Hi all,

Having had the honor of transporting all the children up the rock-infested, so called 'road' to the chalet, I must say my first introduction to a glocals event was very nice indeed. (I admitted to only Yumiko that I was a 'virgin' glocals event attendee). My children are STILL taking (proudly and without tears) about being chased by the angry cows.

In any case, I also promised to post my recipe for the Mexican Salad Dip. I hope this is the place you will look for it, since i can't remember exactly who asked (well, I can't find your names to be more honest). I'll outline it below for you. And of course it goes without saying to thank Hobbes for all the fabulous organizing. And are ALL clear that he is NOT to be messed with when it comes to Uno. :)

-Heather



Mexican-style Salad Dip

1 Pack Philly cream cheese or St. Moret or Mon Chou

1 jar of Guacamole (or make fresh with a Guac . season packet/Avocado)

500 gram ground beef + 1 packet Taco seasoning

About 4 tomatos

1 Jar Taco sauce, or salsa (Mild, medium, hot - your choice)

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 package cheddar cheese, or Mimolette works too

**You can also add onions, jalopenos, refried beans to the layering - I just don't because I don't like it myself. :)

2 bags of nacho chips (plain is best, but can use flavored)



Take a pan that is at least 2-3cm deep, so you can layer.

Layer 1: Spread softened cream cheese on the bottom

Layer 2. Spread guacamole over the cream cheese

Layer 3. Cook the ground beef, add the spices, simmer for 3 minutes, remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Spread this over the guacamole

Layer 4: Cut tomatoes into small cubes and layer over beef

Layer 5: Spread taco sauce, or salsa over the tomatoes

Layer 6: Cut lettuce into small pieces and sprinkle over the taco sauce

Layer 7: Shred the cheddar cheese and sprinkle over the lettuce.

Garnish on the sides of the pan with the nacho chips, set remaining chips in a side bowl.

Refrigerate until time of consumption. Eat it all...as it does not keep well!

Enjoy.
heather2, Sep 8, 2008 @ 15:24

To all this weekend, THANK YOU for a wondeful weekend, despite the rainy saturday! 

So many activities that Hobbes had arranged, from bread baking for the children to introducing Mean UNO, which made up for being cooped up inside all day saturday. I'm thinking this should become a regular Glocal event on it's own.  I can even see this becoming an event worthy of a world championship level.

Ok, it wasn't all about UNO, but a weekend will children running around the chalet clinging on to Efe from head to toe, to arms and pants, trying to pull his pants down. You are a trooper Ege... and i shall hope you use one of the photos i'm about to send to you to update your you-know-what ;).

The nature walk around the mountain on Sunday followed by a wonderful bbq in the sunshine was a perfect way to end the weekend. 

An A+ for the organizer Hobbes and his lovely assistant, a ***** to Efe for pickin up Niptuck in the middle of night in the rain and an all-around helper & entertainer.

Look forward to the photos to be posted.
YouMeCo, Sep 8, 2008 @ 16:24

Julian, thank you fro your feedback, but I am really sorry to say, "So... whose turn next year, eh??? " IS a QUESTION, no question about it! TAKE 6! (because there are 3 "?" honey! And if that wouldn't get me 2 cards for so doingwould, I would advise you not to argue about that rule, but I don't)

Heater, congrats, you just switched from a Glocals "virgin" to "legend" status! How brave from you to join pure strangers for two days in a remote chalet. Who knows what could have happened if someone had challenged the rules :P

FYI, the Glocals members who were at the chalet are
- mela
- EfeE
- wayne
- YouMeCo
- bleu102
- Lalou
- Heather2
- SimSim
- marr
- clarity
- Tebo
- JulianT
- NewYork01
- NipTuck
- Hobbes

Some other poeple are not (yet) on Glocals

And thank you for the recipe! This is indeed the place to put it I'd say.

Hobbes, Sep 8, 2008 @ 16:25

What a weekend it was!! Congrats to Hobbes and mela for the wonderful organization and everyone who showed up for braving the rain for what turned out to be a memorable experience for all the right reasons. Someone even rewarded our tenacity with beautiful weather for the BBQ on Sunday.



First of all... what a group! Everyone had something to add to the mix, from Julian with his witty humor to Wayne with his undying enthusiasm for pretty much everything. I think the men were outnumbered 3 to 1 by the women, and two of those men were well trained (read housebroken) by two of the women so it felt like me and Wayne had been dropped into the middle of the lioness pen and we tried keeping a low profile. All kidding aside, we got along really (surprisingly?) well despite being holed up in the chalet for most of the trip.



