You Don't See That Every Day (unless you live in Angola, in which case you do see it every day and likely don't even notice anymore)

I just returned from an outing to several stores.  The first place I went was Kero, which is sort of an Angolan version of Wal-Mart.  It's big, has more selection than most stores, and it's clean-ish.  Today I noticed that they had put out a big display of back-to-school items.  I wandered over, and was surprised to see that they actually had a fair amount of notebooks, pencils, and backpacks.  A one-subject notebook with 80 pages was $9, so definitely not Wal-Mart prices....but that's typical for Angola.  What  did surprise me, though, was the picture on the front of the notebooks.

Yes, this is perfect for my 12 year old.

I know not all students are children, but really?  There were no other options for sale, so apparently someone thinks that this is appropriate for all students.  My poor children are going to have to suffer with their plain old, purchased in the USA notebooks!

On the way home, we passed by a strip of road that has lots of people selling different items.  It's a busy section of town, and people gather under an overpass to sell their wares.  I noticed two women sitting on plastic crates, getting their nails done - by what looked to be nine year old boys!  It seems a little unsanitary, getting a manicure under the highway...but maybe I'm just picky.  I paint my own nails, but I'm thinking maybe I should start training Miles, just in case he needs to earn some money.

All in all, it was a fairly entertaining outing.  I still miss my shopping buddy, JoAnn - it's really not the same when you're laughing to yourself about the strange things you see here - but I'm doing okay.

This Made Me Laugh in the Grocery Store

Usually I just shudder or cringe in the grocery store, so you know it must have been a pretty extraordinary day.  Not only did I find tortilla chips...

They must be good, being made "South of Mexico....In Africa", right?

Friday 'From Scratch' - Volume 2

It's FRIDAY!!!  I get to post my week of slaving away in the kitchen, and even better - I only have one more day to slave away at the gym!  I'm really determined to take advantage of the awesome trainer we have here, so five days a week, I'm at her mercy.  It's fabulous torture.  But along with the workouts, I'm trying to eat more healthily, so it's been a somewhat light week of baking.  Anyway, on to what's been cookin' here in Angola.

• Spaghetti Bread.  This is really a carb-fest, but the kids and Adam love it.  I started with the directions here Braided Spaghetti Bread but of course, I have to make my own bread dough.  Then, depending on what I have in the house, I will throw in some extra stuff like sausage or ground beef.  It looks fancy, but it's really easy.
• Hummus.  My friend Shimo taught JoAnn and I to make hummus last year, and it's become a staple at our house.  I make a double batch, and then everyone (except Max) gobbles it up with carrots, celery, and peppers.  The recipe has garbanzo beans, garlic, tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, cumin, and salt.
• Waffles - same recipe as last week, just another batch for the always hungry kiddos.  Sidenote - our maid thinks waffles are the most delicious thing, EVER.  She'd never had them before we came here.  I think I'll pass on my waffle iron to her when we leave.
• Stuffed Chicken with Pasta.  This is one of the first dinners I ever made when Adam and I were newly married, and it's still one of his favorites.  Very simple, you just slice chicken breasts down the middle (but don't cut all the way through), and then cut a slit into each side and stuff with cheese.  Put the chicken breasts into a pan and cover them with spaghetti sauce, and bake at 400F for one house, and serve over pasta. 

I think that's about it.  We're having guests over for dinner tonight, and Adam is going to barbecue some hamburgers.  I'll make some buns for that, and a salad and maybe potato wedges.  All in all, sort of a boring week in the kitchen.  Although....Molly opened up a brand new giant box of Rice Krispies this week, and was treated to a bowl full of bugs!  So I guess excitement in the kitchen is over-rated.

Water and Life

Have you missed me posting about our water problems?  Well then, it's your lucky day!  For the past week or so (ever since we got back from our Dubai trip), our water pressure has been extremely low.  The first few days, I didn't think much of it - because frankly, it takes a lot more than low water pressure to impress me these days.  One night I went to fill up the bathtub, and the water was literally dribbling out of the faucet, down the wall of the tub.  This got my attention - because if there's one thing I really treasure, it's my nightly bath!  I'm sure you can guess where this is going....it's now been 5 days since we called and emailed, asking for maintenance to come and see what's wrong, and no one has come.  This morning I came home from kickboxing class, drenched in sweat - and was treated to an extra fun shower.  It went like this:  I'd turn on the water, hurry up and get wet, and then the water would stop.  I'd turn off the shower, wait a minute for the pressure to build back up, and then repeat the process.  I could get about 20 seconds of water each time, and I did manage to wash my hair, body, AND shave my legs - so really, I don't have much to complain about.

