Just for fun, I've decided to start participating in the Friday Five. Every friday, they post questions for bloggers to answer in their blogs as a fun community exercise. This week they're asking about food. So here goes....hope you don't get too bored.

1. I prefer filtered, refrigerated water. Tap water here is too warm and tastes funny, and bottled water is often full of impurities.
2. Favorite chip flavour: salt and vinegar, of course!
3. My preferences are too variable to choose one favorite recipie. Right now I'm exploring a middle eastern cookbook so I'm into couscous, tabouleh, kebabs and spices.
4. Sunny side up, but I prefer omelettes with mushroom, garlic, and cheese...
5. Michael made me breakfast this weekend. And despite his eternal protestations, he cooks pretty well!

I went to a new bellydancing class last night, taught by Mariem. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue it beyond the month I already paid for, though. Mariem is a really great dancer--I met her when I saw her dance at a bellydance party last month--but at this point her teaching style seems to consist of getting up in front of the class, dancing on her own to a piece of music, and expecting us to follow along. This instruction style works in Hollywood, but in real life I spend a lot of the class frustrated, not being able to keep up or even figure out what she's doing before she switches moves. And she seems to spend more time looking at herself in the mirror than noticing what her students are doing. I like her as a person and would recommend her highly as a dancer, but I'm not paying for lessons to watch someone else practice her routines.

It's been a bad time back home in Canada. First the SARS outbreak in Toronto, and now, a case of Mad Cow Disease has been confirmed in Alberta. The US has banned all imports of Canadian beef and cattle. This will be devistating to Alberta ranchers, who are still suffering the effects of years of drought conditions. Read the Calgary Herald article here. See the US perspective at the New York Times.