dual personalities

Greetings! Dual Personality #2 here. You haven’t heard from me since October 2022 (!), but so little has happened in my life since then that it might as well have been last week. Let’s see. My DP gave me a difficult and, fittingly for this post, international-themed jigsaw puzzle for Christmas, and I had a fun time putting it together.

When not confronting the fact that my spatial reasoning abilities are waning (“that piece has to fit in that spot!”), I’ve spent quite a bit of time expanding my TV viewing repertoire. Truth be told, most nights I’m too tired to read and end up scrolling through Netflix or Amazon prime for something to watch. My recent choices have skewed their algorithms horribly, so now they only recommend foreign mysteries and 1950s sci fi movies (I’ll leave the latter for another time). Anyway, if you’re in the mood for something different and don’t mind reading subtitles, you might try the following:

• Wild District (a Colombian show about an ex-guerrilla reuniting with his family and uncovering government corruption) Netflix
• Green Frontier (another Columbian show, this one about a murder in the rainforest) Netflix
• Under Fire (a Belgian series about a fire department in Ostend) Netflix
• Arctic Circle (a Finnish show about an epidemic in Lapland) Amazon
• Shahmaran (a Turkish fantasy series involving the mythical queen of snakes) Netflix
• High Water (a Polish series about a record-breaking flood in lower Siliesia) Netflix

From the snowy wastes of Lapland

to the Colombian rainforest,

international shows offer a glimpse into unfamiliar environments and cultures. I mean, who knew that the Colombian government was corrupt (ha, ha)? One even picks up a few foreign words; I now know how to say thanks in Polish – dzięki (which sounds like Jengi when they say it). The older I get, the less I want to travel, and I am quite content to experience the streets of Ostend, the South American rainforest or the frozen tundra of Lapland from the comfort of my sofa, though I confess to being a little alarmed by how many of these shows I have binge-watched in the past six months. I should get out more.

I’ve also branched out in the kitchen. My son and daughter-in-law gave me a healthy baking cookbook for Christmas, and so far I have made this delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cake. It makes a perfect breakfast with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

I’ve got breakfast down but my dinners definitely need overhauling. All my dishes taste the same (meat, onions, cheese, oh my!). When I read my nephew’s Facebook post recommending the purchase of a well-known cookbook, Őzlem’s Turkish Table, to aid the Turkish earthquake victims, I bought it. The first dish I tried, Fırında Sebzeli Köfte (baked Turkish meatballs with vegetables), was easy to make and very tasty! This cookbook has inspired me to buy new ingredients such as red pepper paste and pomegranate molasses. I’m dying to try the latter but haven’t decided on the recipe yet. Anyway, we’re reviving our tastebuds one dish at a time. I even made a good Brazilian beef stroganoff, though I did not serve it with fries and rice.

Whether you are still stuck in winter doldrums or have moved on to spring friskiness, change it up a little. Don’t get me wrong. I love old movies as much as ever, but to be honest, I cannot rewatch my favorites too often and have to give them rests. I haven’t found anything as good, but I have enjoyed what I’ve watched. Anyway, you might try a foreign series or movie and cook something appropriate to go with it. Work on a puzzle or read some poetry. I leave you with Rainer Maria Rilke’s intense verse that I discovered last night (see, I don’t only watch TV!):

That’s from his Poems from the Book of Hours, and it’s pretty great, don’t you think? I know this post has been a tad eclectic but it has been a while, and I am out of practice. Until next time (whenever that may be), stay well!