The Development Set by Ross Coggins

My fiance passed this to me..its amusing!

http://www.geocities.com/shores_system/development_set.html

The Development Set
by Ross Coggins

"Adult Education and Development" September 1976

Excuse me, friends, I must catch my jet
I'm off to join the Development Set;
My bags are packed, and I've had all my shots
I have traveller's checks and pills for the trots!

The Development Set is bright and noble
Our thoughts are deep and our vision global;
Although we move with the better classes
Our thoughts are always with the masses.

In Sheraton Hotels in scattered nations
We damn multi-national corporations;
injustice seems easy to protest
In such seething hotbeds of social rest.

We discuss malnutrition over steaks
And plan hunger talks during coffee breaks.
Whether Asian floods or African drought,
We face each issue with open mouth.

We bring in consultants whose circumlocution
Raises difficulties for every solution --
Thus guaranteeing continued good eating
By showing the need for another meeting.

The language of the Development Set
Stretches the English alphabet;
We use swell words like "epigenetic"
"Micro", "macro", and "logarithmetic"

It pleasures us to be esoteric --
It's so intellectually atmospheric!
And although establishments may be unmoved,
Our vocabularies are much improved.

When the talk gets deep and you're feeling numb,
You can keep your shame to a minimum:
To show that you, too, are intelligent
Smugly ask, "Is it really development?"

Or say, "That's fine in practice, but don't you see:
It doesn't work out in theory!"
A few may find this incomprehensible,
But most will admire you as deep and sensible.

Development set homes are extremely chic,
Full of carvings, curios, and draped with batik.
Eye-level photographs subtly assure
That your host is at home with the great and the poor.

Enough of these verses - on with the mission!
Our task is as broad as the human condition!
Just pray god the biblical promise is true:
The poor ye shall always have with you.

Prince Charming...and a whole lot more ...

I have neglected my blog since my return But i have good reason. Too much has happened and it became too difficult to keep blogging and i didn't want people finding out through a blog rather than from me...

so, February 11, 2007, i met my Prince charming! I had quite come to conclusion before i embarked on my trip that I would never get married and would just enjoy life with one lover after another periodically. That is not to say that I didn't have a picture of my perfect partner in my mind and heart, just concluded that I was asking for too much and being a jaded New Yorker of sorts, it wouldn't happen to me. Well, I ate my words!

February 11, my friend -A- had invited me to join him on a day trip on a boat (launch) outside of Dhaka. After much deliberation, I agreed to go. It was an interesting mix of 9 people. Most were ex-pats, all were fascinating in their own right. We all hit it off and had a great time. One of the people on trip was A's cousin...Cal – or, he was introduced to me in his Bengali name – Shumon. It wasn't love at first sight by any means. But as the day went on, I was more and more drawn to conversation with him. Long story short, by February 14 – a few short days later, Cal and i had concluded that we were done and we were each others perfect counterparts! (for the longer story of our whirlwind romance, we are creating a site..will have it up soon :)

It felt as if the spirits had been looking over my shoulder carefully noting all my desires for a perfect mate for myself and when i was good and ready, presented him – Cal – right in front of me. All that was missing was a big red bow!!

On March 11, few days before my return to the US, Cal had proposed to me..and I, of course, accepted. And then I proposed to him!! - Yes, he accepted... :)

So, that is the latest and greatest news of my life right now...but it's also only the beginning...

i am an amazing cook! :P

last night, i came home at 10p and Ryan wanted dinner but american/european meal. so the chicken was defrosting and i had picked up some mushrooms on the way home as well as this green eggplant shaped squash...just wanted to try it. anyway..i had no clue what to make! i ransacked my mother's cabinets and came across soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, maggie seasonings and chicken abode marinade. Had fresh limes, tomatoes and broccoli. and put some potatoes to boil.

i marinaded the chicken in a mixture of all the liquids w dash of lime. cut up 1 and half purple onions. I sauteed half the onions in some oil and put the chicken in. let it cook a little bit then poured in all the marinade into the pan and covered to let it simmer. next i had to fig out what to do w mushrooms. ryan wanted a gravy. meanwhile i boiled broccoli and the squash and Ryan made the mashed potatoes with too much salt!

to make mushroom gravy i boiled a half cup of water and mixed in 1 heaping table spoon of all purpose flour and made a thick concoction. the chicken was done on 1 side and flipped to brown the other. Pulled it out and put in serving plate. the pan had oil, marinade and the remainder onions cooked in. i poured in the flour concoction and stirred w a whisk to get a nice consistency then put in the mushrooms and cooked for a bit. added a bit of lime juice to give a bit of tangy flavor. once that was thoroughly mixed and cooked, poured over the chicken. served the broccoli, squash and tomatoes suateed in olive oil and garlic -and mashed potatoes on the side.

my goodness. the chicken and mushrooms came out fantastic! i should just open a restaurant!!! seriously make my best meals unplanned n from bare fridge and cabinets!

