I feel like it’s been a hard week for everybody. I know my emotional condition is nothing compared to some of my friends’, but I’ve been tense and stressed out and cried a few times.
But hey, it’s Wednesday. Time to pick myself up, and hop over the week’s hump with a strong finish.
Did I ever tell you that I recently went on a ride-along with a Culver City police officer? It was part of the requirement for my print reporting class, except we found out that Culver City (the city we were assigned to report) doesn’t really allow ride-alongs anymore.
But I lucked out. Seriously, God has been on my side with the way doors have been opening up for me.
First, I somehow scored an interview with the police chief. My classmates have been trying to talk to him for ages, calling and e-mailing him multiple times. I called once—and somehow managed to set an appointment to meet him in person.
Then, after my interview with the police chief (who turned out to be a fellow Trojan—woo hoo!), I mentioned to him that I would really, really like to ride along with an officer. Next thing I knew, the chief whisked me down to the captain and asked him to sign me up for a ride-along. Double-score!
So one fine Saturday afternoon, I found myself sitting next to a fine young police officer in his fine-ass car, patrolling the fine streets of Culver City. 
I didn’t want to flash my camera in his face, but here’s a tiny snap-shot of Detective Carabalto while he was warning a couple of guys about speeding: 
As I mentioned here on this post, being a police officer is a tough, thankless job. But besides the general negative stereotypes, police officers also have to deal with seeing the dark side of the world all the time. Their job is to prevent and protect crime after all, so their view of society is probably much grimier than the view of an average citizen.
While driving around town with my detective for just a couple hours, we dealt with a petty theft in JC Penny, a drugged, almost-naked loony, an auto break-in, and also chased a few thugs. And that was a slow day in a relatively safe city. 
Needless to say, I was excited and curious about everything. I mean, come on, I was sitting next to a hot, young police officer and driving way above speed limit, chasing after the baddies.
I asked him tons of questions, and Detective Carabalto answered each of them openly and patiently. When I wasn’t peppering him with questions, I sat back and observed.
There were a few sad moments, like when the lady who tried to steal jewelry at JC Penny’s started crying when asked if she had any family. She said that her only son died from a shooting incident when he was 17. She has no husband. This is speculation, but I saw her as a lonely woman. The jewelry she tried to filch was worth nothing; they were cheap trinkets.
And then there was that drugged weird man who camped himself in a hotel pool and refused to leave. We found out he’s on parole; he’s been in and out of jail for years. I would have liked to ask him more questions about his personal life, but the hotel managers were eager to kick him off their property.
I’m not sure I could survive a week as a police officer. Heck, I’m not sure I can survive a whole day as a police officer.
Even while chatting casually with me, Detective Carabalto’s eyes were constantly scanning the neighborhoods, alert for any signs of suspicious activities. I cannot believe he does this for 12 hours straight. It was exhausting just watching him.
But I had to ask him one important question by the end of the day: How do you stay sane, having to deal with all sorts of ugly characters and incidents all day?
Detective Carabalto told me it was hard. He has a fiancé, but he rarely chats about how his day went with her because by the end of the day, he just wants to tune out from all the police drama. “There will be times when I return home in a bad mood,” he said. “But she’ll understand that I don’t want to talk about it.”
But he also added, “My outlook on the realities of the world has changed, but who I am as a person hasn’t. I remind myself that even with all the bad stuff happening around the world, there is still good things and people, too. I try to look at everything one thing at a time.”
The guy is only 26 years old, but I found his statement to be very true and wise. Sure, the world has its tragedies and unsavory qualities. But it’s much more constructive for us to handle life one step at a time, than to panic and get crushed under apprehension and fear towards the scary future.
Well then. To be honest I’ve been so distracted by different worries this week that I barely got any work done. I have essays to write, stories to report, pages to read. But I refuse to let the impending schoolwork to keep on overwhelming me. Today, I’ll work on my essay. Tomorrow, I’ll catch up on my readings. That way, things seem much more manageable…and dare I say it, fun.
Like journalism. I love, love, love my reporting classes. They are the most work and effort I’ve ever had to put in, but I’ve been enjoying them so much that they don’t seem like work to me. Perhaps part of the reason is also because I really love Culver City, and because my classmates are awesome. 
Oh, and also because as I mentioned before, God has been on my side.
I once set up an interview with Culver City’s city manager and councilmen. Again, total blessing. Don’t know how it happened. I convinced the secretary to reserve a conference room for me, and invited my classmates to join in, too, though only five of them could make it.
After the long, intense interview session, we trudged out of the city hall, stomachs growling with hunger. We wanted to have lunch somewhere, but we didn’t want to walk much, and we wanted someplace cheap (we’re college students!).
