Florida Expedition: September 3-10

Guess who's coming to Florida?

A colleague from Harvard and I will be in North Florida to sample fungi and beetles from the area between September 3 and 10. The magnanimous Diego/James F/todabrilla has consented to put us up at his place for the week, insuring us of good company as well as saving two itinerant and impoverished graduate students the cost of a hotel. With our flight from Boston to Tampa now confirmed and lodging assured, I'll next be turning to securing the permits required to do our collecting legally. Flying into Tampa means that we'll have to make a three hour drive to Tallahassee, but it also saved us a ton of money on the cost of travel.

While our days will be filled with collecting, identifying and preserving specimens, I'm looking forward to seeing some old acquaintances in the evenings as well. I'll need to check into whether I can get access to some resources at Florida State (like a couple of microscopes), and in any case I expect to visit the campus and see a couple of my professors as well as attending a meeting of the Union of Freethinking Students. I'm certain I'll also pass at least one evening at Aladdin's Sheesha Café.

North Florida is one of the country's hottest biodiversity hotspots, renowned for its unique ecosystems and endemic species. Even though I spent five years investigating them on my own, it will be a whole new experience seeing them through eyes that have learned a great deal more about fungi and Coleoptera over the course of the past year. I must admit that it will be good to see the many venomous snakes that make field work in the area that much more exciting, too.

I could do without the Confederate flags, of course, but one doesn't see too many in the swamps and forests, anyhow.

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Hookah Bars in Worcester

The most recent issue of Worcester Magazine ran an article about Spiritual Haze, a hookah bar here in town. LL and I have passed by the place and keep meaning to check it out; we haven't been to a hookah bar since leaving Tallahassee and we're long overdue.

Scott Zoback mentions in the piece that

...such lounges have sprouted up all over town; one has already opened and at least two more are in various stages of planning or opening. As with sushi and Starbucks, these things tend to come in threes in Worcester.

He doesn't say anything else about these others, though. Do any of the local folks know anything about them?

I'm wondering in particular if either or both of the other two hookah lounges not named in Zoback's article are Arab-run. LL is a bit of a traditionalist in that a visit to a hookah place is, among other things, a cure for homesickness (she's Lebanese). I know Worcester has a sizable Middle Eastern community; I wonder if the other lounges are products of that community.

Besides, I love listening to LL order in Arabic. I still can't understand what she's saying most of the time, but I do like hearing her say it!

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Morocco Restaurant: Lamb Sushi and Hookahs Come to Worcester

Note: for a more recent review (January 6, 2008), click here

Morocco Middle Eastern restaurant opened at 172 Shrewsbury Street less than two weeks ago at the site that used to be Anthony's. According to owner Sadi Sadi, it takes its name in part from the now-defunct El Morocco, a place that came to be something of a local legend. Sadi, who is Lebanese, also told me that the name was chosen because Americans see Morocco as a friendly Arab country and it's too risky to name a place something like "Beirut;" it might scare away customers. The new place isn't likely to scare anyone, though. While it's a new venture and has a couple of kinks to iron out, it promises to be something special and already has very good food and atmosphere that are going to get better over the next few weeks.

We started off our meal with a four-item mezza of baba ghanouj, ma'anik (a spicy lamb mini-sausage), lebneh and shanklish. The first two of these were excellent, particularly the ma'anik. It was the best I've had, in fact. The baba ghanouj was freshly made and had a distinctly flame-broiled flavor; clearly no cans were involved in preparation which is all too often the case even at supposedly "fine" Middle Eastern restaurants. The shanklish was a bit of a disappointment, though, being of a weak-flavored variety that disappeared behind the tomato and parsley that accompanied it.

I was glad to find araq on the menu at Morocco. I generally can't stomach the taste of licorice, but araq is the exception to the rule for me. This marks the first time I've been to a restaurant that serves the stuff, so I was only too happy to have some as part of my appetizer. My dining companions chose from the decent wine list a Lebanese red wine. I generally find Middle Eastern wine a bit too sweet for my palette, so I passed on that.