We had (by my count) 7 kids in the chalet although my memory pins the number at around 13, especially on Sunday morning after being the last person to hit the hay after 3am. The house was a very lively place with recurring episodes of "hide and seek" and "pin the sticker on the Efe". We even found time to implement the Swiss version of Gulliver's travels and I'm sure I will find a place to bury my head when the photos of that come out as I suddenly felt how it would be as a celebrity as mela, YouMeCo and a few others snapped furiously as I tried to hobble my way through the live amusement ride blinded by the flashes and weighed down by 7 bodies. As my search for a job or internship continues, this weekend showed me that if worse comes to worst, I can start babysitting.



Most of you will never know the fear that races through you when you walk through a soggy pitch black Swiss forest in the middle of a moonless night for 45 minutes to pick up a vampire. I do. When I volunteered for the task of picking up the tardy member of our part, I had already had two beers and I definitely hadn't run through the whole decision making process in my mind. Was it peer pressure? Hobbes' coaxing? a craving for adventure? to witness proof of a folklore? a need to meet a pretty lady? We will never know. I left a piece of myself in that forest that night (no, not in that sense Hobbes... get your mind out of the gutter)



Random messages to individuals:

SimSim - we had an interesting conversation and I wish we had had more time to converse. I'm sure we could've found some more things to agree/disagree about.

Heather - Great layered dish and thanks again for the recipe! I miss Siara and Domin :(

mela - You left without saying goodbye!!

NipTuck - Would you like some tea? hahahahah... (<< inside joke) My neck is still sore and the wound hasn't closed up like you promised, finding it harder and harder to make it out during the day.

Hobbes - Wondering about the sleeping arrangements that night. I saw Julian go into your room but was he still next to you when you woke up next morning? ( << not an inside joke, everyone knows about it lol)







Some anecdotes from the weekend (separated by blank lines, paraphrased when I couldn't remember the original line):



Hobbes - I have closed bathrooms 3 and 4 so please use 1 and 2 when you need to go to the bathroom.

Efe - Just to confirm... when we need to go number 2, can we used number 1 as well or only number 2?



Hobbes - Please don't settle into the single rooms, we can only use the rooms with the bunk beds... (after a pause, with a smirk) If needed, we can use the single rooms later tonight!



Hobbes - (at 11:30pm Saturday) I need a volunteer to pick up a very pretty girl from down there.

Efe - I've had two beers but I think I can make the drive.

Hobbes - Oh that's even better because you'll be walking.

Efe - (10 mins later) Hobbes, I need her phone number.

Hobbes - (to at least one of the Uno players, probably two or three) RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH!! Take two cards!

Efe - Hobbes, I'm not leaving without the number. I'm not going to walk for an hour and a half without making sure she is going to be there.

Hobbes - (to yet another Uno player) AHA! NO QUESTIONS! Take two cards!!!

Efe - ...

Efe - (Sunday morning at breakfast) That definitely was not a two beer walk, halfway through I sobered up and starting wondering why I had accepted in the first place.
EfeE, Sep 8, 2008 @ 17:37

Efe, terrific feedback :w00t:

Thank you very much for your post. It's great to see people really had fun. BBBBBut...
- the "take two cards" was for YOU, not another player, because YOU asked me "so, what is her number?", thus...
- TAKE TWO CARDS for writting something wrong in your report;)
Hobbes, Sep 8, 2008 @ 20:00

PS: we all know what the "tea" refers too, nasty boy! :P
Hobbes, Sep 8, 2008 @ 20:00

PS2: where is that "Beejee Pub" you used to go every weekend again? Can you send us the address please?
Hobbes, Sep 8, 2008 @ 20:02

I still would like a clarification of the rules and an objective referee the next time we play this game, as I feel there is slight bias when the judge himself is playing.:ermm:
YouMeCo, Sep 8, 2008 @ 20:41

:crazy: I don't believe it!... TAKE TWENTY for challenging the impartiality of the referee !
Hobbes, Sep 8, 2008 @ 20:52

  I don't believe it! TAKE TWENTY for challenging the impartiality of the referee!

 :doze: see what i mean? ...... I rest my case.
YouMeCo, Sep 8, 2008 @ 21:25

Okay so it's 23:13 on Monday night and I've just made it through allllllllll the feedback and as they say in French msn gobbledeegook 'mdr' ('mort de rire' as in: dying of laughter!!!).

Efe, I'm so sorry I didn't say goodbye, really wasn't fair... but then again I was already so pissed at the thought of getting up at 7am on Sunday morning and making my way down all alone with my bags, that I completely obliterated any conviviality. You're right to point it out and it should have gone something like 'sorry gotta go, was really great to see some of you again and meet all the great newbies', or 'damn am so annoyed to have to leave tomorrow morning 'cos I'd really like to spend more time with you guys', or 'sob, sob, sob, sob, sob'. But I guess it wasn't to be, and that probably is because: I WILL see you again with pleasure, and next time I WILL say goodbye ;)



On a slightly different note, and a more personal message:

Thanks to the Lesotho gang for allowing me to reminisce about my Ghanaian days - Africa rules (well, Ghana at least, :)).

