Brie, art, and caramel brownies

{Friday}

Friday evening, as Natalie and I were at Safeway buying groceries, a discussion next to the cheese island resulted in an early celebration in behalf of my birthday. Having one part French blood, Natalie took it upon herself to educate me about Brie --- a semi-soft cheese that is one of her favorites. I also bought Samoa ice cream, like the girl scout cookies!

At home, Natalie tore a piece of French bread off the end and folded a chunk of Brie into the bread. Brie is a cheese that is best eaten at room temperature, it kind of has a saggy melted cheese look to it. I tried it, and loved it! Brie might be near the top of my cheeses now, right next to some good smoked Gouda!

I enjoyed myself, but I forgot to eat ice cream. I still need to try my girl scout ice cream!

{Saturday}

Yesterday, Natalie and I went exploring. We started out walking down Aliceanna St. toward downtown Baltimore. I brought my camera so document what happened.

Much to my dismay, when I attempted to take a picture of a girl Natty Boh on a car, my camera did not work. It turned on, but the photo button would not push down. I am sad, still. I probably ruined it after taking it to the beach. I think sand might have gotten sand stuck in the button. 

We continued on, and stopped by the Civil War Museum. It was very interesting to see so much history, but from a different perspective than I am used to learning. During the Civil War, Maryland was kind of an undecided state. The Union included them, but the people had an inner conflict that made things messy. 

I was fascinated to learn that the first bloodshed that occurred in the Civil War actually happened in Baltimore on Pratt Street. It was a riot, often referred to as the Lexington of 1861, between Confederate sympathizers and Massachusetts militia. 

I cross Pratt Street every day, usually in the bus, on my way to the hospital!

Before we left the museum, I gathered a few more brochures to add to my ever-growing stash. There were like 30 brochures! I did not get all of them, I only selected a few to keep. 

We continued on our adventure, and made it to Mount Vernon. It was afternoon, and we were getting hungry; luckily, we saw and smelled wonderful food across the street at Lumbini Restaurant serving Nepalese and Indian cuisine. 

The inside was a clash of cultures, or just Baltimore. The ceiling had tiles painted like a cloudy blue sky, and each tile trimmed with a gold border. A crystal chandelier hung down next to a western looking painting. Colorful Christmas lights decorated the door frame and part of one wall. The lighting was as though the curtains had been drawn and no other lights had been turned on.  

We got the buffet, which was ideal for me since I had never had Indian food, and sampled everything that they had to offer. It was absolutely wonderful. Also, I drank lots and lots of water. Indian food has several dishes that are sweet like having dessert mixed into your meal. I do not know how to describe it, but I liked it. 

It was the quickest sit-down meal I have had while also being served (the waiter had to keep refilling my glass). I would do Indian food again, but the next thing on my list is Thai. I have been told about this place in Federal Hill called Thai Arroy that I want to try out. 

Once we finished fitting as much food as we could comfortably handle in our stomachs (by allowing our gastric rugae to expand to capacity), we walked further up the street and entered the Walters Art Museum. This museum is free to the public, and actually astounded me. I would have paid money to see this place. Not only was the collection of art great, but the presentation of it was beautiful. 

It was four levels high and had the art organized by time period and culture (ancient art as Egyptian and  Greek, Renaissance and Baroque in Italy, France, and Spain, etc.). There was everything including a sculpture court as well as a whole section connected to the building (also four levels) on Asian art. 

It was fascinating to me to look at cultures and times now gone or changed. Seeing some of the ancient jewelry got me thinking about how alike we all are. In so many ways we have not changed from the people of ancient Greece.

I can only imagine what God thinks as He watches His children make the same mistakes over and over again. Sometimes we think that we are so original or different than the millions that came before us, but when it comes down to it, the things we hope for and dream about are probably just about the same. 

After the museum, we made it over to Patterson Park to swim in the pool. It felt good to swim a few laps, maybe I will consider swimming as an alternative to running. . . . 

I think Natalie and I were the only white people there. I did see some very cute hair styles; I will need to remember to tell Gabriella (my sister) about them. 

We had worn ourselves out by the time we got home, and after cleaning the house (oh, and making caramel brownies), we finally relaxed by watching a couple of Dollhouse episodes.

{Sunday}

I got yet another ride to church today from Mike, he lives in Canton, but he is also leaving very soon. I brought my caramel brownies because after church there was a "Munch and Mingle" picnic style pot luck event. It was great yummy food. After that, Mike and Emily and I ended up over at Lauren's place and ate Greek yogurt popsicles. 

I loved that Emily and Lauren are in the medical field, so much of our conversation was medical related, in any case, it was nerdy. I loved it. Emily is more in the research side with molecules, and Lauren is finishing up medical school to become a radiologist (I think). 

I also decided that I want to find a cheap edition of Gray's Anatomy textbook. Yes, I just wrote that. I do want to buy a textbook just to have it, and read it. I am a nerd. I know; I love it.

I fell asleep on the floor in the living room after I got home. Natalie was leaving to check on the garden, and I guess I chatted with her when she got back. I do not remember it though.

My nap on the floor lasted four hours! That was not my intention, but it is alright since I have decided to use the time to catch up here, on my blog.

I think I am finally ready to go back to sleep now.

Tomorrow starts the last week in June. After this week, my internship will be halfway over. This summer is happening so quickly, I can hardly keep up.