Antarctica on a Plate

Antarctica on a Plate - Misadventures of a Polar Chef
By Alexa Thomson

Reviewed by Claudine

Imagine this. You have never been to Antarctica or anywhere extreme for that matter.
You work as a web designer for an investment bank, lead a high life and have anything you want materially.
But you are languishing in discontent, sick of your current lifestyle and of being single and desperately want a change in circumstances.
Would you throw away your job, take on the unknown perils of Antarctica and hack out a life there as a chef for 3 months?

Well, according to Alexa, yes.

That was precisely what she did. She wangled her way through the interview to land a job as a chef on the one of the most inhospitable continents on earth. Madness, some may say. But this is why the book is truly enjoyable. You laugh at her amateurish ways in handling everything, aka wide-eyed teenager fashion, from firing up the stoves (literally, with flames licking the top of the cooking tent), hedging her way out of sticky situations (just act cool and pretend that you think you know what to do), to singlehandedly defrosting and serving up delectable meals, using only basic kitchen amenities, for sometimes more than 70 people at a time with huge amounts of food and ingredients stored in an ice cave (what a freezer!).

But you also marvel at her ingenuity and ability to cope with the harsh and nightmarish conditions there. Somehow, she managed to find fun there, built a deep camaraderie with other people through countless card and table games, zoomed over the surface of Antarctica in a skidoo and jumped (Alexa and her colleague, Lisa, actually screeched ‘Yee-haaaa!’) at the offer of a sauna bath on a Russian base there. You cannot help but savour the delight of the sauna bath along with her after realizing she had gone without a hot bath for a month or two. The experience living there is really out of this world and it is not something many amateurs would dare to take on but she did. She brought out the awe and beauty of Antarctica and we learn to respect the great continent and that we are but mere specks existing on its huge surface and we live according to its rules and timing, whether we like it or not. And of all the most unlikely places, Alexa found love.

This is a truly a travel book with a difference.

One Hundred and One Days

One Hundred and One Days
By Asne Seierstad

Reviewed by Claudine

One hundred and one days – that is the length of time Asne Seierstad stayed in Iraq before and during and after the invasion of Iraq in April 2003. She takes us to the streets of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, interviewing people, reporting stories and scenes which we would not have otherwise seen in the news. In this book, one realizes that in war, there are no victors, only victims. Families who lose their homes and loved ones in an instant to missile attacks. Children and young people, whose lives are scarred forever, by wounds they sustain. Perhaps one of the most moving stories for me is about Ali, a 12 year old boy, who lost his family and home to an American missile. Covered in burns, he had his arms amputated in order to save his life and it was extremely heart-rending to hear him ask Seierstad, ‘Can I have my hands back?’ This is just one of the many painful stories she relates in her book. The book is mostly conversational in style effectively conveying the immediacy and intensity of the emotions churning and exploding within the Iraqis. It makes for gripping reading from page to page and the reader finds himself, like the Iraqis, helplessly caught up in the whirl of events that hurtle forward.

All in all, this book describes the under-represented perspectives and experiences of the Iraqi people which draws us into their little-known world and helps us gain a better understanding as to why some of them looked forward to the war while many others harboured a deep seated hatred towards it leading to the chaotic disunity and ambiguity which we see in present-day Iraq.

That Undeniable Longing

That Undeniable Longing
by Mark Tedesco
reviewed by Jase (Jason Ruel)
BellaOnline's Gay Lesbian Editor

"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta: ab homine iniquo et doloso erue me. Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam: ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum tuum, et in tabernacula tua. Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto" so sayeth the Priest during mass on Sunday.

This is the life of a Priest. A life filled with Latin, filled with lambs, filled with G-d. It is a life of celibacy, of poverty, of charity. It is a life filled with listening to the woes of the people, their sins, and giving the forgiveness through Jesus Christ, The Lord. This is the life of a man who has dedicated himself to G-d and the church, to the people, to His flock. After nearly 8 plus years, countless hours of prayer, devotion, and spiritual struggle. After a four-year degree, a post-graduate degree, many sleepless nights filled with fear and dread. This is a Priest. This is the life of a Priest. This is the life of a Gay Priest!

