Soup and syrup

One of the questions on the Fulbright mid-exchange questionaire was about whether i'd undertaken any voluntary work in the community. I hadn't but decided if the opportunity arose, then I would take it. This week it did. I went along with a couple of other MIW staff to the Preble Street Soup Kitchen in Portland which runs almost entirely on volunteer help. We started by prepping enormous tubs of salad whilst others cut bread, made potatoes etc. At 6 o'clock we were assigned jobs on the serving line, mine being to give one dollop of mashed potato to anyone who wanted it and keep smiling. Anyone who wanted more would have to join the line again. Then the serving shutters were opened and we got on with the job. The line was long and mostly of men, but there were a good number of women too and a couple of children. There were some obvious down and outs and those who clearly had addictions, others were just plain poor. Some wanted to make eye contact and show grattitude, others just wanted to pretend they weren't there. Many faces reappeared in the line several times. It was amazing to see just what an important job places like that do. The food was of good quality and nutritious but not something I would want to eat (meat loaf and mashed potato, vegetarian option was a very luminous microwaved macaroni and cheese). I wondered though, if it was me in that line, whether pickiness would take second place to hunger. It was definitely a humbling experience and a reminder of just how lucky some of us are. It must be really hard to do to walk through the doors with your children, but clearly it comes down to survival and the desire to ensure they have a good hearty meal. After an hour of serving over 250 meals, the shutters were closed again and the clear-up operation began. I couldn't believe quite how tired I was after just 2 and a half hours work but I will definitely be returning to offer my services again.

It now seems obscene to talk about something as luxiorious as maple syrup but this Sunday was 'Maple Syrup Sunday' where local maple syrup producers open their sugar houses to the public. We went over to Nash Farm and had ice-cream with maple syrup for breakfast...yum! The only downside was it was chucking it down and I got chilled to the bone. Two weeks of sunshine and warmth had lulled my body into a false sense of security.

Sofie and I enjoyed sampling the wares for breakfast!

The wonders of maple sap were first discovered by the Native Americans who tapped the trees and made sugar candies by pouring syrup over snow. They showed their methods to the first white settlers. Plastic tubes and buckets now replace the wooden ones originally used. March is usually the month when sap is collected because to run best, the trees need below freezing nights and warm days. This year has been the worst for sap collection in years because the nights just haven't been cold enough. The sap is then taken to a sugar shack where it is boiled over a wood stove until the water evaporates and the sugar achieves the desired temperature and thickness.

The Sugar shack at Nash farm outside...

...and in.
The wood is burnt to boil the sap in the containers above.
The syrup eventually makes its way to the left of the bottom container where it is siphoned off and then bottled.

 

A staggering 40 gallons of sap are needed to make 1 gallon of syrup...no wonder it is quite so expensive! Apparently the lighter the grade, the better the syrup although the darker grades have a stronger maple taste. In reality, whatever the grade and whether on ice cream, in doughnuts or on pancakes, it tastes pretty darn good!

"This really isn't normal for Maine"

I have heard those words so many times since I have been here. First in relation to the snow in October and now with the magnificent weather in March. Today's temperature was in the high teens. Apparently, this is usually the time when people are getting cranky at the sight of the snow banks and truly fed up with shivering. Instead, the roads are full of cyclists, porches are beginning to be inhabited again and wafts of backyard grilling are filling the air.

Thursday night was the annual MSAD51 Poetry Jam and what fun it was. The PTO kindly gave me the job of supporting performers on stage so I got to watch the action curtain-side. Children from grades 1-5 were able to sign up to perform as individuals or in groups and could recite their own compositions or those by published poets. The kids were amazing, performing with confidence and thoroughly enjoying the scary experience of being up in front of a microphone and a room full of people. Personal favourites involved an original poem about various celebrities being chomped on by sharks and a very lovely 'Ode to my brother'. Next year the poetry jam is going to have to visit Bliss!

On Friday, I had my second yellow bus experience as we headed up to the State Capital, Augusta. New territory for me as, having been told the local name for it was 'Disgusta', I hadn't rushed to visit. We were visiting the Maine State Museum and it was fascinating. There was lots of information about the traditional industries of Maine, one of which was shoe making which was an interesting parallel with Northampton. The textile industry used to be huge here too as did logging. There was a silent film being projected which showed the logs being put into rivers and floated down stream while men jumped between them to help with manouvring them...not for the faint hearted especially as the water would have been so very cold and was moving incredibly fast. All of the children were given a short talk about how the Native Americans in Maine made arrow heads with which to hunt and were then able to have a go at shaping one of their own by using moose antlers to grind away at the rock. I had a go too...we agreed I would have had to have been a vegetarian then too through necessity!

