get to work

Yes, normally summer doesn't make you think of work right away but in this case work is participating in white water rafter guide school. Thanks to 10 friends of mine I will be able to take part in an 11 day guide school and later on I will volunteer for them. The rafting outfitter is call Project Great Outdoors aka PGO and it is a fantastic non-profit. Mission priority for them is to take inner-city youth from San Francisco, Oakland and other bay area places, outdoors and down the river on a day trip and sometimes an overnighter, at a cost of free or fairly affordable. (I will check on that). From what I have been told a majority of the kids have never been to the wild outdoors so this educational experience outfitter means a lot.

I would like to thank my friends who pitched in to help pay for the guide school, I would not be going if it wasn't for them. This goes to show that our community can be successful when everyone is willing to pitch in and help.

Here is to the first phase of becoming a guide and here is a link to the organization...
PROJECT GREAT OUTDOORS

Sacramento Beer Week

Sacramento Beer week is 3-years-old in 2012. February 24th started nine days of festivities in Down Town, Mid-Town and surrounding areas. Tomorrow, March 4th, is the last day and lets hope we all made it out to at least one of the many events that took place this year.

I attended different bars and restaurants at random on days and nights I had free. Starting out on Sunday night, February 26 at Clark's Corner on J and 57th, I had the Sierra Nevada 4 beer sampler, the Angus blue cheese burger with sweet potato fries. The beers were vastly different in their taste ranging from a full bodied stout to a light and crispy pale ale. The waiter was great with all my questions and recommended the blue cheese Angus burger, which melted in my mouth and melded perfectly with the cheese. The grilled onions and chipotle sauce made it perfect, probably one of the best burgers I have ever had.

On Wednesday, February 29th, it was time to celebrate the extra day so it was done in style with German beer at Bonn Lair on J St in the middle of 36th and 38th St. I would never try to pronounce the beer on special so I ordered it by saying, "I'll take the beer that everyone else is drinking," it's called Uerige Sticke. Literally everyone in sight had a bottle sitting in front of them. Besides the awesome German bottling method the beer was rich and was made for sipping, which is what I did.

Brew Your Own Adventures and the Sacramento Theater Company on H and 14th St teamed up Friday night, March 2nd, for a beer tasting an hour and a half before curtain call. Lockdown Brewery was there with the beer and even a root beer was on hand. No beer was that dark but the flavor was in full attendance. The two beers on tap were a scotch and a rye, both were good and these were my favorite of the night. Lockdown's red-beer didn't win me over, which was a bummer since red-beer is one of my favorite styles. If the IPA had more bite to it I would of liked it more but it was good as is. Over all I was pleased with the offerings of the brewer. The show was, "M is for Murder," and it was wonderful. I highly recommend seeing the show and checking out BYOA and either of Lockdown's two tasting facilities.

Saturday, March 3rd turned out to be another great day in Midtown and The Porch was the perfect way to start of the afternoon. Attending the 3-3-3-3-3 event I really wasn't sure what to expect and when I walked in I felt a little out of place being sweaty after a five miles bike ride and the restaurant's upscale ambiance. The vibe of the place is classic with dark wood furnishing most of the color and the bar speaks of a 1950s feel. The wooden tables were unfinished on the side and mason jars were stocked with water this took the upscale edge off the place and I felt quite comfortable after settling in. The deal that I partook in was the $13.95 beer and food pairing. It was 3-6oz beers, 3 food items, at 3 O'clock on the 3rd day of the 3rd month. I loved it and was my second best experience of the week, Clark's was the best. The beers and food were Lagunitias Pilsner with Porch sweet potato fries, Mad River Steelhead Extra Pale Ale with Porch Pemiento Cheese Fritters and Mammoth Floating Rock Hefeweizen with Cypress Grove Chevre, Humboldt Fog, Midnight Moon and Psyche Dillic CHEESE!!! It seems like a lot but the food portions were a bit small, but it was worth the money. The cheese parings were absolutely wonderful and I could of ordered a second round of the cheese plate. The emotions of delight that ran across my palate are almost indescribable but all of them were pungent, left a wonderful lasting taste on the palate that washed down beautifully with the Hef it was paired with. My mouth was refreshed and ready for anther bite.

After leaving The Porch I went to ride home and stopped in at City Bicycle Works for a helmet. Wouldn't you know it they were also hosting a beer event with Lagunitas IPA on tap. It was great to hang around and talk bikes with some passionate people.

It was quite the week and I look forward to seeing if the Sacramento beer culture hangs around after this week.

Pumpkin seeds are a baking....

All right so even though the sun is still shining like it's SoCal up in the North the fall is still here in spirit. This was the first year in a long time I carved a pumpkin but more exciting was cooking the seeds. Now since I never do anything by the book I only looked up the cooking temperature and went to town on flavoring the delicious seeds up. My bombtastic recipe is as follows:

Ingredients: pumpkin seeds, garlic salt, crushed red pepper, Trade Joe's everyday spice, black pepper and olive oil spay or non-spray...yep it's that simple. 

1.Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees
2. Spay cooking sheet down with olive oil or coat your seeds some other way.
3. Place cleaned seeds on tray and coat them with spices to your liking. I did the whole tray with pepper and garlic salt and took a spatula and mixed them all around
4. Then only on half did I use crushed red pepper and the everyday spice I did on the red pepper half and another quarter of the tray.
5. I stuck them in the oven for 45-50 minutes.

