Photo Fun

Weekend update and photo fun. Nothing much new to report, beyond the fact that there is currently what feels like a small village moving into my backyard, as detailed in my previous post. Beyond that, K is still loving school, C is keeping busy at work and finding his way around the somewhat controlled chaos that is the new Embassy building, T is keeping herself busy getting bigger, and I am still in job limbo, though I think a little closer to finally getting something interesting lined up.

K and T playing together. If, by playing, you mean K shoving T's binky into her mouth repeatedly while poor T tries to spit the thing out.

The girls hanging out together. No question here that they are related.

K enjoying our currently somewhat sad "swingset." We inherited it when we moved in, but have yet to get actual swings for it, which would probably make it a lot more fun. On the other hand, she seems to enjoy climbing on it as much as anything, so perhaps it is no great loss.

T in her new nighttime apparel, a nice cozy sleep sack! She was wiggling out of her swaddle in the middle of the night so we upgraded to this puppy... or fish as it were. And yes, I am aware that in this photo and the second photo of her with K her right eye is looking a little cross-y. It doesn't really do that in real life and I think it is just a strange photo quirk but I will keep an eye on it (haha!).

This is one of our new friends who lives in our backyard. He is about 6 inches long and really does change colors! How much does he totally look like the lizard from the old Budweiser commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnQ9uc_iOAk)?

At The Risk of Sounding a Bit Colonial...

I am pleased to report that we may have finally put together all of the pieces of our household staff puzzle and starting next Tuesday I will be free from all of those pesky domestic responsibilities, such as washing my own dishes, cleaning my own bathrooms, or supervising my own children. Woohoo!

Once we are fully up and running we will have three members of full time staff.

One full time gardener, who is here Monday through Friday cleaning the pool, mowing the lawn, weeding my vegetable garden, digging up and replanting ornamental beds at my whim, killing snakes (I hope!), washing the truck, and bringing in fresh mangoes and lemons from our fruit trees. He is also useful for other errands, such as buying a grill, buying charcoal for the grill, and going out and pricing lawn furniture, since he is almost certain to get a better price on these types of items than we would if we went out in search of them ourselves. He quite literally showed up on our doorstep the second day after we arrived, having been fired by the previous tenants of the house over differing philosophies about the style of the yard. Since I have virtually no strong feelings about the yard, other than having one part of it clear for kids to play in, I pretty much leave him a lone to do his thing and he is working out great.

Our housekeeper/cook is still part time for the next few weeks as she transitions from her current employer, but once she is here full time she sill get to the house first thing in the morning and watch T for a couple of hours before the nanny comes to work. Then she will clean, I guess. I am not sure how much cleaning, exactly, can be done on a daily basis, but I am assuming I am going to have a very clean house. She will also do some laundry, and some shopping, and a lot of the food prep, especially all of the time consuming scrubbing and soaking of fruits and veggies. I am particularly looking forward to being able to leave my dinner dishes in the sink overnight and having them magically cleaned in the morning. And to her preparing lunch. I hate making lunch. I never have good lunch ideas and I just find it to be a really annoying meal to prepare, so I am happy to foist that responsibility onto someone else.

Of course the most important part of the cadre is our nanny who starts full time on Tuesday… but is moving in over the weekend. Yes, our nanny and her entourage will be living on our compound with us, about 50 yards from our house in our very own shanty. She will be joined by her two children, a 4-year old girl and a 1-year old boy, the woman from her village who watches her children during the day and that woman’s daughter, plus the nanny’s husband will be here on the weekends (during the week he lives at his jobsite outside of town). I have a whole village moving into my backyard! Into a two room “house” at that. I prefer to call it our shanty, but that is a bit perjorative and I have to remember that while it is unappealing to us, it is a step up for her and her family, especially since there is hot and cold running water and she is wired in to our generator so that she has a steady supply of electricity, both of which are scarce commodities in the area of town where she was living.

We have been working with her to complete a few home improvements before she moves in, including what will almost certainly be the cheapest home addition we will ever build. The quarters had an additional porch on the end enclosed just with chicken wire. For a few hundred bucks my ever-handy gardener and one of his buddies enclosed the whole thing with plywood and plastic and now everyone is apparently very happy.

Well, except me. I am happy to have a nanny, especially happy to have one who lives on as it means easy and flexible babysitting on the evenings and weekends, but it is WEIRD to have a whole family living in my backyard in what can only be described as rather African conditions. It is strange to be responsible for these people and I already have a lot of guilt about it even though I know I am paying her very well (at the top of the local nanny range) she makes less in a month than what we paid the nanny in our DC nanny-share every week!