Owing to the glorious weather, I couldn't stand to be inside on Saturday so headed off on my bike towards Cousins Island, reachable by bridge. I cycled along sun dappled roads and gazed longingly at the wonderful houses which overlooked the sparkling water. It was gorgeous! On the way back, I scoped out a bakery I had been told about when I was bemoaning the lack of good bread in the teacher's room. They just so happened to have coffee and irresistably plump hot cross buns for sale which I ate whilst watching the world go by. As I was perusing the wares in the shop, a man said to me "That's a nice bike you've got there". My first thought was "How does he know its my bike?"...it took me a while to remember my stylish appearance involving a mish-mash of layers, helmet and cycling gloves kind of gave the game away. Duh!

Having changed into something more fitting, I went to the theatre again, this time in an old church in Portland to watch a production of 'Little me', a funny musical about a woman who was born on the wrong side of the tracks who sets out to join those on the right side of the tracks with various obstacles (and husbands) along the way.

I then had a contrasting cultural experience when I went to see a Red Claws game with my lovely neighbours, The Swett- Mazes (the Red Claws being the Maine minor league basketball team). It was fun to watch two teams of giants battle it out in an action packed game but sadly the home team lost.

Sunset from the Mackworth Island bridge last Sunday

Spring in my step

Well, 10 days ago we had a snow day and then this week we had temperatures in the 60s (F) which I am told is miraculous for this time of year. The Maine winter I was dreading/excited to experience never really did hit bar a few very cold days and a couple of snow storms. I haven't been ice skating, snow shoeing or cross country skiing so I feel a little cheated, yet as the days are drawing longer, the snow is melting, the sun is shining and I can run outdoors again, I find myself not being that sorry!

Yesterday, after the gym, with the promise of a chilly yet sunny day, I set off for Popham beach a little further up the coast and out on a peninsula. What a place to have breakfast...

  

The tide was in, so my pink wellies came in handy as I plodged around the shore line and felt like Liv the explorer. There was barely a soul about and the white sand, littered with washed up driftwood and half submerged whole trees, was like landing on a desert island. Only my footprints stretched behind me. It was very beautiful and as the tide went out, more sand banks and buried trees emerged from the sea.

  

Afterwards, I went further round the peninsula to Fort Popham, built in the civil war era to guard Bath's ship building interests further up the Kennebec river. It was an ugly brute, but interesting to explore.

  

 I was also lucky enough to be invited by Janie, my neighbour, to see her play 'Dirty rotten scoundrels' in South Portland last night. We went out for a delicious Thai meal beforehand with her husband Bill (our snow blower who isn't complaining about the lack of winter either) and some friends, and then on to see the show. The story is about two con men who meet on a train. The older of the two out-cons the younger and then agrees to take him on to show him how it is really done. They then set up a bet - whoever manages to con Miss Dairy Queen out of $50,000 wins and gets to be top-dog. The younger then feigns not being able to use or feel his legs, and sets up a sob story about needing money to pay for a special doctor. Cue the older getting wind of this, introducing himself as said doctor and then doing various pain inducing tests on the younger's legs...you can't feel that can you? To give the rest of the story in a nut shell, she out cons both of them and takes their $50,000. It was very funny and very well done, especially the musical numbers.

Another happy weekend in Maine :)

Happy Birthday to me!

Well I'm now 28 which seemed scarily old when the children, following in the U.S birthday tradition, chanted "Are you 1? Are you 2?..." Realizing that this could take a while, I asked them to count in 2s and it still took an age. I think I prefer the UK add on to Happy Birthday involving champagne on chocolate aeroplanes on the way to Spain in the rain...

I had a throughly lovely American birthday which started on Friday with a celebration at Theresa's house. Lots of great company from school and wonderful food. The icing on the cake was quite literally an enormous carrot cake which had been made by the local European bakery. Theresa had dashed to collect it at lunch time only to find the message said 'Happy Birthday Liz'...a smudge of icing later and all was well. It didn't affect the taste...mmmmmmmm!

On Sunday I had a birthday dinner with Sarah and Stuart and another cake. Their singing of 'Happy birthday' complete with harmonies will be hard to ever beat (sorry Mum, Kath and Jim...maybe it was the skype connection?!) I'm also very excited about their birthday gift - we're going on a moose safari into Western Maine once the weather gets a little better!

Then yesterday, I had not one but two delicious cakes at school and got home in time to open my parcels with Mum, Jim and Kath via skype. I was then whisked off for dinner with Anne and the restuarant presented me with another little cake which sadly/luckily for my waistline I couldn't eat as I'm on chocolate deprivation for lent. Oh to be such a devout non-christian! 

All in all a near perfect 28th birthday (perfection would have been having everyone from home miraculously shipped over to celebrate too) so a huge thank you to everyone for messages, emails, cards and presents. Once again I was reminded of how lucky I am.

A piece of advice from Dad...see, there's a reason I'm eating so much cake!