The Foodie Community

Some readers have recently hinted that following me, Jason, has not been too exciting. For those with false impressions, I suggest re-reading the blog theme ... yes, I MAY do something interesting, occasionally. Alas, I've accumulated enough interesting things to produce a post.

After returning to Houston, I've been unexpectedly involved with the 'foodie community.' My neighbor is a food critic for an online magazine and she often invites me to join her for food tastings or openings (I say often, this has only occurred two or three times in the past two months). The dinners have been rather elaborate and I can't even imagine the cost after eating at a high-end restaurant and consuming a few bottles of wine. Nonetheless, I don't ask questions and I enjoy the opportunity. These are the few times that I'm called "sir" without adding "you're making a scene." Generally we meet the chef and s/he serves us a wide variety of dishes from the entire menu. The dishes are generally smaller than the traditional servings, but we are eating multiple appetizers, entrees, and desserts ... so I'm willing to negotiate. We recently attended a beer pairing at one of the more well-known restaurants in the surrounding Rice community and I was asked to write the review. Of course, I obliged - I DO occasionally do something interesting. Click here to read the review (discretion: the frequency of some events have been embellished for entertainment value).

Fortunately, this involvement with the 'foodie community' overlaps with my interests in cooking. In other words, food is involved. I've started to develop more complicated meals and have been working a little bit harder to find new recipes and new cooking styles. After a few attempts, I've perfected the iron skillet steaks. With my 100 year-old skillets (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa), I can now cook restaurant-style steaks in the comfort of my own home. This ends up producing A LOT of smoke and my apartment smells like a steakhouse for a few days afterwards, but it's worth it. Here's a video that a friend recorded, which can be viewed using QuickTime Player. The smoke had decreased significantly by this time.




After the success of the iron skillet steaks, I've attempted a few other meals that have been rather successful, two of which I have photos. The first is stuffed jumbo shells. The picture is after the initial preparation. Before cooking, I threw together a homemade sauce and dumped it over the shells before baking it for 30 minutes. The meal was delicious and was even better the next day.


The second meal is a photo of the juiciest pork chop I've ever had in my life with garlic carrots and beets (oh yeah, and a little red wine). I initially thought this meal was going to be pretty good and I was excited to be cooking with fresh beets for the first time, but I was amazed by how delicious the pork chops ended up, which were cooked using the iron skillet (the key is the burner/oven combo!). This time around, there wasn't nearly as much smoke because I didn't have to get the heat as high as needed for the steaks. The quality of the photo is a little sub-par because it was captured using my camera phone.


Overall, life is great and I'm continuing to experiment with new food.

The Finale

After a month in Lima, I returned to Quito for the finale. This last week was planned to wrap up any loose ends and to enjoy my time in Quito without the frantic movement from place to place. Thankfully, there wasn’t much to accomplish, allowing me to pass time with friends and work on some other projects. In addition to enjoying the last week with Santiago and his family, one of my friends, who I met in La Paz last year, arrived to Quito to complete some of her own field research. She, too, is a graduate student working on her dissertation. Added to that mix is another student who is in the process of starting his dissertation. We all have a feeling that we’ll be seeing each other a lot in the future, given the topics and region that we study. If anything, we are an attractive bunch.

Santiago and I have both been raving about our last cookout and we threw another one together for my last weekend in Quito. Like the last, this devolved into a drinking and eating marathon. As promised, I showed up with bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapenos. Oh yeah. We only had a few casualties with the jalapenos. The first was during production, when jalapeno juice shot into my right eye, causing temporary blindness – unfortunately my right eye is my primary eye because my vision in my left eye is 20/300. The other casualty resulted primary from Santiago’s ill preparation for the spiciness of his first jalapeno, there was a lot of movement in his dance.

While at the park, we had some close encounters with some llamas. While the local adults (Santiago and Heidy) weren’t too amused, the foreigners (Amanda, John, and me) and the two year-old (Matius) were extremely entertained. You just can’t get enough llamas! During our encounter, I was forced to break-it-down for one of the llamas.

Spending time with some great people and new friends was the best way to finalize a productive research trip and start my return to Houston. The past few months have been really good.