At any rate, that is the current state of my domestic staff. Lets all hope I find a job that starts soon or else I will be feeling really silly lurking around my house while other people do everything.

Our lovely "addition" to the staff quarters. African engineering at its finest!

The staff quarters. Our gardener will be working on landscaping early next week.

The view from our kitchen window into the back yard. You can just see our very own shanty peaking over the wall at the back of the yard.

Sunday Update with Photos

Lots of exciting stuff this past week or so. K started playshool at the American International School (AIS). She goes 5 days a week from the very early hour of 7:25 til noon. The classroom is nice and large with lots of different stations with tons of toys, including some baby dolls, which she immediately found. They also have a very nice outdoor play area. I think she likes it, especially the opportunity to play with lots of other kids. We are still working out the finer points of drop off and pick up having only one car, but we haven't managed to forget to get her yet so we are doing ok.

We finally figured out a plan for our backyard and made our gardener dig up three giant flower beds so one quadrant of the backyard will be just a big grassy open area, allowing me to see the whole space and passively supervise play from a nice comfy yard chair. When our big shipment of stuff gets here we intend to use the wood from the crates to have a playhouse constructed, and we also need to look into getting some sort of jungle gym. But the yard is starting to get into shape and be useful for our needs.

Chris participated in the big move to the new Embassy this week, or, as I like to call it, either Fortress America or The Shining City on the Hill. It is a very large, very new building, literally on a hill, outside of town away from all the other embassies so it is conspicuous to say the least. More importantly for us, it is a lot closer to both our house and the school making our commute that much easier.

I have a strong lead on an interesting job and hope to be able to officially share that good news by this time next week.

Without further ado, what most of ya'll are really here to see:

A rare photo of a smiling T. In reality she is a very happy baby, she just objects to smiling for the camera most of the time.

K talking to her friend, Mr. Flatty, a large African flat spider that lives in one of our unused guest bedrooms. We promise to evict him before we have visitors!

T in her more usual stoic attitude.

K "helping" with the gardening.

K surveying her domain. The big patches of dirt with little spots of grass are the areas where we had our gardener rip out some planted beds in favor of grass. This will make half of the backyard into a big, grassy play area which I can easily, and passively, supervise from the patio.

Thank you, Amazon!

This will be an occasional recurring feature intended to showcase some of the fun, useful, interesting, or random items that the wonderful Amazon fairy brings to us.

Today I would like to sing the praises of two wonderful Bodum products: the Bodum Chambord Coffee Press and the Bodum Bistro Double-Wall Insulated Class Cafe Latte Mug.

The Press is easy to use and makes just the right amount off coffee for the two of us in the morning. I also think it is quite tasty, and vastly superior to the quality of coffee produced by the scary coffee maker that came with our welcome kit.

The mugs, however, are the real star. The are the perfect size for a really big morning cup of coffee. The are quite pleasing to the eye, and lovely to hold. Because they are double-walled glass they are insulated, both keeping the coffee hot, and the outside of the mug at a comfortable holding temperature. They are also dishwasher and microwave safe.

As some of you may know, I am quite particular about my coffee mugs. Almost to the point of being fetishistic, really. This obsession is best illustrated by an anecdote from my first summer after college, when I was still living in Hanover, and running my Home for Wayward Fulbrighters. One morning, about halfway through the summer, I groggily wandered out of my bedroom only to find C using my coffee mug. The one giant, green glazed terra cotta mug I had used every single day throughout the summer for my morning coffee. Not only am I obsessive about my coffee mugs I am also, how shall I say, not the sunniest person in the morning prior to having my coffee in its appointed mug. X, who was also availing herself of the many splendors of the Home for Wayward Fulbrighters, immediately registered the look of horror on my face and realized what had transpired. C remained blissfully unaware. And, surprisingly, I managed to remain calm and remember that nobody particularly enjoys crazy, especially not first thing in the morning, and I had my coffee in an undoubtedly inferior alternative mug and still managed to survive.

The point being, that I heartily endorse this coffee mug and that endorsement comes from someone not easily impressed by mugs.

Inaugural Sunday Photo Blog

My goal is to try to post photos, probably mostly of the girls, every Sunday. I keep looking back at old K photos and comparing them to T, and sometimes I think they look very much alike, and other times I think they look very different, though obviously still related. Then again, it just may be because K had so much hair when she was little (and still does) and the hair it throwing me off. I also realized that K has her big, almost maniacal smile in almost every photo of her, even from a very young age. T just isn't as easy with her smiles. You have to really work for them. On the other hand, she also doesn't fuss as much as K did as a baby. T is apparently just really even tempered.

