Chicago- iceskating, chocolate, and movies!

Once or twice a year, I participate in big get togethers with girlfriends who live all over the country. This year, we decided to go to Chicago to celebrate Lynn’s 30th birthday. We usually leave the guys at home but I am so madly in love, I had to invite Chad along for the trip. We had so much fun regardless of the sub-zero weather. We didn’t find the time to go iceskating in NYC so we made time for it on this trip.  I was so sure that I would need elbow pads, knee pads, and a helmet because coordination is one thing that I lack!  Once we got on the ice I found that it was pretty easy to stay balanced. I can’t wait to take my daughter iceskating at the iceskating rink uptown.

Vosges Chocolates

While in Chicago, I discovered the most amazing chocolates! Exotic ingredients are added to chocolate to give it a kick. Ingredients include curry, wasabi, olives, plums, and more. Chad and I split the Naga truffle and we were in heaven! It consists of curry and coconut flakes. Another favorite was the goji candy bar made of Tibetan goji berries and pink Himalayan salt. These chocolates make really unique gifts. Here is the link: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

Movie Blood Diamonds

It was freezing in Chicago with the -25 degree wind-chill so we decided to find warmth in a movie theater. We were between a scary movie and a drama. We decided to save the scary one for another time.

The movie Blood Diamonds brings the issue of “conflict diamonds” to the forefront of the public’s attention in a riveting portrayal of two men, a diamond smuggler and a Siera Leone native, whose lives become entangled when one discovers an exorbitant pink diamond.

The diamond smuggler, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, risks his life to facilitate trade between diamond companies and brutal African rebels known as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The rebels destroy villages, separate and terrorize families, and enslave people to work for them in the diamond mines. In return for diamonds, rebels receive weapons which they use to remain in power.

Djimon Hounsou plays a Sierra Leone native whose village is attacked by the RUF. The RUF laugh as they chop off the arms and hands of the villagers. He is spared due to his size and strength; the RUF can use him in the diamond mines.

The movie reveals the role that consumers and diamond companies play in sustaining civil war in Africa. Those involved in the diamond trade have been aware of the dismemberment and death caused by trading diamonds in unstable areas, but they continue to fuel the civil war to satisfy their greed.

Humanitarian organizations have been working for years to educate the public on conflict diamonds. De Beers specifically has been criticized for buying and selling conflict diamonds. You can read more about this issue on Amnesty International’s website or on the Human Rights Watch website. I also included a diamond buyer’s guide below where you can find out how to avoid buying conflict diamonds.

Amnesty International:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/index.do

HRW on child soldiers:
http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/05/sl0531.htm

Questions to ask your jeweler:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/BuyersGuide.pdf

Posted by: kate | 02-07-2007 | 11:02 AM
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