My classmate Josh (that’s him up there on the left at the conference table) suggested going to Native Foods Cafe. He said his friend who had tried the food there said it was good. 
I’d never heard of this place, but it sounded (and looked) like a hippie vegan place to me. I was right. 
I’m guessing most health or vegetarian bloggers would recognize this place, but I didn’t realize it was a popular chain restaurant until I researched on Yelp. But that would explain the large crowd it drew on a Monday afternoon. 
Check out this large collage: 
I wonder if it was made by fans…
To be honest I wasn’t too thrilled to be in a vegan restaurant, but my friends made the decision for me. I could have recommended a few restaurants in Culver City, but usually I try not to be too vocal about restaurant suggestions unless someone asks, because I don’t always want to be a Foodie, if you know what I mean. 
The menu at Native Foods was pretty interesting. I’m always bemused by why vegan places usually have a heavily Asian-influenced menu. I can guess why, but anyone know exactly why?
Anyway, behold my dish, the Rockin’ Moroccan: 
Grilled, savory “Native Chicken” with spicy ginger Moroccan marinade, grilled veggies and quinoa. Topped with currants and tasty toasted almonds. 
For $9.95, it wasnt’ exactly cheap, but it wasn’t pricey either. At first I wished they could have been more generous with the quantity, but then it turned out to be quite filling. 
I loved the quinoa, and the plentiful broccoli. The grains were perfectly cooked: nutty, slightly crunchy yet fluffy. The “chicken” was also surprisingly good, though I personally find seitan tough to digest. 
But I had major gripes about the carrots and the sweet potatoes. First of all, I hate cooked carrots and I didn’t know the dish would come with carrots or I would have ordered something else. Second, the sweet potatoes were half-raw. I don’t like crunchy sweet potatoes; I liked them blasted with heat until caramelized and sweet.
My friend Vivian ordered the Hollywood Bowl: 
Ginger marinated and seared tofu spears over organic brown rice, steamed veggies, and organic greens in out tangy freshly roasted peanut sauce.
Josh ordered the Soul Bowl: 
Southern fried Native Chicken with hearty red beans and "jazzman" rice, steamed veggies, organic greens, ranch dressing and served with a freshly-made corn bread wedge. 
Well, he looks happy. I’m not sure he liked his food though, because he left half of it behind. 
Native Foods has more than just rice bowls, though. Another classmate, Kastalia, got the Portobello & Sausage Burger: 
Juicy grilled portobellos, our homemade Seitan sausage, pomodoro, caramelized onions, sweet roasted garlic, creamy pumpkin seed pesto and mayo. Served with fries.
Now that looks more like normal college fare! I was in love with the whole roasted garlic on top of the burger. It looks amazing.
So. As I was saying before we got to the food: Life…is like a Rockin’ Moroccan bowl. 
Why? Because you’ll always find a few nuts. And a few unsavory items, like that cooked carrots and uncooked sweet potato.
But after you swallow (or push aside) those yucky items, you dig into a lovely base of wholesome quinoa. And when in doubt, just douse a lot of hot sauce over to spice things up a bit (I did). 
You can interpret that hot sauce as whatever you want. For me, it’s my faith, my family, my friends, and just an overall positive perspective in life that not everything is tasty, but it can still be digested (and pooped out).
Question of the Day: What is your “hot sauce” in life? And for fun…how would you say your bowl of Life is?
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{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
As soon as I saw the title, I knew you were talking about Native Foods
I am obsessed! Sorry you didn’t love it 
The Soul Bowl is my favorite, and I’ve also tried the portobello burger- SO good!
I’ve been wanting to try that place out. I’m not a vegan but I love vegan food. Real Food Daily in Santa Monica is my all-time favorite though.
Sometimes we all just need to cry!
But you’re right … the week is almost over! Sounds like you’ve been doing all kind of neat things though! I think I’m way too shy to ever be a journalist/reporter, ha, but I’m envious of your skills 
Californians.
What? Lol.
Just expressing my longing to be in California. Ya know.
My hot sauce is my family and friends
I love the last picture – the true Sophia coming through!!! Hehe!!
How lucky are you to get to do a ride-along, and bonus on the hot police officer. You know how I feel about men in uniform – hot stuff!
hmm…maybe that’s where my obsession with Superman came from. Haha. I hate it when restaurants undercook veggies. Almost makes me feel as though they don’t care just because they’re veggies.
My hot sauce would definitely be my kiddies, hot and spicy when they want to be (argh), but sweet and satisfying most of the time.