Lima Entertainment

Time in Lima is passing pretty quickly. Just a week and a half ago my friend from Quito, Santiago, arrived and has been staying with me while he completes his own field research. His presence has made the time pass very quickly. We've been keeping each other well entertained. Fortunately he thoroughly enjoys the food in Peru and we've been getting as much as we can before we leave. Of course, there's a fine line between maximizing your consumption of Peruvian food and getting sick of Peruvian food. The pace we are going, it looks like I'll be nearing that threshold before taking off ... which is ideal. It helps that we save these moments for the weekend and have only lapsed once during the week.

For the most part, we are on the same work schedule. I captured some evidence that we are actually working and that I actually have a friend staying with me. No, this is no figment of my imagination - I would never reveal my secrets and post something regarding the life and adventures of Brando, that would be embarrassing (oops, wink).


As a side: I occasionally find images on currency to be interesting. Mostly these images are relatively predictable, ranging from popular heads of states and/or heads of government to famous liberators. However, one image on the Peruvian 10 Sole bill struck me. First of all, I'm no historian---just a political scientist---but I don't recall Peru being particularly well-known for their contribution to aviation. And, by the looks of the image on the bill, this pilot is either really great or is in some real serious danger in the next few seconds.


Why is the plane upside down? Let's assume he's not in the process of crashing. An image like this is generally reserved as the third or fourth image in a series after using the first few images to demonstrate the pilot can fly correctly. Image number one would show the pilot pumping his/her fist from the cockpit during a fly-by. I just don't understand.

Creepy Bunny

Today begins the holiday weekend in Lima - good ole "Semana Santa." I forgot to calculate this break into my schedule and was first worried that the government was going to be shut down the entire week - similar to my experience in Costa Rica when I was there in 2006. Fortunately, all government offices are only closed today (Thursday) and tomorrow. And, in preparation, they held a session yesterday, giving me an opportunity to conduct some interviews before the break. I feel reasonably productive going into the break. Hopefully I can tie some loose ends up while everything is shut down.

This year, I can only hope that my father makes another appearance as the traditional creepy bunny, entertaining the neighbors using the costume he acquired from the Houston Gamblers who used it as a mascot when he was doing promotional work with them. I think the costume would be best complemented with a half-burned cigarette hanging out of its mouth and a bottle of mostly consumed Rum in its hand.


This photo would fit perfectly in another line of creepy bunnies presented in this slideshow.

The Choice: Cancer or AIDS

I arrived just in time for the Peruvian elections on Sunday. The day was actually a lot calmer than I expected, giving me a chance to complete my grocery shopping and eat at my favorite seafood restaurant in Lima. Including the word 'seafood' is a bit repetitive ... if I'm going to go out to eat in Lima, it will definitely be at a seafood restaurant. Nonetheless, I roamed around downtown for a little bit and was a little disappointed that there weren't any random rallies or people driving in the streets waving banners. No worries, that magic didn't start until around 7, an hour before the national electoral court (the official branch of the government that manages elections, registration, etc.) was to call the election. I decided to attend the rally for the expected winner, which had an extra benefit of being the closest to the bus stop that I use. My preferred candidate was running neck-and-neck with the eventual second place winner and I didn't want to risk missing a winner's rally. How is second-place even considered a winner? Yes, I understand, in the U.S. we just generally accept the idea that second-place is the first loser for all of life's contest. Of course, there are occasional deviations from this assumption. For example, the second born child, but yet not to confuse this determination for the first-born male - just saying, Bridget ... I'm still the Golden Goose! Ah yes, my point. Anyways, if a presidential candidate does not win an absolute majority of votes in the first round of elections (which are held at the same time as the legislative elections, etc.), then a second round is held in June between the top-two vote winners to determine who will be president. The decisions is now between cancer and AIDS - words famously expressed by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2010, to describe the choice between the top two candidates.

Anyways, the rally was pretty interesting. It was a little bit smaller than I thought it was going to be, but it was still exciting. People were dancing and waving their flags, it seemed to be a pretty good time for them.