Thailand – What to do?

I got to Thailand on the 16th and saw Sup waiting at the airport. It was such a rush of excitement to see a friend. I have been without any of my close friends for too many days. So much had happened in my life leading up to the few days before I left that I was just bursting to share with Sup. We take a cab ride back to her place. She is staying in a serviced apartment in Silom. As soon as we get in, she pulls out a pack of smokes and a bottle of red wine and we sit down to chat. Hours pass by and we realize that we should go out for dinner before it’s too late. So we head out into heart of Silom. It is known for its red light district and bars and neon lights with “shows”. We walk and dodge through stalls of goods to buy – dresses, t-shirts, shoes, watches, lamps….you name it and its being sold at the footpath. And of course, the men pushing their bar “menus” in our faces to entice us to catch a “show”. We get to an outdoor bar called Beer Garden and as soon as we sit down, the DJ starts playing Bhangra music….Sup is ecstatic, she has been staying here almost 2 months and hadn’t heard desi music outside her apartment! So we enjoy the bhangra, order some stir fried something or other, another bottle of wine and we eat, drink and converse till we finish it all off. Most amusing – two Chinese travelers tried to pick us up at the bar. That was fun – we had never had an East Asian man try and pick us up!

Next morning we headed for a weekend at the beach to Pattaya. Its about 2 hours from Bangkok. We stayed at Jomtein beach. Since we were staying for one night and it was only 3 of us (Sup’s co-worker joined us), we stayed at a hostel type place. Now, I know what u are thinking but this place was not an European hostel. It was clean, with a pool and they had rooms with own bathrooms. Sup and I took a room with a private bath and two beds…it was very big, with a TV, hot water and a balcony that at one time looked out to the beach (building went up in front). Alma got a room with a shared bathroom but the room was a very decent size! Cost wise it was only like $12 each for the rooms.

We immediately headed to the beach and lay in the sun till the sun went down. I am so dark!! The water was really too dirty to go for a swim in but the beach was just fine to lay in. Food was no issue, we had service on the beach…it was a locals beach rather than a tourist so it was great to have some local food. We finally headed out and hunted a place to have dinner. We ended up at a nice big outdoor restaurant with live entertainment of traditional thai music and dance. I ordered a beef salad and sup ordered chicken green curry. When in Thailand, order cautiously! The salad was so spicy – the food is doused with the hottest red chili – that my mouth went numb with fire! A very unsatisfying meal! We headed back to Jomtein and stopped at a French Euro restaurant for some crepes and ice cream…that eased our very unsatisfied palates. Next day we woke up late and had some American burgers and headed to beach…we beach bummed till it got dark and grabbed a taxi to bring us back to Silom – it was a very quiet (restful) 2 hour car ride!

I didn’t do much in Thailand. I went to see some temples, saw the significant Buddhas in Bangkok and mostly indulged in thai massages at every chance. Bangkok is THE place to shop. There are tailors on the footpath sewing these fabulous dresses and putting them on the racks and passersby just grabbing them up at 200-300 Bakhts ($1 = 32 Bkts) each. But women there are like size 0 to -2! So, I didn’t end up buying anything. Just a lot of walking around and soaking in the culture. I couldn’t make much head or tails of the language with the exception of “Hello” and “Thank you”.

Sup and I did have a fun evening worth mentioning. It was a Tuesday night. We headed out to Sukhumvit to eat dinner at a very touristy thai restaurant called “Cabbages and Condoms”. It was an indoor/outdoor family restaurant wonderful ambience and décor…very natural. What was charming and amusing was that…every so often you notice the lamps and lights and see that its entirely covered with condoms. We were seated at an outdoor table and our table top was all condoms. White condoms and red condoms forming a big heart! (yes, we have pics =) the food was very very mediocre thai but u go for the novelty of the place. Men are even handed condoms with their bills. After dinner we headed out to a club. It was club BED. Just like in NYC. Except this one was like a huge spaceship from the outside and inside was 3 levels. We seated ourselves on a cozy bed on the top floor. It was hip hop night so we chilled and enjoyed the music, crowd and eventually got up to bust a move. The place closed down about 2am. The drinks were great, ambience was fun. But be warned…it a lot of European men in the place and full of Thai women. These women don’t always join you for free…

I stayed there for a total of 12 days and it was the most relaxing and enjoyable stay. I have feeling I will be back in Thailand.