For dinner, I ordered the kibbe nayye, an item that one doesn't see on menus too often due to people's health concerns (admittedly, eating raw meat is a bit of a risk these days, but how could I resist?) The last time I had the dish was at a restaurant in London about 10 years ago, so I was overjoyed to find a favorite on the menu here. My kibbe was served with onions and a spicy tomato and olive oil-based sauce; the presentation was excellent. There really is nothing quite like a glass of araq and a plate of raw meat to put one in the mood to howl at the moon! LL had beef shawarma which she thought good but not great (I tried a bite and thought it was excellent, but I defer to her vastly greater experience in all matters of Middle Eastern culture and cuisine). Our other companion had fish in a tahini sauce (I've forgotten the exact name; sorry) that he complained was too salty. Again, I'm not generally a fan of Middle Eastern fish recipes; they tend to be a bit overcooked and dry for a guy who, after all, likes to have the occasional plate of raw lamb brought to him.

For dessert, I had a rice pudding that was simple, not overly sweet, and quite good. LL had hawasi, a cheese-based cold sort of thing that I wish I could describe better. You'll just have to try it for yourself. The other member of the party had knafe. I didn't try any of it, being far too stuffed by this point, but he proclaimed it the best he'd had in nearly forty years of eating Arab cuisine. The moral of the story is, leave room for dessert when you go to Morocco!

The restaurant is dimly lit and has great atmosphere. Arab music is played and a big screen TV near the full bar was showing Middle Eastern music videos while we were there. Now, let me add yet one more thing to my list of items that make me want to howl at the moon — Arab women with long black hair and big brown eyes. I found the combination of araq, my entree, Hayfa Wehbe and Diana Haddad to be rather stimulating. If only there had been a full moon last night!

The biggest problem Morocco has right now is service, which was a little uneven at times. It was a minor problem, really, and will no doubt get better in time. The place has been open for less than two weeks, after all. Even in this instance, service was friendly if wonky and Sadi himself is a personable guy who was working the tables as we ate. He's got big ideas for the place, of course.

In the next few weeks, Morocco will be opening a separate room for smoking arguilleh. The one thing we've missed since moving here from Tallahassee has been a hookah bar at which to hang out. There isn't one in Worcester, although there are nearly two dozen in Boston. Still, that's an hour away, so having one coming to Shrewsbury Street is a positive development. Sadi also told us that there will be live belly dancing and music starting in a couple of weeks, so I'm sure we'll be making additional trips in the near future.

Morocco is located at 172 Shrewbury Street at the corner of Lyons. Reservations are suggested on the weekend (call 508-459-9660), and I'm sure they will be a necessity once word gets out about the place. It was about half full last night. There's no parking lot, so a walk may be necessary, but well-worth it. Even better, leave the car home so you can drink more araq!

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That's About It: The Last Florida Entry

We had a great evening last night, starting at Aladdin's. A number of our local friends turned up, including Todabrilla, Izzy23, Kwanboa, and CaSo. We came back to the house afterward and hung out until nearly 1:00 AM, and CaSo and Brett will be back here later this morning to help load up the truck. Today's the penultimate "big day."

LL and I will pick up the truck in just a little while. By the end of the day, everything that's here will be either loaded onto that truck or carted away by the people who bought the last of our furniture. I'm not sure what we'll be sleeping on tonight, since the bed will be gone, but we'll work it out. In just a few minutes, though, I'll be shutting down and taking apart my computer. This will thus be the last entry to this blog that I write from Florida; the next will be the first I write from our new home state, Massachusetts. I don't know yet when exactly that will be, since we'll have to establish service at the new place and that may take a few days beyond when we get there.

The time has come; the five years are really over now. In twenty-four hours, we drive away and put Florida in the rear view mirror, pretty much for good. I don't expect to be back here at least until LL defends her dissertation, and maybe not even then. Who knows.

I could drone on and on here, but I won't. Moving is never easy; I'm excited about beginning the next few years and sad to leave the friends we've made here. I write this entry from a run-down little house named Hobbiton at the edge of the woods of North Florida. Two raccoons are currently sitting outside. It's already getting warm and muggy, as it always is here in late June. The road goes ever onward, and in just a little while we'll be back on it and headed away to begin the next adventure.

