The Last Roses in Brooklyn

Christmas Cookies

I made gingersnap cookies for all my friends for Christmas and delivered them Friday with hand drawn cards. I leave Maun on Monday for NYC but will be back in February.

Sunday Feast

My contribution to lunch was a peach and almond cake. A few peas showed up in the paella but otherwise it was a hedonistic lunch among a dozen friends.

Sunday Feast

Paella with hake, pork, chicken, mussels, AND prawns cooked outside on braziers. Yum.

Ostrich Farm

These are my new neighbors. Better than crocodiles (done that) and maybe I can even collect some fancy male feathers and make myself a homemade feather duster.

Stormy Weather

This is my hood and I love it.

Stormy Weather

Could it be any more beautiful? I love Boro when it storms.

My BBL Students

These are (most of) my BBL students that I tutor after school.

Last Days in Maun

Last Days in Maun

Last Days in Maun

Last Days in Maun

I'm counting down the days now in Maun before I move back to America. Here are some photos of my students.

New Home for Goats

Well I found a new home for my goats outside of Maun.  It was a very sad and emotional day but the farm is so nice that I don't worry about them too much.  I'll visit them tomorrow for the first time since I dropped them off!

pretty in pink!

L and F in their new kraal

the farm stud, aka L and F's new boyfriend

such a pretty goat!

cozy on the drive to their new home

Emily went too

Trans-Okavango 2011

These photos are in no order whatsoever.  I apologize in advance for the sloppiness of this post.  I'm super busy and leaving in a few days, plus I have to ship off a lovely dog, Shasha, to my parents tomorrow.

As you can see at the top, Bethany sufficiently charmed Mike into letting her take the wheel for a few turns before lunch.  She did quite well.

Mpho and Boys, our trusty cook and camphand

One of many fish I caught 

me and Vera

the crew 

an elephant outside the loo

Luise (showing off her heavy bird book, myself, Bethy, and Vera after an island walk.

camp kitchen

bush oven

camp kitchen

lunch (with cold butter)

Looking forward to another TO in 2012!!!

A Week In Zimbabwe

I went to Zimbabwe to stay with friends for a week.  They have a gorgeous house in the north of the country.  Every morning I went for a long walk after breakfast exploring the old country farm roads.

Then fires swept through the area and one day I came back from a walk to find the driveway ablaze.

before

after

Fires blazed all around the house to the firebreak.  During lunch in the garden we could hear the fire crackling all around us and ash blew gently onto the the hummus and crackers on the table.  When I took a bath before dinner I even found ash in the bathtub.

the firebreak

I cooked a little bit.  I made banana bread and amaretti espresso cookies.  We cooked pizza in the pizza oven with visiting neighbors.

Because of sanctions during the war, Zimbabwe produces much of everything needed for the kitchen and farm.  I love the simple, old fashioned labels that they made before computer design.

I love how everything is labeled 'Best' or 'No 1' not just as a tag line but as a brand name.  I mean, will anyone be fooled into thinking Zimbabwe makes the 'best' vodka in the whole wide world?  And what is the difference in quality between Special Best Gin and Premium Best Vodka?  I love the enthusiasm.

This is Beauty.  I asked if I could take her photo and she immediately smiled and cocked a hip just like an actress on the red carpet.  She was off to fetch sand.  In a place with no river or nearby water, sand is used to scour pots and dishes clean.

I can't get over this advertisement for for Barclay's Bank at the Harrare airport.  They say you can open a account with them "while you wait," meaning same day service.  But that "while you wait" is a promise! There are people that you can pay to wait in line for you in Africa because it is a full day event.  No where else is waiting in line a job. I look at that advert and cringe but for Barclay's in Zimbabwe, perhaps that's progress.  And that's just to wait to see a bank agent.  I can't imagine how complicated it is to get a bank account in Zimbabwe but that is surely the sorriest bit of advertising I've ever seen.