Guest Post!

Hi, I'm Teabelly. The Renaissance Man has been kind enough to give me space on his blog for the Twenty Something Bloggers blog swap. Attempting to come up with something to write has driven me mad for the past few days, and after trying to think of something universal that everyone can relate to, I gave up and decided to talk about myself. I'm lazy, what can I say?

In around six weeks I'm going holiday. Actually, I don't know if trekking through jungle can be called a holiday, surely it's an adventure instead? So fine, I'm going on an adventure. On 10th August I will leave this city behind and head off to Belize (with a looong stop over in New York first, and a shorter one in Texas), then across the border to Guatemala, then on down through the country to El Salvador. Just writing that out makes me feel tired, so god knows how I'll feel after two weeks wandering around with all my possessions strapped to my back.

I'm not much of an adventurer, it must be said. I like my comforts, I like having a bathroom nearby and the ability to shower regularly. I like clean clothes and straight hair. The last time I did anything nearly as hard core as this was a school trip to Pakistan aged 17. I hated almost every minute of it, didn't eat for two weeks and came home feeling like death. Frosties and cold milk have never tasted so good, let me tell you. So I'm pretty nervous about the trip, my last few trips abroad have been Europe and New York, nothing too exciting, and certainly no prospects of being stung by a scorpion. And my friend seems to think we're going camping in the jungle. I don't do camping in the countryside here, what on earth makes him think I'll do it there? I need a bathroom damn it, no negotiations there.

I'm trying to tell myself to be brave and go for it, because I'll never get another opportunity like it, but still, nerves are nerves and they don't listen to me trying to be rational. But I've got my trusty guidebook, which fills me with excitement when it describes all the places I could go (Tikal looks like the place to go if nothing else, but watch out for those monkeys!). And I've looked at the stories of people who have been and loved it, who tell you to be careful but that nothing bad has ever happened to them there, that the people are friendly and kind and it's the trip of a lifetime.

I'm ignoring the Foreign Office website with its hurricane warnings and statistics on theft and muggings and kidnappings. They're just trying to make sure I'm careful, right? There's no real cause for concern or anything…

Anyway, I have six weeks to prepare. Six weeks in which to get my injections and malaria tablets, walking shoes and hat, sunscreen, waterproofs (its wet season don't you know), insect repellent, mosquito net, sleeping bag, photocopies of my passport (just in case) and money, mustn't forget money, need that to buy all sorts of tat with which to weigh down my already huge rucksack.

I'm sure that's doable. Now I just need to find an extra dose of courage.

Drink of the Moment: Gin and Tonic

Ah, the Gin and Tonic. The magical drink that glows, cures malaria, and makes women beautiful.

The Gin and Tonic was originally made in India by the British East India Trading Company in the 18th century, to treat their soldiers. That's right, this drink was originally a medicine. This is probably one of the earlier instances of abusing meds.

The tonic is what was medicinal. It contains quinine, which prevents malaria. The tonic water used at the time had much higher concentrations, and as such, was unspeakably bitter. So people would conceal the taste by mixing it with gin.

In the preparation of the Gin and Tonic, you need two things. For the really slow readers, those two things are Gin and Tonic Water.

Take a highball glass, and fill it with ice. Then add 2 ounces of gin, fill the rest with tonic water, and stir briskly. a wedge of lime is the traditional garnish, but you can throw just about anything in there. Sit back, sip your drink, and hum God Save the Queen.

With a highball glass, you'll get a 1 to 2 concentration of gin to tonic water. One of the beautiful things about this drink is the ease with which the proportions can be adjusted. I've had Gin and Tonics that ranged from a glass if gin with a hint of tonic water, to a splash of gin to cut the tonic. If you like a more concentrated drink, but don't want a highball sized concentrated drink, you can also adjust the glass you're drinking from. An Old Fashioned Glass works nicely for that.

Another curious feature of tonic water is that it glows under a black light. If you're the type of person who likes your drink at a certain concentration, this is actually a pretty good way to check the concentration. The brighter it glows, the less gin is in it. If your friends are jokers, and they buy you a glass of gin, and try to disguise it as a gin and tonic, you have a way to keep yourself from being caught off guard.

A common variant of the Gin and Tonic is the Vodka and Tonic. I often order this at nightclubs, because low end vodka is much more palatable than low end gin.