Efe, got some great pictures of you with your 7 bodies :) and I agree with Yumi regarding you know what

Niptuck, damn I hardly saw you :( - see you on the vball pitch or over a beer soon!

Yumi, too right about questioning the refs partiality... me thinks we need a mutiny!

Julian, man you made me laugh so hard with your fallible Uno skills... and English lessons. I maintain that question tags AREN'T questions.

Simsim, still loving your hair and your 'tonalities' of blue ;)

Wayne, sorry if I seemed a little pissed off on Sunday morning whilst your jovial self tried to be so happy spirited... I WAS pissed off ;)

Hobbes, you're my hero :-)



Glad you all had a great Sunday! I did think of you, esp. when Hobbes rang me to ask where the keys to the chalet were... Kinda smirked to myself thinking, ha you make your way down, but then I find out he got a woman to do his dirty work (now, now, get that filth out of your minds...) - Ioana, what were you thinking ;) ????



Alright, off with me, time for bed.



See you all very soon!

mela, Sep 9, 2008 @ 01:28

Wow...a lot if not all has been said! So I'll just add: A big thank you again to Hobbes for putting all this together. I met some really nice people in a great athmosphere! ... Loved playing hard Uno ;-)!
lalou, Sep 9, 2008 @ 10:52

"...a declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a QUESTION"

So, you take TWO, and everydody else who agreed with you does the same, which is, EVERYBODY! Who's the English teacher again?  :P
Hobbes, Sep 9, 2008 @ 12:05

"me thinks we need a mutiny!"

Me thinks you've never heard about the 13th rule, yet :Whistling:...
Hobbes, Sep 9, 2008 @ 12:06

Sounds like a great time. Sorry I missed it.



It was good to meet you, purely by chance, on Monday for lunch. Hope to see you again soon.



Zonker, Sep 9, 2008 @ 12:53

Thank you, Hobbes, for organising this weekend which was cool and relaxed. Although I didn't join in the Uno - I was told I'm no good at society games - I thoroughly enjoyed everything else.

Would it be possible someone explain the rules of this game to me as well? Need to know them for next time, before I play...
Elisabeth L, Sep 9, 2008 @ 20:28

There's actually just ONE rule that needs to be known: HOBBES IS RIGHT :D
Hobbes, Sep 9, 2008 @ 20:36

Oh, you guys played mean UNO? I miss that......right Hobbes?! :D
Iolly, Sep 9, 2008 @ 20:52

Thanks, Hobbes, I had a great weekend. It has been more than a year from last year's Chalet du Grutli organized by Mary which I also attended and enjoyed a lot. ........Great company, good food, nice walk in the wood, even in the rain....:cool:...
wayne, Sep 9, 2008 @ 21:17

the first set of photos are from me :)

I don't have of EfeE and the 7kids hanging off him.  oops, thought i took some but i guess nt :(
YouMeCo, Sep 9, 2008 @ 21:28

I think we have yet to see the ones from Mela's camera.
EfeE, Sep 12, 2008 @ 17:11

Yep, I know, will get onto it as soon as I get back from the Big Smoke (aka London).

Will gladly put them up, esp. as I own one of Efe's 7 dwarfs hanging off him :-)



Bise to all!
mela, Sep 12, 2008 @ 23:33

I think the PC word is little people :P
EfeE, Sep 13, 2008 @ 00:54

Who said I was PC...???? I'm Mac :-P
mela, Sep 13, 2008 @ 21:24

FYI, a couple pictures more is available in the gallery
Hobbes, Sep 16, 2008 @ 12:05

Got a phonecall from the chalet administrator. We've left a pot full of spaghettis... Efe, Julian, weren't you supposed to eat them for breakfast?!? :P
Hobbes, Sep 19, 2008 @ 13:14

eew.. i hope that wasn't a 2wk old pot that they just only now found somewhere on a shelf :pinch:
YouMeCo, Sep 19, 2008 @ 13:26

It was "only" one week ;)

Btw, thought you just told me you had to leave and go back to work. Is posting on GOL part of your job description?... oh, I get it all better now! :hehe:
Hobbes, Sep 19, 2008 @ 13:31

Ah, see I don't remember anything about that. If someone had told me that in the morning, I would've been happy to oblige.
EfeE, Sep 19, 2008 @ 19:41