culture Archives - Compassionate Women

Fridarific! Handcrafted Items at FridaFest

July 9, 2017 by Jillian Leave a Comment

When I found out that Edinburg – the town I live near in South Texas – was going to have a FridaFest, I immediately went into celebratory dance mode 💃 I LOVE Frida Kahlo and I have a feeling that I will end up being a lot like her – living somewhere warm in a bright blue house with lots of animals, an artsy husband, and wearing colorful clothing and woven braids in my hair not caring what anyone thinks. I’m totally okay with that 👍

Locals artists and vendors in the Rio Grande Valley were out in full force this past Saturday to celebrate the life and work of this very talented and interesting woman. Of course, of the three days a year the Valley actually gets rain, this had to be one of them ☔️ Luckily, it didn’t scare anyone inside and I actually remembered to bring my umbrella for the first time in my life. I basically stepped into my second version of heaven (the first version is me being surrounded by every animal that ever lived 🐯); everywhere I looked there were colorful items dedicated to Frida.

My second favorite thing about FridaFest is that it supported local businesses and artists, and enabled them to share their talents. Here are some of the cool items I came across before the weather prevented me from snapping more photos!

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Veg Head in Vietnam – Part 1

February 21, 2015 by Jillian Leave a Comment

You know all those beautiful, tropical places you see in professional photos where the lounge chair is placed perfectly under the umbrella in the sand, with a view of a turquoise ocean that sparkles and a sun that never stops shining? That’s where I am right now. I never expected to find it in Vietnam, though. I had never given Vietnam much thought; it’s one of those overlooked destinations that stays under the radar and therefore less touched by tourists, which is exactly what I was looking for. As a teacher in Beijing, I get about two weeks off for the Chinese New Year holiday. I needed to get out of the city and to someplace warm! At first, Thailand was at the top of my list, but the flight prices were expensive and rapidly rising each day. A couple of friends had mentioned Vietnam to me and I decided to look into it. I eventually found Nha Trang, a little beach town on the southeastern coast of the country. I chose to stay there for two nights, and then make my way about one hour north to secluded Doc Let Beach. Let me take you on a magical ride through my vegetarian journey through Vietnam…

First off, the air in Vietnam smells so good! Maybe just where I traveled, but it smelled like a cross between salt water and incense, or sometimes flowers. Not bad, huh? Nha Trang is a busy little town, especially around this time of year. A lot of tourists from China come down for the holiday, and it’s a huge tourist destination for Russians and expats living nearby. Plus, it’s also Vietnam’s Lunar New Year, year of the goat. What I like is that there are just as many locals, so I felt like I got the full, cultural experience of Vietnam.

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Eating Vegan-ish in Seoul, South Korea

December 23, 2014 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Last week I spent a couple of quick days in Seoul, South Korea exploring the Hongdae District. That’s where Hongik University is, so this area of Seoul is very modern and artsy. Walking along the main drag of the district, I sort of felt like I was in New York City. Seoul is just a quick 2 hour plane ride from Beijing. Once I cleared customs, I took an escalator straight down to the subway and hopped on. I was welcomed by snowfall when I emerged from the subway station near my hostel, which was quite magical, then it quickly turned to rain and my shoes were soaked (which was less magical).

In general, Seoul was very clean and friendly. Most of the places I went, the locals knew at least a little English, and they were very smiley and giggly. Even though I braved the intensely cold weather, it was difficult to get around and explore as much as I had hoped to. However, I enjoyed trying new foods and searching for options that were healthy and tasty. Here’s what I came up with!

My first evening in Seoul, I found an “American salad bar & grill” called Ashley’s, which actually turned out to be an upscale buffet restaurant. There was indeed a salad bar, as well as different fruits, yogurt and granola bar, pizza, tofu sushi, apple coleslaw, make-your-own noodle soup, and a section of meat dishes. Obviously, these aren’t all vegan friendly but I was able to make do and went back to the buffet like 4 times! They also had a wine bar, your basic soda options, as well as brown rice green tea and a non-alcoholic wine tea which was interesting. There was also a self-serve espresso machine, which I loved!

The next day was unbearably cold, so I decided just to hit up a 7-11 and purchase several small food items for lunch. 7-11 is everywhere in Seoul and Beijing, and I’m assuming in many other Asian cities as well.

They had a selection of familiar drinks that I could easily get back in America, so I decided to try something new. I saw this Oriental Raisin Water and gave it a try. It didn’t taste like raisins necessarily (the picture on the bottle makes it look like it comes from a berry?), I’m not quite sure how to describe it. It wasn’t too strong of a taste, barely sweet, but overall I liked it. Maybe it tasted tea-ish?

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My Life in Beijing

November 8, 2014 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Hello all my compassionate friends! I’m here in Beijing, week 3 of 52. I’ll be spending the next year here working with really adorable kids and exploring the culture and history. I thought today I would share some of my thoughts on Beijing, the capital of China, including my impression of how compassionate of a country it is – or isn’t… Here goes!

It reminds me of any big city I would come across, like NYC or LA, or my hometown (Dallas)
People here have no sense of body space (esp on the subway, bus, elevators, or really anywhere!)
There are sooo many restaurants and stores. There is a lot of shopping to be done! And most things are very cheap to purchase.
There is a very big foreign community here. I’ve seen people from America, Canada, Europe, Africa, and other places.
The Chinese seem to admire Americans and their lifestyle/culture and sometimes they like to come up and take pictures of me and my friends.
The outskirts of Beijing are surrounded by some beautiful scenery, esp the mountains.