Week 5: Famous Last Words

This week was pretty hectic. I had my first exam in Physiology of Microorganisms, which is one of the hardest classes of my last semester (woohoo senior year!) and I studied my butt off for it. One of my friends, who is extremely brilliant, helped me understand the pathways and mechanisms over the microorganisms we had learned about and nearly made my head explode from dropping so much knowledge on me. If it wasn’t for him, though, I probably wouldn’t have made the grade that I did (which was pretty great - no complaints)!

Unfortunately, at the same time this was happening, I was also starting on a paper for my capstone class about the characterization of a certain type of bacteria we had isolated, preparing for an exam in one of my hardest lab classes, AND battling a head cold that left me feeling like crap. Bright side to this is that I got a looot of sleep… but as a consequence, I neglected my reading and writing for this class. I was able to crank out a few stories, but I’ve been extremely underproductive in comparison to the last few weeks. Oh well.

Academically, this past week has been more productive in some areas than others. I did well on both of my exams and am feeling confident about my writing abilities for this paper (because it’s due tomorrow, hahaha). Outside of school, I caught up on a lot of sleep and missed working out because this week was so busy and I was sick.

But yesterday made up for all of that! I worked hard on Friday so that I could spend all of Saturday with my boyfriend. Cliche? Very much so. But worth it! We had originally planned on going ice-skating, but the rink was jam-packed with other couples and kids. Seeing as how we’re both not great skaters, we decided to go on a nature hike at the Sutton Wilderness Area. If you’ve never been and you live in Norman, go check it out! It’s a nice little secluded spot of woods for when you want to get away from the city vibe.




Lake in Sutton Wilderness Area
Image: Kb0kqa on Flickr

Then we came back to my place and I made roast beef. It was my first time making it, so I was really apprehensive, but it turned out delicious!

All in all, this week was ridiculously busy, but productive. Onwards with senior semester!

Here’s my recipe for the roast beef (super simple and delicious!)
You’ll need:

• One large baking pan (glass or disposable aluminum)
• One beef rump roast (1.5 - 2 lbs)
• 2 large baking potatoes
• 1 large yellow onions
• 3-4 celery stalks
• 3-4 large carrots
• Marjoram, Thyme, Parsley, Salt, Pepper, and minced garlic. 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Dice all the vegetables up after you’ve washed them and lay them in the baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, and parsley. Toss in the minced garlic. Salt and pepper the roast and then brown it in a skillet (with a blend of vegetable and olive oil - the smoke point is higher than if it was just olive oil).

Once the roast is browned, sprinkle all the green herbs and minced garlic on it and rub well. Lay it in the middle of the baking dish atop the vegetables and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Stick it in the oven for 45 minutes. Take it out and add 1.5 cups water to the pan, cover, and put it in for another 45 minutes - 1 hour. Take the pan out, uncover, crank the oven up to 400 degrees, and let cook for another 30 minutes (or until a meat thermometer registers the roast at 160 - 170 degrees.

This was super easy AND delicious! I love foods that you can toss in an oven and forget about. This is one of them!

Extra reading Week 5: Khasi fairytales

While I did read more than just one story, this blog post is mainly about the fairytale, "The Tiger and the Monkeys" because it was so similar to one of my favorite stories from the Norse myths.

The Tiger and the Monkeys:

So as people may know, I’m really into Norse mythology. As I was reading this tale, I kept referring back to a similar Norse tale with Thor and Loki fooling the giants.

The tale begins with Tiger, king of all the animals, taking a leisurely stroll through the jungle. He hears this beautiful music, and can’t find the source of it because it’s coming from a tiny insect. Because he’s an insolent and ignorant king, he doesn’t realize it’s coming from Shalymmen, the tiny insect. Instead, he asks the monkeys above where the music is coming from and, because one of the younger monkeys is a clown, he says it’s his sisters’ singing.

Tiger’s like, “Alright then, you’re now my brother-in-law because I’m going to marry your sister.”

I’ve never understood this type of logic in fairytales. “Oh, I’m enraptured by your beauty, I shall marry you! Your voice is beautiful, I shall marry you!” You’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone you barely know based on one character quality? Come on. I guess that’s why they call them fairy tales.

Long story short, the monkeys trick tiger by decorating a clay image of a monkey in wedding finery, making sure the head is loose. Tiger comes along, puts a string of Betel-nuts around her neck (I guess Betel-nuts are part of some sort of wedding ritual among the Khasi people), pulls too hard on the necklace and takes the head clean off.

Truly, who could resist a bride so beautiful?