Goodbye, Florida. Massachusetts, here we come.

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Finally! An MP3 Player That Works!

I decided to give one more try at buying a new MP3 player today. I went over to circuit city and bought a SanDisk Sansa 4.0 GB, m260 player. It actually does everything it was supposed to and sounds great, too. The manual for the thing is all of five pages long and written in English and the controls actually make sense.

Eureka! Now I'll have music for the road trip. I've already bought this thingamajig that plugs into the cigarette lighter and beams a signal from the player to the radio on any frequency... which is a very good thing, since the truck I'm renting doesn't have a CD player, just an AM/FM radio.

Except for my computer and a few articles of clothing, everything I own is boxed up and ready to go. I'll be packing up the kitchen on Friday while LL finishes off her stuff, then we load the truck and finish cleaning up the house on Saturday with the assistance of four of LL's students. Sunday morning we hit the road!

Friday night, we're having our last trip over to Aladdin's Sheesha Café and meeting up with a few friends for a goodbye. It's very informal, and anyone who reads this and wishes to join us is more than welcome. We'll be there starting at about 8:00 PM.

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Preparations

Today, my last outstanding invoice from eBay sales will be paid. In total, I've raised about $4K from sales of my book collection. I only wound up selling about a quarter of it; eBay is just too time-consuming. I may sell more of it once we get to Worcester, though. I do have some motivation for doing that until my stipend starts; the temp agencies I signed up with got me all of 3.5 days of work which paid all of $250. There just isn't much of that kind of work here, I suppose. I may still apply at a couple of them once we get settled in our new place, though.

We had one couple take a look at our bedroom set. Not the brightest folks; the woman's response was that it "looked much smaller in the pictures." Huh? So another person is coming to look tonight. She's just moved here and has no furniture yet, so it's a good prospect. Aside from a few book cases and a couple of computer desks, which will go on Craig's List in the next couple of days, everything is taken care of. We've even got some help loading the truck, which we'll be picking up a week from Saturday. I'm taking the car in for its tune-up tomorrow, and once I get it back I'll get the tired and brakes done, too. If all goes well, we'll be hitting the road early in the morning a week from Sunday.

Tonight, I'm going to my last UFS meeting at Aladdin's. It will probably be my last time there. That place will be one of the things I'll miss about Tallahassee. It's been a default hangout and second home for LL and I since it used to be Sheesha Nights. There's apparently a good-sized Lebanese community where we're going, though, so we'll likely be able to find a new place somewhat like it to call our own.

We've still got a good deal of packing to do, but since today is LL's last day at work we should have plenty of time to finish.

Hard to believe that our five years in Florida is almost over. I'm looking forward to colorful autumns and cold winters again. I don't think I've ever fully acclimated to the weather here, and I know I can live without the swarms of mosquitoes. Nonetheless, I'm going to miss the biodiversity here. The only solution, i suppose, is to work hard, find grant money, and get myself back to Trinidad!

I'm already having wonderful fantasies about taking LL for breakfast (and cheesecake!) at Junior's (the original one in Flatbush). I have great memories of the baskets of mini-danishes that come with breakfast there, in the same way that good restaurants give you a basket of bread with dinner. I haven't been back there in nearly 20 years now — since 1989 or 1990, I think. Aside from everything right in Boston, having relatively easy access to NYC is a big plus. LL and I have never been to the American Museum of Natural History together. You know, I can still remember the smell of the fossil exhibits like it was just yesterday. That museum literally reeks of history.

And I wonder... where in Greenwich Village does Rocky Horror play at midnight these days? I hear that the Waverly is long gone, but I can't imagine that there isn't a showing there somewhere!

Nine days left here in North Florida. Yes, the whole moving thing is stressful... but it will soon be behind us, and I think things are going to get better for us than they've been while we've lived here. Tallahassee is an alright town for what it offers, but it's a bit isolating. There aren't any big cultural centers near here. I think I'm at a point in life where I'm ready to trade some nature in for some culture for a few years... when I'm not helping out with research. It's all very exciting. LL and I really are counting the days. Could you tell?

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