Finally the big show decided to make his appearance. He spoke for about 20 minutes, energizing the crowd and encouraging them to keep on campaigning through the second-round. For now, it appears that those who did not win are rallying behind the second-place winner and, thus, the first-place winner has achieved his maximum support ... something very similar happened in 2006 when he won in the first round but lost in the second round.

Overall, things are getting off to a good start in Lima. I've already had one interview with a congress person and I'll be having another tomorrow. In addition, I've met with a few non-government workers who work closely with the government. The transition has been pretty smooth and I feel good being back in Lima.

Making the Climb

Today I depart for Lima in the afternoon. I feel pretty good leaving Quito - I've completed a lot of interviews and I even have some waiting for me when I return to Quito in mid-May. The two main reasons for leaving are: 1) Ecuador is entering a campaign for an upcoming referendum in May (so, legislators will not be available because they will be campaigning); 2) Peru is having elections this Sunday (so their legislators will be returning from campaigning and I will be there to experience the election - very exciting). My non-urgent matters in Quito have, thus, been pushed back until mid-May when the referendum is over.

The best thing about doing this type of research is experiencing how other governments function. There's nothing like sitting and watching legislative debates or talking to a legislator and watching him/her get passionate about a particular issue, whether I'm in agreement or not. Even when I'm in disagreement, I just sit back and listen to them talk. Of course, some of my questions are modified to get them to clarify what they are really saying. This strategy developed---or, devolved---into a particularly interesting conversation with the president of the most recent constituent assembly, wow! Here is a photo from the plenary debates.


In a prior post, I mentioned that I discovered a few different paths to gain access to legislators' offices. As a visual aid, I've provided a few additional photos to demonstrate what I'm talking about. First, I present the front of the legislative assembly. This is generally where the people who come to watch the plenary debates enter.


Second, I present the back of the legislative assembly - this is where everybody who comes to work enters. Notice the metal structure that surrounds the building. Between this metal structure and the building, there is a staircase. I figured out a way to gain access to the archive, depart from the archive to the emergency stairs, and climb the external stairs until I get to my prioritized floor where a particular legislator works. I generally arrive calm and pretend like I should be there and just wait for an interview. This strategy has actually been more effective than my internal connections in the assembly. Arriving at the doorstep is pretty effective.


For lunch, I generally take the same route to eat on the rooftop. The views from the roof are incredible. Although there is security on every floor and every exit, they seem to not be too bothered by my presence. It may help that I stay and chat for about 15 minutes with some of them when I arrive in the morning and leave at the end of the day. For the most part, everyone gives me a lot of freedom within the building, even in places where it is obvious that I should not be. Here are some views from the rooftop.

Chasing Waterfalls

Things are slowing down in Quito ... which I guess is a positive sign, particularly given that I'm leaving next week to Lima. People in the legislative assembly (both legislators and legislative assistants) and in the university frequently mention visiting the beach and Baños, a small town known as the 'window of the Andes.' Since I'll be back in May, I decided to push the beach trip for when my friends in Quito can travel, and instead take a small weekend trip to Baños. The major appeal for me is that Baños is known for their incredible waterfalls ... yes, that's plural. As some of you may know, I thoroughly enjoy waterfalls. So to 'celebrate' what appears to be a successful field research trip, I left early Saturday morning to visit this town that I've heard a lot about. Be prepared for some amazing photos. After leaving my apartment at 6:30 in the morning and multiple bus rides later, I finally arrived to Baños at noon.


I quickly found a hotel (yes - no plans) that was situated on a quiet street and had an amazing view of the town and a waterfall. Most of the hotels were located near the town square, a LOUD town square. So I paid the extra few bucks for a nice room and an incredible view located in peace.


Generally when I participate in these weekend adventures I try to break from the crowd so I can enjoy my own leisurely time. This is generally pretty difficult when the adventure requires traveling, which was expected on this trip to get from waterfall to waterfall. No worries, bike rental was available for a simple five dollar cost. By one o'clock I was on my bike riding on the road that traced the river that welcomed the waterfalls.


To start, I have never seen such amazing natural beauty. At some waterfalls we had the option of paying one dollar and traveling in a cable car across the waterfall. Yes - I did this for every waterfall where this option was available, without question. Notice the size of the waterfall compared to the cable car in this photo.


