Chicha was one of my favorite drinks while I was in Bolivia... Yoli's mom made it very well, and we also would get it when we would go out to eat at the little neighborhood restaurants.
So this week I tried to make it myself twice... Yoli gave me general directions, but as she says, Bolivians don't use recipes... they just add and mix until everything looks right.
My first try wasn't perfect. But the second try was much better... What did I do?
1. Add 5 whole cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, and 8 spoonfuls of sugar to 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
2. While waiting for that to boil, add 1-3 spoonfuls of corn flour to half a cup of water in a separate container. Mix thoroughly.
3. When the water boils, pour the corn-flour mixture into it.
4. Continue boiling for 30 minutes while stirring.
5. Turn off heat and refrigerate!
I understand there is also a way to make chicha from peanuts. I don't know how to do it that way, though.
If everything works out, in 3 months Josh and I will be getting married. This days we've been workin in "A Handbook For Engaged Couples" by Robert & Alice Fryling. It is a good book. It has given us lot to talk about and helping us to get to know each other better.
I have also had weird dreams from too much thinking of him, chating and talking. It shouldn't surprise me because my dreams are always weird.
Now we are waiting patiently for my visa. Hopefully, we will get it in time for our wedding. August will be my last month at work, so I can focus in September on preparing for our wedding.
I just found a cool website called BBS Mates...
The idea of the site is similar to the Classmates.com site where you can find old friends from high school. On this site, you can find onld friends you met on various BBSes. The site has a very comprehensive list of BBSes (going back to the 1980s!).
By the way, BBSes are "Bulletin Board Systems." Before the internet became popular among the masses, most folks would call BBSes. A BBS was a system you set up on your home computer. People could call your computer and write messages, play games, download files, etc. The greatest appeal was that BBSes had mostly local users (since long distance calls cost $$) and some BBSes even had regular get-togethers or parties.
I was part of the St. Louis BBS scene during my teen years from 1993-1998 or so.
Shortly after coming back to the States, I created a new website (www.joshrenaud.com) to serve as my "business" site. I put up examples of my work as a writer, newspaper page designer, and web designer.
I have since begun migrating all my "personal" sites to this new server... While they were once scattered all over the place, now they all exist as subdomains of one server.
So you can find GrossWorld at www.joshrenaud.com/grossworld/. And of course this site is now located at www.joshrenaud.com/bolivia/.
If you bookmarked this site, please make sure you update your bookmark, since I'll soon be pulling the plug on the old address (www.joshrenaud.addr.com).