Oooh how much fun does that look! I’ve always been slightly fascinated by police drama shows like Law & Order although my favourite is Dexter. I contemplated moving to Miami to work at the Miami Dade police department until hubby told me that Dexter and Deb aren’t really there and that I should go to sleep
BTW you’re really rocking the headbands. You look hot Sophia!
Not only do you get to eat at the best places, you get to write about the coolest experiences. I miss journalism so much!! There is a place in my heart that always wishes I would have pursued it.
My hot sauce? My family, love. You are right, life is a mix of all things. The key is whether you look at a glass and see it half full as opposed to half empty. Don’t push the plate away because of the carrots, dig beneath and look at the other good things in the bowl.
I hope that you have a way better week! My hot sauce is cooking…makes me feel good after a ROUGH day!
I guess my hot sauce is my family and friends too.
I have a friend who is a police officer in my neighborhood. When we first moved into our house, he was on patrol and bored so he called me and asked if he could come over and see our house. So he comes over, for an hour, in his police car which he parked in the driveway. I’m sure our neighbors were like WTF?
When I first started at my previous job, it was in my husband’s patrol area so he and his partner came to my office and brought bagels for everyone. People were definitely staring and thought I was in trouble. LOL They appreciated the bagels, though.
Those bowls look amazing and the perfect way to get over the hump. I guess we all kind of complain about the police (when they’re tailing you), but would complain if they weren’t there. They are underappreciated, and thanks for this great insight.
Hmmmm, that’s a good question, I guess my hot sauce is my fiery red little puppy, Molly, she keeps me on my toes
I have a few friends that are police officers, and it makes me remember that police officers are definitely under appreciated and also they are just regular people just trying to do their job. Their job just happens to be more dangerous than most!
My husband is always trying to get me to do a ride along (not with him) so I’ll see what he has to put up with on a daily basis. Actually I think he usually says this when I’m being too much of a “liberal” (his words). LOL I will say that my husband has definitely become much more cynical and conservative (politically) since being a police officer. Maybe I’ll take him up on that ride along offer.
Yes! Go! I’m surprised you haven’t gone already…though I wonder if he’s allowed to do that? Take his wife along on his job…hee hee!
Even though the food was so-so, at least you had good company! My biggest gripe with “hippie vegan places” is that I’m paying a million dollars for something I probably could have made at home. So I understand your sentiments.
Being a journalism major sounds so fun. Shadowing jobs and meeting people…you have access to so many more experiences than most people. Plus you are a giving an accurate portrayal of what it’s really like to be an officer. I agree with you – it’s not easy and they are often underappreciated and stereotyped.
My hot sauce is my friends and family, but it’s also my brain. That big ol’ muscle can do us worlds of hurt, but because it is so powerful it can do amazing things for us as well!
PS – I definitely don’t study for hours on end! I usually break it up into chunks of half-hours. Brains need rest…and food!
I’d love to ride around in a cop car like that and spend a day with an officer and see how things work. I think that would be so fun. And a man in uniform certainly is a BONUS! hehe
I LOVED Culver City when we visited on our ‘West’ roadtrip. Touring the studios was so much fun. I’m so jealous you can go whenever you want.
Love the analogy:)
Just out of curiosity, why were you upset to go to a vegan restaurant? I know how big of a foodie you are so I would have thought you would enjoy all types of cuisine!
I am so jealous of your ride-along and interview opportunities. I work in a totally different field, but I can definitely appreciate even as a mere civilian how cool that would be! I don’t go to very many purely or mainly vegan restaurants, but sometimes I like them because it seems like they try harder with the vegetables than “mainstream” restaurants do.
Actually, it seems like “mainstream” restaurants are starting to appreciate vegetables, too! If you go to the newer ones, it’s not just a boring ol’ Ceasar salad (I am annoyed with the same Chinese chicken salad or cobb all the time)…they come up with really cool things with vegetables now, like fried cauliflower with capers, etc…
Drool.
I would love to ride along with a cop! How fun & exciting!
your life is such an adventure!!
I’ve been to Native Foods once and I ordered the exact thing you did, minus the seitan. It was good! It won’t win any awards but it was tasty for sure.
Culver City…I have to get out there more often. I hear the restaurants there have come a long, long way!
Yes, Culver City is awesome. We should totally meet up for a meal sometime together there.
You get to meet some of the coolest people! That ride-along sounds awesome. We have to take a public health course in med school where we get to do things like that, but our ride-alongs were also forbidden after 9/11. So cool that you got to do it anyway though!
I actually really love the sound of that moroccan bowl of yours…minus the crunchy sweet potatoes. plus some beautifully caramelized ones. And maybe some beautifully caramelized kabocha as well. For good measure.
I love Culver City! I’ve never been to this restaurant but the many I’ve been to in that area never seem to disappoint. At least you found something redeeming about your food experience.