Ecuador reminds me a lot of Costa Rica. The two countries have a very diverse geography and are small enough where traveling isn't such a burden, unlike Bolivia. This burden is dramatically reduced because the roads are actually paved and taken care of ... well, at least where there is tourism opportunities. Of course, Costa Rica is the other country where the natural landscape is absolutely amazing.



Taking the bike was a major bonus. I was able to stop freely and even see waterfalls that I think would have been missed if cruising in a car. In fact, at one point I took a detour after hearing a waterfall from the road and ended up hiking up a dirt path that was somebody's private property. I paid them a dollar to guard my bike and they pointed me towards a waterfall that wasn't even on the map. Most of the waterfalls were on the Northeast side of the river and traveling was on the Southwest side of the river. Generally, there would be some restaurant and an open space to draw attraction to specific waterfalls. However, the next picture is one of those waterfalls that could have been easily missed in a car. There was nothing to attract visitors except for this amazing sight.


Overall, this trip was incredible. I'm considering returning when I come back to Quito in May - hopefully one of my buddies will be able to travel with me. We'll see. But for now, I have these images cemented in my mind. Of course, just selecting a sample of pictures was a challenge.

Historic Center

I've unfortunately been exhausted the last few weekends and haven't been able to enjoy much of Quito. Most weekends, my friends and I go out to eat for lunch and usually have dinner at their place, but we really haven't had much of an opportunity to travel around. However, last Saturday we made an evening trip down to the historic center. Quito has a very well preserved colonial district that is absolutely amazing, full of traditional streets, homes, and beautiful churches. I briefly roamed around last weekend during the day and the place was absolutely dead. Apparently, the time to visit is on Saturday night. We had a good time eating and joking around.

Overall work is going really well and moving much more quickly than in Bolivia. I've already completed about 20 legislative interviews and I'm near the end of my list. So far, no former or current presidents. However, I've met with all of the top leadership (except for one person - the president of the chamber) in the legislative assembly and I've met with almost every legislator who has currently departed from his/her political party to be an independent (which is kind of a big deal). Things started off somewhat slow while I was adjusting and figuring things out, but I know my way around the assembly now. I have a couple tricks up my sleeve that help me get around security and get to the legislators. The chamber overall is built like a fortress, you need an access card to get through every door. But, apparently the card is unnecessary if you use the fire escape stairs that are outside the building and access each floor from the external stairs. Who would have thought? Science!

A Little Break

Last Saturday started the four day weekend. In preparation for Lent, the people demand a few days of partying. My party didn't start off to great ... Friday night I didn't fall asleep until 5 in the morning on Saturday because of a brutal stomach bug and, as a result, I slept most of the day on Saturday. I quickly recovered, although not fast enough, and was back in business on Sunday.

When I enjoy some down time, I generally pass it with a professor, at the institute where I'm a visiting researcher, and his family (wife and two-year old child). They generally take me to some seafood restaurant on the weekend and then we take a small trip somewhere ... nothing big, just the middle of the Earth and back! Sometimes we just eat dinner at their place. They're a fun bunch and we keep ourselves entertained. Last week we planned a good ole BBQ at the national park to enjoy our Monday holiday - agreeing to get as much work done as possible so we could actually relax on Monday and get back to business on Tuesday. The little stomach bug didn't help my situation out, but I did what I could.

Two of their friends (a couple) joined us and we had a blast. We started grilling at midday and just hung out for about 6 hours. It was pretty great and relaxing. We came prepared with plenty of food and wine - enough to keep the conversation at an endless flow. As you can tell, we enjoyed ourselves. Santiago, the professor, is on the right and his wife (Heidy)---she's an economist---is on the left with their child Matius.


Towards the end of our little celebration David, the other guy, took me over to the edge of the park and showed me the incredible view of the east side of the city. I had been sitting in the patio space for about 6 hours and had no clue that I was so close to this sight. As you can see, it's insane!

Middle of the Earth and Back!

Phew - there and back - I made it!