At any rate, here are some photos and look for a full post tomorrow.

T enjoying her play mat.

K indulging in a goodie bag from a birthday party.

T working on tummy time. Note how light her eyes are in comparison to her sister. I think they will still end up a brownish- hazel but not the dark brown of K's eyes.

K being silly and squishing into T's carseat.

More tummy time for T

Grocery Shopping- Africa Style

I must admit to being pleasantly surprised to discover that we can get almost everything we want at the local grocery stores, plus the commissary. But we can never get everything we want by going to just one store, many things are ever so slightly different, and few things that you would expect to find are totally missing.

Our shopping options include: two South Africa chains- Spar and Pick n Pay, plus one local chain- Melissa's, and the US Commissary. And it is entirely possible that one must visit all of these locations to find everything on one's list.

Melissa's is a big grimy and its selection seems to be based on whatever fell off a truck somewhere that week. You feel like you want to take a shower after you have been inside, and I usually wipe off everything before putting it away at home. I also wouldn't buy meat there. But, the produce is surprisingly good, and they have the cookies I like, as well as the really yummy tonic water (so important to get your malaria protection somehow, C and I prefer the vodka/gin and tonic route. I jest. Lusaka is high enough in elevation that malaria prophylaxis is not actually necessary, though it is recommended if traveling outside of the city. But is sounds better to claim we have a legitimate medical reason to drink!). Melissa's is also super close to the house, so good for quick runs for milk or other forgotten staples.

Spar, or Super Spar as is officially called (is there a regular not Super Spar out there somewhere? I don't know) is a pretty typical feeling grocery store. Pretty clean, with good bread and a nice alcohol selection. It also consistently has the yogurt K likes.

Pick n Pay is relatively new and, as such, is almost always crazy crowded and parking is nearly impossible. However, it is worth the trip because it is the only place I can find Laughing Cow cheese and Laughing Cow dipping sticks snack packs to which K is totally addicted. It also has, in my opinion, nicer meat.

The Commissary has an eclectic and ever changing selection of American products. It is a good resource for things like corn chips, or popcorn, or whole wheat pasta, or goldfish crackers. It also, oddly enough, has some really good locally made fresh salsa. The downside to the Commissary is that it is only open til 1 and sometimes randomly closes for restocking without any warning.

Things that are oddly totally missing and driving me a little crazy are red pepper flakes, which I love to use in many, many recipes, and limes. The red pepper flakes are particularly amusing because the single item that broke in our big air shipment was a jar of red pepper flakes! Everything else, including electronics and other food items, were just fine. But the red pepper flakes, sadly, did not make it and are just nowhere to be found out here. Lots of peri peri seasoning, as well as other types of pepper-type seasonings, but not red pepper flakes. Limes are also almost totally absent, which is really odd because there are lemon trees everywhere, including three in our yard, so you would logically think that there would also be limes. We have only been able to find them once though, which is terribly sad as the afore mentioned gin or vodka and tonic without a slice of lime is just not quite as wonderful. Also, real ice cream, not some sort of scary not really dairy frozen concoction is hard to find. I totally want an ice cream maker for valentine's day :).

So, after one has visited 3-4 different stores and still probably not found everything on one's list, it is now necessary to come home and deal with the purchases. This means putting all meat in the freezer for a couple of days to make sure any nasty parasite type things are killed. This is a real challenge for meal planning as it then requires actually thinking about what dinner is going to be with sufficient advanced notice to defrost things. It is also necessary to really thoroughly scrub all fruits and veggies, and then let them soak in a solution of water and a bit of bleach before consuming.

All of the above is a very long way of saying that we are eating well, and not all that differently from what we had at home, it is just a lot more time consuming, while also occasionally frustrating and amusing.

Photos!

K and T in their new playroom

K "helping" in the garden

T showing off her Africa-appropriate attire

K and C admiring the wildlife at brunch last weekend

K on New Year's Day (on a related note, I am still VERY bitter that I set my alarm and woke up at midnight only to watch the Badgers lose to TCU)

K and T in their matching outfits ready for Christmas dinner with friends

K and C enjoying traditional Christmas day swimming

K very excited that Santa found her in Africa

T after K decided to pile all of her gifts on top of her

Long Awaited Initial Impressions

The following are a series of discombobulated initial impressions I jotted down during our first couple of weeks out here before acquiring Internet. Since at long, long last we are finally reconnected with the outside world, I can share these now. I plan to post much more regularly now that we are settled in and have Internet. So, please enjoy the following and I look forward to sharing more very soon.