Let me know when you come out to CC again–I’d love to meet up at one of the truly delicous places there.
P.S. Your hair looks gorgeous!
I’m at CC often!!! Let me know your schedule…when are you usually free? I might be there sometime soon again.
I think I would love that restaurant: every dish on the menu looks so wonderful and I’d particularly enjoy the Hollywood Bowl…not that it would be representative of my life as it’s not particularly glamorous at all! My bowl of life would probably be half empty, but mostly because I’d already have snaffled half of the food before it even made it into the dish. And that’s something I really need to work on: both the viewing things as half empty and the food snaffling.
I have no idea how the police manage to cope with doing such a harrowing and dangerous job: it’s amazing how stoical and strong the individual you interviewed clearly is. I have nothing but admiration for him.
Likewise with you: trials are all relative and you have every right to express emotional distress: comparing your situation to those of others isn’t relevant because if something’s upsetting YOU, then by definition it is upsetting and worthy of examination.
Wishing you well and I second the opinion that your hair is divine.
xxx
Secret: I know people luv native foods, but I’m not a huge fan.
My “hot sauce” – friends & a positive attitude. They work wonders
I’d say I’m a pretty adventurous person. However, one thing I won’t do is a ride along cuz I’d be too scared about kooks trying to shoot at the cop car! Thank you for sharing your day with the (hot) police officer. I don’t know how they do it either. I betcha you were exhausted after one ride along. Thanks for providing his insight on how he stays sane. I hope he will always be like that & not be a crooked cop!
I find seitan really hard to digest too. I haven’t had it in years, but I tried it a few times and I remember it felt like I had bricks in my belly.
I think my life is like a bowl of lentil soup. At first glance, it’s ugly and intimidating…but once you try it you learn to like it and it becomes comforting.
Love your metaphor. The stuff that isn’t tasty is still digested and pooped out. That’s a good one to keep in mind.
well it’s thursday now and i hope that your emotional roller coaster is coming to an end! and that you have a most excellent weekend
when you really, REALLY stop and think about it….isn’t it just insane that ride-alongs are allowed?? It seems like WAY too much of a liability, for everyone. I mean, the cop probably does some things that he doesn’t want others to witness.
I don’t know if you were insinuating this or not, but I have no sympathy at all for someone who steals — and the pettier it is, the worse. If it was food, and someone was starving, thats different. Stealing is not forgivable in my book. (that’s the 27 year old me talking…the 17 year old me was much stupider).
anyway, what an awesome post to share. I feel bad for the wife who is probably so curious about her husbands day, and he just wants to leave work at work. I totally understand both of their perspectives
The rockin’ moroccan looks amazing! I want to try to recreate that in my kitchen
What an awesome meetup with your classmate… Though life is like a rockin moroccan, but it is when we are in our weakest moment, stressed out with many things, we are more wanting to quiet ourselves, then will Christ’s great love and grace manifest… And you’re right, God is always on our side..
Amen!
Miss you, Liwen! And I had another dream of you and WG! Haha!
Miss you too! Hahaha… what was the dream about this time? heehee.. ;p
Ooh your police experience sounds so interesting – I started training to be a British police officer many years ago, but had to pull out due to injury. It’s certainly a hard and thankless job, so am quite glad I found my niche in art instead
Sorry to hear that things have been difficult for you recently chick….here’s to better things next week.
Hugs
Sarah x
Am I the only one who giggled at “City of Culver City”?
You make me feel mean. Usually when people start blabbering, my response is “You’re not sorry you did it; you’re sorry you got caught.” But at least it’s not the old days where shoplifters got their hands cut off.
Your policefellow sounds really cool! As does that restaurant!
Good thing it was just a ride along…a couple of hours maybe? Like you, I probably wouldn’t last a day as a police officer.
Thise bowls have pretty imaginative names and there seems to be a whole lot of stuff packed into it. Dousing mediocre food with hot sauce usually works.
I love Native Foods( only been to the one in Westwood). My partner is an LAPD officer. Very tough and thankless job. I always bake for her to take into her station. They all appreciate it very much.
I believe life as a police officer is pretty tough, and I don’t think I could do that. As you said, you face a lot negativity, and I think it would get too close to me. And I’m also too much of a coward.
I like how you tackle your work load one thing at a time. It really helps to make it feel feasable. I do it the same way, otherwise I think I’d have given up long ago.
Wonderful food again!
Hey Sophia (or do people call you Sophie?)
Thank you for commenting on my blog! That was so sweet. I really, really, appreciated that comment. I remember you did a post way back when for Gena (can you link it to me!) and I resonated with so much of what you had to say.
Have a great day,
Hannah