Last weekend I journeyed to the middle of the Earth. It was a treacherous endeavor, but it happened. I was first picked up outside of my apartment building by one of my buddies and his wife and child. We were ready, packed, and loaded. I brought some water just in case we ran into any obstacles. Ten minutes into the journey we had to stop for some food – fearful that this could be the last for a while. After enjoying some beers and seafood, we fired up the wheels and kept on moving. We had to go north - and fast! Finally, we arrived to the middle of the Earth ... 20 minutes later. There we were … in the middle. Yes, touching the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere at the same time.

A lot can happen in the middle of the Earth … watch out for that giant bird!

I can’t say that this was my only time to journey to the middle. There was once a time – literally, the time – when I made it to zero degrees longitude.

I’ve survived both. It’s been difficult and my equilibrium has been off since I came back from the middle – but this is the price I pay as a political scientist. Only if people could truly understood the price I pay for science, would I then be respected.

Back in Business

After a brief break in the U.S., I'm back in business in Latin America. This leg of my research trip starts in Quito, Ecuador. I'll be in Quito for no more than three months before heading off to Lima for about a month. Some of you maybe asking, "Hey, I thought you were going to go to Lima first?" Well, this is what you get for trying to figure out my schedule. I, a man of mystery, don't appreciate being weighed down by this crazy schedule. Although I was trying to get to Lima first, their April elections put a little damper in my program - they always do, these elections! Democracy! I first thought I could spend February doing interviews and collecting data, but that was pushing things a little close and the availability of legislators was questionable. Nonetheless, I'm here in Quito.

After arriving last week, I immediately got settled in my apartment and started working at the local university, which focuses specifically on the social sciences. I was given the position of Visiting Researcher and they are interested in me presenting some of my research while there. One of the professors at the university has already helped me a lot with getting access to the archive and he's currently helping me get interviews with legislators. They have a really nice intellectual community and I generally work from there when I'm not in the archive.

Thankfully, I live about a 12 minute walk from the university and a ten minute bus ride to the legislative assembly and archive. The city is surrounded by some really beautiful green mountains. Unlike La Paz, the mountains aren't closing in on the city and the city isn't built on top of one another.


However, La Paz did spoil me with my apartment expectations, nothing beats living in an apartment on the 9th floor overlooking a major plaza with a clear view of all of the surrounding mountains. I'm back down to the first floor with really no view (but, there are windows!). I'm happy with this apartment, but it was kind of a shock at first. Oh well.


I do have a clear view of a mountain right when I exit the building. This is no 9th floor view, but it does get me up and going in the morning. Of course, in this case, the clarity of the view depends on the clarity of the sky. The rain seems to come as quickly as it goes, forcing me to take an umbrella everywhere I go. I feel so prepared!

What just happened?

Towards the end of my trips I generally adopt some objective to complete a finale message. Most often times, I get near the end, I'm exhausted, and I never get around to it. This patterned behavior can even be traced back to the good ole emailing days when I would send updates via email. I just let people assume I'm back home (safely) and drained of thoughts. But, this time, I'll give what the people (Aunt Charmaine) want.

I could never really fully understand what was going on in La Paz ... I was surrounded by zebras, faced with inventive hairstyles, ignored by those in need, and just plain confused. Of course, these events may not even necessarily indicate a general trend in La Paz (doubtful!). However, finally, it all came together during my last week in La Paz. I wasn't going crazy! I really will never truly understand what is going on there. Thankfully we have artistic expression to deliver the message. While in the Vice President's administrative building for a meeting (not with the V.P.), I came across an interesting painting. I stopped, stood, and decided to keep on moving. I just couldn't spend my waning energy trying to figure out what was going on in the painting. After the meeting, I passed the painting again. I stopped, stood, and decided to snap a photo (I always had my camera with me - ready for research and the most opportune encounters). This painting essentially captures the confusion I endure everyday while I'm in La Paz.


Ok - a lot is going on here. First, why isn't anyone tending to the man who appears to be dead? Is anybody concerned about the fire? Where did the wolves come from? Finally, with all of this going on, where did the bare-chested woman come from and why is she just laying there? Thankfully, she has the Bolivian flag to partially cover her up.