The Flight

The flight was long. Very, very long. 18 hours on one plane and then we had to sprint through the Johannesburg airport to catch our connection and fly another 2 hours to our destination. T was her usual easy going self, and a number of passengers commented that they had not even realized we had an infant with us. The same cannot be said for K. The whole plane was well aware of her presence. She really was just about as good as a 2 ½ year old can be, under the circumstances, but that is still not exactly pleasant. When we finally got off the plane C and I looked at each other and declared that we would just be staying here forever as neither of us could conceive of doing that flight again.

At least we all made it to our final destination. Our bags did not. 8 checked bags, plus a car seat all spent an extra day in South Africa which was a bit nerve wracking as they are notorious for rifling through bags. Also, while C and the girls all had ample changes of clothes, I had one pair of yoga pants and a tank top in reserve, having sacrificed my carry on space to various toddler entertaining objects. Much to our relief, everything arrived the next day, and nothing was stolen.

Home Sweet Home

Our house is large. For those of you who saw pictures, they really do not do it justice. I keep losing things! I can’t hear my cell phone from the other end of the house so I have taken to carrying it around with me. I also occasionally can’t hear K, which is usually a sign of trouble so I have to work extra hard to figure out to where she has wandered off. I am still trying to figure out how to use the space, but I think for now one of the bedrooms is going to become a playroom, another will be our office, the third is K’s (and T will join her eventually) and C and I have the fourth. I will leave the guest suite alone for now in anticipation of all of the promised visits!

The pool is great and we have already enjoyed it a few times. It is securely fenced separately from the rest of the yard, which is great. The remainder of he yard is gigantic with lots of little clusters of plants. We seem to have an herb garden, and I have already used some of the rosemary to cook. We also have three lemon trees and a mango tree.

Peacocks and Other Miscellany

We have begun the interesting process of searching for household help. We already have a gardener on a probationary basis and I am gearing up to interview and try out nanny candidates. The whole concept of having help is quite new and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by it, though I am sure I will welcome the assistance.

Thanks to the Brits, they drive on the wrong side of the road down here, which is taking some getting used to. We also have a giant truck that could have eaten our Jetta, so adjusting to its sheer size is also a task, in addition to learning how to shift left handed. I have attempted a few very short jaunts and have not yet driven us into oncoming traffic, or hit any of the many pedestrians who walk along the side of the road, but I do keep hitting the windshield wiper switch instead of my turn signal switch.

We greatly miss Pasha but he may soon be replaced by a more exotic pet. Apparently, one can acquire peacocks! C is excited by the prospect of having our own flock of royal birds (it is my understanding that you must have at least two females for each male otherwise they get angry about the lack of selection). I am a bit concerned as they can be quite loud, but I must admit that I also rather like the idea of it, as I do love a good spectacle.

The First Weeks

Since we still don’t have Internet, and may not for another week or two, I am going ahead and jotting down thoughts and everything will end up getting posted all at once.

We keep asking K if she is in Africa and she inevitably answers, “nooooo, we are in the car” or “nooooo, we are in the house.” Hard to argue with that.

Our house is gated and we have a small guard house and a 24/7 guard, staffed in two twelve hour shifts by two very nice gentlemen, Moses and Calvin. Today, we were in the truck ready to head out to get coffee and some groceries and our guard was nowhere to be found (which is a problem because he has the keys to the gate). C starts wandering around the yard trying to find him, thinking he might be back at the latrine. Finally, I see him walking back from the back yard and hear “oh, well why were you up there?” Apparently, Calvin was up our mango tree trying to find some ripe mangoes. Obviously. I must say I never thought we would find ourselves having to ask why our guard was climbing a tree in our back yard.

I have been making some good progress learning to drive on the left. Properly parking the car is another issue as I accidentally left it in neutral without the parking break on and it started rolling away when I got out. Luckily, it did not manage to pick up much speed and I was able to hope in and stop it. Even more luckily, this happened in the privacy of our driveway so the only people around to ridicule me were C and the guard.

An Overabundance of Mangoes

I will sign off now by soliciting suggestions for what to do with a whole lot of mangoes. We are averaging 5-8 new ones every day, and I don't know what to do with them all!