"In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against an unholy people, rescue me from the wicked and deceitful man. Send forth Thy light and thy truth: for they have led me and brought me to thy holy hill and Thy dwelling place. Trust in God, for I shall yet praise Him, my Savior, and my God. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."

These words, as translated from the Latin above, are the words that Mark Tedesco heard and said on a daily basis. As a Priest-to-be, Mark struggled with not only his family and his faith, but also with his life as a closeted gay man. In his book That Undeniable Longing: My Road to AND from THE Priesthood, Mark Tedesco recounts his life, well roughly ten years of his life, of going from faithful Catholic parishioner to being a full-fledge Catholic Priest… and then back to being a "normal" Joe.

This book captivates the reader from page one when he wonders if questioning life and your past is a side-effect of being middle-aged. "How did I arrive at this point? Could I ever have imagined, long ago on a winter day in Rome, that I would find myself on this new path, my dreams not shattered, but transformed. And that elusive, relentless desire, for happiness – where is it leading me?" He sparks our imagination, at least those of us who are 30-something and older, of the days gone by. He makes us think about our past, and if we would have done anything differently. He makes us think about the lessons, the little "–isms" we have learned and discovered.

The life of a Priest is hard, as we learn. It is a life filled with monotony, with repetitiveness, and without much spontaneity. It is a life filled with being the moral grounding of a faith that is large and far reaching. To influence the lives of others is a path that many are not willing to take. Young Mark discovers this and so much more on his little journey known as the priesthood. From being an oblate in a monastery in the hills of Italy, to being kicked out, and then once again accepted by another seminary, Mark's adventure both captivates and invigorates you in addition to upsetting and angering you. In light of all the controversy surrounding Priests and sexual abuse, it is no wonder that a gay man not only questions his faith in the Church, but also in himself and his relationship with the Almighty above. The journey of understanding is not an easy one, which those who have had time to live a little bit more on this planet know all to well. The life of a gay man, and the struggle to not only accept yourself, but to reject others non-acceptance is also a journey filled with fears, tears and personal struggle. To go through both is killer, but one journey "Father Mark" accomplished.

This book is filled with controversy, with personal struggle not only with self-acceptance and faith, but also with the Catholic World. You will laugh, you will possibly cry, and you will most undoubtedly come to learn from the struggle both without and within. This book is quite well written and addicting from page one. I could not put it down and read it from cover to cover. It made me examine my faith and the faith of others. It made me reminisce about coming to terms with being a person of faith, being a gay man, and being a gay man with faith.

Discover more about the priesthood, about man, about faith, about life, about your life in this book. I did, and I know you will too!

Content copyright © 2007 by Jason P. Ruel. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Jason P. Ruel. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Jason P. Ruel for details.
Original publication of this review may be found at http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46971.asp
Reprinted with permission by Jason P. Ruel via email.

Jocelynn's Hauls

The Latest Additions to Claudine's Library

1) A Distant Shore by Caryl Philips

2) Frangipani by Celestine Hitiura Vaite

3) Natural Flights of the Human Mind by Clare Morrall

4) McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy

5) Take Me with You by Brad Newsham (I've been trying to get this book ever since I spotted it on the NLB shelves some months back. None of the bookshops here carry it. My swift fingers grabbed it out of the box where it was sitting pretty. It's in hard cover and in excellent condition and it's only $8!! The story is about Newsham's 100 day journey around the world searching for the right person to invite home to America.)

6) Notes to a Working Woman -Finding Balance, Passion and Fulfillment in Your Life by Luci Swindoll

7) How to be a Hero to your Kids by Josh McDowell and Dick Day

8) The New Dare to Discipline by Dr James Dobson

9) The New Strong-Willed Child by Dr James Dobson.

10)Preparing your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge
(Well, yeah, I have two girls and yeah, as some of you who are parents out there already know, it's a battle every day with kids. Ha ha. Oh but there are also days of sunshine with them that I wouldn't exchange for anything else.)