defense day

you might have read on betsy's blog that i successfully defended my doctoral dissertation last week. i brought our camera to the big event but was a little distracted (justifiably, i think) and didn't get any shots at the graduate college. i can feel your disappointment at not being able to see the thrilling callan conference room for yourself.

my friend and fellow anthropology Ph.D., jackie, was kind enough to trek to iowa city from ames for the day and we went out to dinner with her that evening. because it was my choice, i decided that we should try soleil's solar living cafe in coralville. soleil, the chef, is congolese and cooks up african/caribbean/french/mediterranean inspired cuisine. we had fried plantains in a spicy sauce as an appetizer, jackie and i each had makoua chicken and rob had the tanzanian fish. my entree looked and tasted a lot like domoda, my favorite gambian dish, a kind of tomato-y, peanut-y stew (find recipes from former peace corps volunteers here--one gives ingredient quantities by cost in dalasis, the gambian currency. not too practical for american shoppers, but fun!).soleil's also sells a plethora of spiritual texts written by omraam mikhael aivanhov, which you can see behind us. one website i found about him and his teachings says that in 1986 he traveled in the invisible world. from what i can tell, i think he died that year. so, same difference? anyway, the food was great.
do i look any different as a doctor?