Adam and I had a very nice couple over to our house this weekend.  They were on their 'reccie' trip, to see if they want to come and live in Angola.  It does me so much good to talk to people who are in this stage.  Not only do I get to feel like I can help ease their worries, but it shows me how far I've come in the last 15 months.  When I first visited Angola, I was a wreck.  I cried every day, and I really and truly could not see how I could ever survive here.  Even after we decided that yes, we would do it - I wasn't sure how long I'd last.  But I told our guest this weekend, that what I've learned is that the key isn't being so strong that nothing gets you down - it's being strong enough that when things do get you down, you get back up again.

I've sent another round of emails about our water situation, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.  Thank you to everyone who checks in on me through this blog - I love being able to share bits of life here with you!

Friday 'From Scratch' Roundup

I've decided to do a weekly post listing all of the food items I've made.  This may only be interesting to me, I'm not sure - but whatevs - it's my blog!  This week is a little light on impressive culinary wizardry - I'm still getting back into the swing of things after vacation, and Adam was home for most of the week, which meant he barbecued quite a few dinners.  On the other hand....Adam has been unhappy with the lack of Starbucks-quality mocha supplies, and I decided to see if I could remedy the situation.  So here is my list for the week, with links for recipes.  Enjoy!  Or not!  I'll never know...

• Tortillas - I use a tortilla press, instead of rolling them out by hand. I use a simple recipe of flour, butter, salt, baking powder, and water.  It's easy, but very time consuming.  It involves standing at the counter for at least 40 minutes, and all of that work lasts for one dinner's worth of tortillas.  Still, they are delicious, and much cheaper than the $15 for 8 tortillas that are available in the grocery store. 
• Waffles - My kids, the boys especially, can go through an insane amount of waffles in a week.  I try to make enough that they have them for a few breakfasts per week, so I double this recipe. Oatmeal Waffles
• Maple Syrup - There's no maple syrup here, real or artificial, so I make ours.  I got the recipe from JoAnn, and it's very basic - water, white sugar, brown sugar, and maple extract.
• Mocha Syrup - Adam adds a few tablespoons of this to his coffee, and along with steamed milk and caramel sauce, it makes for a very happy husband.  I looked up a ton of recipes, and ended up throwing together a version that used ingredients I had here.  I used 1/2 cup of water, 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup alkalized cocoa powder, 1/4 cup plus 1 TB of regular cocoa powder, and 1 1/4 TB of vanilla extract.  Mixed them all together over low heat, and then transferred to a jar and refrigerated.
• Salted Caramel Sauce - Remember how I said I made this for Adam?  Welllll........once I got a taste of this, it was all over.  Now I'm putting it into my coffee, too - who could pass up a Salted Caramel Latte?  Not this girl.  I used this recipe, but instead of fancy shmancy salt, I just used about a tsp of regular table salt. Salted Caramel Sauce

That's it for this week.  I don't count the stuff I make from mixes I brought over here with me (like Ranch Dressing, Italian Dressing, etc), and I don't count things that I would normally make back in the US, like....roasted potatoes.  This list is purely for things that I would have likely never attempted to make, back when I lived in the land of convenience. I enjoy cooking and baking, but I doubt that I will continue to make all of these things from scratch when we're living in the US again.  For now, though, I entertain myself by imagining my boys driving their future wives insane by casually mentioning all of the things that their mom whipped up from scratch!

Christmas Vacation

We are back from our holiday in Dubai, and all five of us agree - it was AMAZING!  These vacations that we're able to take are not the only good thing about this expat gig, but they're definitely one of the best.  We took a flight out of Luanda on Thursday evening, and landed in Dubai on Friday morning.  Flying seven hours with three kids (plus 3 hours in the Angola airport before leaving) was surprisingly easy, for the most part.  We've gotten pretty good at traveling, and everyone is in good spirits when it's time for vacation!

So - we arrived in Dubai, and it was gorgeous!  I've never seen so many beautiful skyscrapers.

Dubai Marina

The view from our hotel room

We had an absolute blast!  We spent loads of time walking around the malls and shopping.  We went on a desert safari, and rode camels.

The hut where we had Christmas dinner

The belly dancer at the end of our safari - the boys reallllly liked her!

We went to the top of the world's tallest building, and took a historical tour of the city.

Burj Khalifa

We swam with dolphins, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

It's now been 15 months of living in Angola, and I think I can finally say that I'm glad we signed up for this experience.  It's changed me, I think for the better, and I know that we've made memories and friends that will last a lifetime.  I still look around and can't believe that this is really my life...but it is, and what an amazing life it's turned out to be.