MN State Fair, How I Will Miss You…

Being a Minnesota native, I have never missed attending our “Great Minnesota Get-Together”. I have many good memories of going to the fair with friends and family. This year, I’ve done something I’ve never done before- I went three times in three days.

In those three days I saw the birthing of a cow, discovered my blood type (A+), won my sister an oversized stuffed animal, listed to a Frank Sinatra impersonator, and ate. “Just how much did you eat?” you might ask. Well, here’s a list of all the foods I tried:

BBQ Pork Sandwich
Big Fat Bacon
Cheese Curds
Chocolate Covered Bacon
Chocolate Covered Salted Nut Roll
Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
Corn on the Cob
Cotton Candy
Cream Cheese Wontons
Deep Fried Veggies on a Stick
Egg rolls
Foot-Long Hot Dog
French Fries
Gyro
Hamburgers
Ice Cream
Kettle Corn
Krumkake
Mini Donuts
Perfect Pickle (w/ ranch dressing)
Pickle Wraps
Pizza
Potato Chips
Potato Lefsa
Pronto Pup
Salt Water Taffy
SPAM bites
Sweet Martha's Cookies
Vietnamese Iced Coffee

So here I lie in bed the morning after my last excursion, reflecting on my recent three day fair binge. I have mixed feelings. One the one hand, I had a great time- on the other hand is the unsavory gut rot. Overall, I’m satisfied- I’m pretty sure (although not certain) that these fair foods will not be available while in Micronesia.

Dolla Dolla Bill Y'all

Just found this information this morning- according to recovery.gov (the site that tracks all the stimulus spending) the Federal States of Micronesia and Palau are each getting a nice little chunk of cash for their respective departments of education.

FSM: $3,619,000
Palau: $931,000

I’ve got no idea of what this will mean (if anything) to the work I’ll be doing in the area- it will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Click here to see the spending in your area.

On another note, I’ve got just under two weeks before I leave and need to start packing!

Adiós!

I just got home from my last day of teaching at the Adult Basic Education center. Although I only started working here earlier this year, I have quickly grown to look forward to my Monday nights with this group. My role has not been too demanding, I lead a conversation class and really enjoy getting the chance to talk with people from all over the world. Enjoy the picture I was able to sneak (these are usually camera-shy folks).


Also, the staff was kind enough to get me some going-away cookies. Thanks again!