Banana Strings

Ok, so I have a bone to pick with bananas. Now, I hate them because of swim team. Back in my competitive swimming days I used to get cramps in my calves. My lovely swim coach, John, knew that this was caused by a lack of potassium and he knew that bananas have a lot of potassium in them. So, before each practice, I had to eat a banana in order to try to keep my legs from cramping. Now, I hate eating before I do any type of exercise because it makes my tummy feel yucky. So imagine eating bananas before swimming 250 laps. Yeah. Yuck.

But there's something else about bananas that I really dislike. That's the banana strings. You know what I'm talking about. When you peel the banana, take that first big bite, and then have this tough stringy thing stuck to your lip and in your mouth. It's the color of banana, but its definitely not smushy enough. I can't stand them. I don't know why the banana strings stick to the banana and not the peel, but they're disgusting. They make me not want to eat a banana. because you know you can't pick them off - they then break into ten little banana strings. Gross.

In other, more important news, we have a new pope! I was listening to the radio, and they announced that there was white smoke. Then they cut to audio coverage of Saint Peter's Square. But there were no bells (something that Pope John Paul II added, as there sometimes is confusion as to the exact color of the smoke). Suddenly, there was the glorious sound of the HUGE bell there, followed by a roar from the crowd and the ringing of church bells all over Rome. It was so beautiful and it gave me goosebumps. I'm waiting on pins and needles to hear the new pope's name!