Seriously it is that easy, I would try your favorite mix of spices or flavorings. I wanted to try cheyenne pepper but didn't have any one hand.

Occupy Sacramento

The young and the old of Sacramento peacefully march in downtown Sacramento to Cesar Chavez Park on 10^th street to bring a message to the government.

“We want money out of politics, we want people in office who have an agenda for the people, not for themselves,” said a spokesperson for Occupy Sacramento Jeff Neves.

The message is simple but clear, they no longer want people with big bank accounts only running for public office.

“It’s not about the left versus the right or my politics against yours, it’s about getting people in offices who represent what is best for the people,” said Neves.

A young man, Danny Garza, flew from the Occupy Wall Street where he has been since day one and wanted to help organize Sacramento and let them know what could be in store.

Garza said they were using laws from the 1800’s and arresting people without a verbal warning.

According to Garza the law from around the 1870’s that was being enforced was a group of two or more people are not allowed to cover their face and people were being arrested for this and also writing on the sidewalk with chalk.

The police were also verbally threatening the occupiers by saying, “We are going to take you in and throw you in with the whores and pimps,” Garza said.

He said, “ The more the cops messed with us the stronger we became, it had the opposite effect that they intended."

Occupy Sacramento had around 150 people present at 4 P.M. Thursday, October 6^th.

The occupation is peaceful and the focus is to remain the same as the other Occupy groups throughout the country, including Occupy Wall Street in New York, according to the press release.

“The more people we have here tonight the better off we will be,” said an occupier and legal representative.

Building Sinks and Painting Buildings

First off I would like to say sorry that I have not been posting a lot of pictures but I have taken over 2000 pictures so to my supporters, you will have a lot of pictures to choose from.

The weather in Haiti's during the work day is around 95 degrees now toss is some humidity and it feels like 100 degrees. When you are working sweat pours down your forehead and armpits like a Tae bo work out. Now that you have a good mental picture lets build a frame for a sink. Haiti is a DIY place to live and work, which makes if fun but also a pain in the ass if you are used to running water and electricity. Gayly and I built a sink for the kitchen in the house. It was nothing major to build just some 2x4's and nails but it was an interesting experience understanding their water system.

Jacmel, Haiti does not have government funded running water but each house can be equipped with a cement well that can be filled with a phone call to the water truck. In the house that I am staying at a water pump has been installed to run water up to a 125 gallon reservoir that is on the roof. Gravity is at work in this house, the two sinks, one toilet and shower are fed from the reservoir. The house has been filled with 5-8 residents for the past 5 weeks which caused the tank to be refilled on average of 3 days, this means water conservation is on every house members mind. Just like my mother taught me I turn off the water when brushing my teeth, or my bro is that we don't flush it down unless it's brown and like living on a US Naval boat I shut off the water during my soaping up part of the shower. My living situation is a nice one in Haiti, a good portion of the people do not having any sort of running water, which means taking a shower from a five-gallon bucket and flushing the toilet (if you have one) by dumping water in the bowl.

One of the largest projects I have been apart of while here has been repainting the Olive Tree Projects building. We applied a new coat of mahogany brown to the bar windows, gates, a stripe on the top and a portion of the face, while the rest of the building has been painted orange. This was a fun job since I was able to see the once white building transform into the eye catching maternity center that brings life into this world.

The Jacmel Experience

This small city is friendly, beautiful and relaxing, well in a controlled chaos sort of way. My second day in Jacmel a group of us decided to venture off to Bason Blue a place that is considered the most beautiful place in Haiti, according to the Lonely Planet DR/Haiti guide book. Gayly and I traveled there alone and a group of 10 other people came in different groups. Gayly and I walked the whole way which started at the rivers edge, we walked through thigh high water and at this point I knew the adventure was in full swing. Walking up to the sign post for Bason Blue I was excited, we walked through a banana and coconut lined path with houses and farms on the side. Then the path started to incline and before I knew it we were walking up a 22% grade that seemed to last forever but it definitely last at least 4 km. Hot and sweaty in this humid place can knock your spirits ability to think you can complete the journey but having a determined friend with you helps keep you going. I had Gayly and he would thankfully not stop walking and this kept me going as I was thinking if it was worth it. We walked to where I paid 100 gourde the rough equivalent to $2.50 to enter and then we purchased a bag of plantains and some chicken pastries for another 100 gourde. The water at Bason Blue is colbalt blue and beautiful. After a while the rest of the people showed up then we started jumping off the cliffs, swimming around in the refreshing water and having a great time. A few hours later we made the trek back home and thankfully it was down hill this time.
Jacmel is a great place I have had the best BBQ chicken here, swam in clear water, met friendly people and have had a few firsts. The first time I held a baby, first time I have ate plantains and ate cow intestine, it tastes like a Slim Jim if you were wondering.

Jacmel here I am

Based off the advice from the principal from FAVAJ I found a way to Jacmel, which is on the southern side and 3 hours from Port au prince. The difference between the two cities and the villages in between is different in it's controlled chaos but similar in its culture. Driving to Jacmel was twisted the roads went back and forth for 42kms, it was AWESOME! Once Gayly, Laura and I made it to Jacmel I knew I was going to enjoy this place. There is one main road and many side roads through the small city. The side roads can fit a For Ranger through it with enough room on the side for people to stand while the trucks go through. The heat and humidity really make the place though, I am constantly sweating so I really know I am in the bahamas. I will leave this post with a few words which I will explain in later posts: Prestige, Bason Bleu, sink and fresh coconut.

peace,
B