Sigh

The past few days have been a wild ride.

The adrenaline that carries you through moments of uncertainty and fear has gone.

I'm left with emotions that swing wildly from anger to sadness to mourning to defiance.

The embassy was breached. Our flag was burned. There were terrible videos and photos of angry young men posted to Facebook. They were unsettling.

Photo from clickondetroit.com

Our school was set on fire, looted, vandalized. Again, there were terrible videos and photos of angry young men posted to Facebook. They were maddening.

Photo of a looted and burned classroom

Opportunistic looters. Nearly every computer from the school was stolen.

And then, yesterday, our flag was raised yet again over the embassy. Our school is being cleaned up. There are pledges of help.

Photo from the American Embassy Tunis

There is hope.

During this rough time we had many friends staying with us. We were glued to the TV, the internet, and each other.

Over glasses of wine and mint tea and tears and laughter we shared this meal.

Moros y Christianos, simple, humble black beans and rice. The name translates to Moors and Christians. I didn't make my usual recipe for this dish, this was made on the fly with what was in the pantry. I had brown rice, cans of black beans and some homemade salsa in the fridge.

Moros y Christianos
2 cups brown rice
2 cans of black beans rinsed and drained
2 cans of diced tomatoes in puree
1/2 of a red onion finely minced
1 heaping tablespoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of chili powder
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2-1 jalapeno seeded and finely diced
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cups finely chopped cilantro
Avocado

Cook the rice according to the package directions. While the rice is cooking combine in a mixing bowl the tomatoes, onion, cumin, chili powder, olive oil, jalapeno, salt, lemon juice and cilantro.
When the rice is cooked stir in the beans and salsa. Heat through and serve with diced avocado.