Image: Susan Bowswer's Pinterest

The monkeys gang up on Tiger and a bloody battle ensues. And that’s why, to this day, Tiger fears only the monkeys in the jungle.

This is very similar to the story, “How Thor Lost His Hammer” in Norse mythology. Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, is stolen by the Jotuns (giants), and when he and Loki go to bargain with the Jotuns to get it back they’re like, “Yeah, you can have it, as long as our king can marry Freyja.”

Freyja, of course, is like, “No.” 

So all the gods and goddesses of Asgard come up with a plan to steal back the hammer.

Thor gets decked out in wedding garb, impersonating Freyja, and Loki acts as one of his handmaidens. 

The beard is so inconspicuous.

Image: Wikipedia

They go to the hall of the Jotun king and a great wedding feast is held. Thor’s face is kept veiled the entire time so the Jotun king doesn’t see ‘Freyja’s’ beautiful face. So when the time comes for the ceremony and the ‘I do’s,’ the hammer is brought to the bride and Thor snatches it, revealing himself and laying waste to the Jotun king’s great hall.

While the story varies, the plot is almost the same. In both cases the family of the bride-to-be tricks the groom and has their revenge.

Week 5 Reading A: Life of the Buddha (Little Prince Siddhartha)

This week for my reading I chose to read about ‘The Life of Buddha’. I took the Indian Epics class a year ago and had my fill of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, so I decided to stray away from traditional fairytales and read about the famed Siddhartha. I’ve also always been curious about buddhism in general, so I figured these stories would be good to read.

Maya’s Dream:

So Queen Maya and King Suddhodhana are the parents of Siddhartha. Before his birth, Queen Maya is visited in a dream by many Gods and Goddesses, singing and praising, and having a grand ‘ol time.

She awakes feeling freed from all earthly troubles and worries, completely blissful. She tells her husband about the dream in private in the wood outside their palace. He calls upon the brahmans (wise men) to interpret the dream and they proclaim that the King and Queen will birth a son who will grow in nobility and then go to see the suffering of the world and strive to put an end to it. The King and Queen rejoice and there is much celebration - the poor are given food, the thirsty are given drink, and all the women receive nice perfumes and flowers. Reading this, I imagined it in my mind like a grand Bollywood movie. Flower petals falling from the air, smiling faces everywhere, the sitar playing gaily in the distance… The way the celebration is described in the story, it’s no wonder Bollywood films are so colorful.

This is how I imagine Siddhartha's birth was celebrated.

Image: The Merchants of Bollywood

The Birth of Siddhartha:

Most of these stories are reading like a grand Bollywood dream. Queen Maya somehow knows her son is about to be born and wants him to be born surrounded by flowers in bloom. So the King sends his servants out to drape silver and gold ornaments on the trees outside, his wife dresses in fine silks (a poor choice for a woman about to give birth, if you ask me), and everyone in attendance is decked in their best. So she goes out, wanders about the trees, stops to sniff a blossom, and poof - baby Siddhartha is born. No pain, no fuss. Birds sing, the sick are cured, the world is rid of all its sorrows. Just by this little prince-baby being born. Incredible. Cue more colorful Bollywood dancing.

Asita’s Prediction:

Asita, a wise and learned man in the ways of the spirit, comes to visit the baby-prince Siddhartha. He tells the King that his son will indeed seek to end suffering in the world, and he is sad because he will not be alive to hear the teachings of the Buddha. Honestly, to be burdened with such knowledge, to know that you’ve missed your chance to learn from one of the best teachers of all time… that would sadden me quite a bit, too.

Siddhartha’s First Meditation:

Little prince Siddhartha is told to go learn from Viswamithra, the wisest sage (gurus) in the land. I’ve read about Viswamithra before in the Ramayana - he’s a very popular choice for teaching young princes. There seem to have been so many wonderful teachers in Hindu mythology. I think I would have liked to study under them.

Seeing Siddhartha’s brillaince, Viswamithra is stunned and decides there is nothing he can teach him. So little prince Siddhartha goes to sit in a field under a clump of trees and meditate. He emits some sort of glow when doing this - I’m not sure why (or how for that matter). Many people stop to stare in awe at him and praise him. I’m also not sure why this is happening, either. I also notice it doesn’t mention which tree he meditates under. I’m pretty sure it’s important to know what kind of tree the Buddha meditates under in case I want to replicate the same results.

An ivory carving depicting Siddhartha meditating

Image: Wikipedia

Bilbiography: 'Life of Buddha,' by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922). 

Read the stories here!