Sitatunga Dispatches

Bags are packed!

2012-01-30T17:00:00.000+02:00

St Barths

2012-01-29T01:13:00.001+02:00

We saw naked men (and lots of naked women) on the beach! And yes, we turned into teenage girls for a little bit while this man applied sunscreen to very private places.

Au revoir, St Barths

2012-01-28T03:25:00.000+02:00

St Barths, Lorient Beach

2012-01-28T03:24:00.000+02:00

St Barths

2012-01-28T03:23:00.000+02:00

I snacked on goose rillettes before a punishing workout. I think it was a balance. Yay French colony.

St Barths

2012-01-28T03:21:00.000+02:00

I grilled up some gorgeous mahi mahi that our local friend got for us from the fish market. Yum.

Traveling Cousins

2012-01-23T02:21:00.000+02:00

Katy and I are traveling again! We started at 6am in NYC and finally made our way to St Barths by the end of the day. Here we are tired on our third flight from St Marteen to our island. We are staying at a friend's house high up on a hill overlooking St Jean beach. We read, cook, swim, apply sunscreen, and then repeat. Life is good.

One Night in Moremi

2011-12-27T05:44:00.000+02:00

Eons and eons ago, I went camping for a night with my boyfriend outside of Maun near Moremi Game Reserve. Or maybe it was a month ago. This blog isn't about such details.

Once we got settled in our campsite we had a light lunch. That's red wine in my coffee cup. Des made a bulgar wheat salad with cucumber, tomato, chili, sweet peppers, and mint.

Afterwards we wandered around Moremi in the Defender. Fires had just gone through and we found lots of charred bones on a short walk we took.

It's a charred buffalo pelvis. Yes, I put it around my neck. No, I don't know why. As you can see though, it was a happy, care-free moment and I hope everyone who has a buffalo pelvis around their neck has a similar experience.

Breakfast the next morning was similar to dinner the evening before. Cold roasted chicken, roasted eggplant, Des' brown rice bread (I can't vouch for his South African heritage), my lemon mayo, and coffee prepared by Des and shown step-by-step below because I can barely make coffee at home let alone camping.

The Last Roses in Brooklyn

2011-12-17T22:17:00.000+02:00

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-10T19:35:00.000+02:00

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

2011-12-06T10:52:00.000+02:00

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

2011-12-06T10:48:00.000+02:00

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

Ostrich Farm

2011-12-02T10:05:00.000+02:00

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

2011-11-23T11:48:00.000+02:00

This is my hood and I love it.

Stormy Weather

2011-11-23T11:46:00.000+02:00

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

My BBL Students

2011-11-18T09:17:00.001+02:00

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

Last Days in Maun

2011-11-15T09:27:00.000+02:00

Last Days in Maun

2011-11-14T10:52:00.001+02:00

Last Days in Maun

2011-11-14T10:50:00.001+02:00

Last Days in Maun

2011-11-14T10:48:00.000+02:00

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

2011-09-13T10:39:00.000+02:00

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

2011-09-13T10:27:00.000+02:00

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

2011-08-02T11:35:00.000+02:00

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.

Dinner in Gabs

2011-07-30T20:14:00.000+02:00

Just got to Gabs from Harare. Spending the night here on my way to Maun. I was too tired to go out to dinner so I made a picnic dinner from South African feta, crackers, an apple, and sparkling wine.

Love Botswana Outreach Mission Bridge

2011-07-22T11:25:00.001+02:00

This is the really good bridge that gives me access to the tar road, as opposed to the really bad, dangerous bridge that gives me access in a more roundabout way. The bridge was built by our local mission (supported by a church in Texas) and once they can get a chain gate up with an "aggressive" guard (I heard it from the woman in charge) they will be collecting a toll from everyone who passes. It doesn't matter if you are a safari owner, goat farmer, or in a donkey cart. That is their plan anyway unless they feel God's eternal shame beforehand.

Life Is Good

2011-07-20T11:22:00.001+02:00

Power is back. Roads are flooded but I'm using a newly built bridge now to get into town. Goats are cute as always.

Still No Power...

2011-07-15T11:25:00.001+02:00

What a tease the BPC gave me last night! I made a gorgeous fire last night and had just burnt my pizza to smithereens over it when the power came back on. I poured myself another rose water martini and made pasta instead and took that down to the fire for dinner. In the morning the power was no more though and even now no one knows what's going on. My water tanks filled up though and I managed a hot shower this morning but I bought a proper grill today and am prepared to master this pizza-on-a-grill before the weekend is over if BPC continues to fail to do their job properly. Tonight Hilary is offering up leftovers from the coffee shop (pecan pie, yum!) and I suspect that will be my last proper meal unless I can get the hang of cooking over a fire. I see a lot of crackers, hard boiled eggs, and wine in my future.

Update

2011-07-14T12:38:00.001+02:00

Good news: I will not become an island. I attended a neighborhood meeting last night and we identified a path into town that most likely will not flood.

Bad news: I still have no power which means I have no water and no stove as both rely on power. There is no end in sight to this power failure and certainly no news bulletin from Botswana Power Corporation making us feel any better although I hear whispers of "four more days" and "three more days" which I don't like. My cell phone operator is also without power so no phone. I will be fetching water from the river for my toilet, washing, and animals. I will be cooking on a open fire as well. I'm thinking that this will be a good time to experiment with making pizza on the grill and enjoying red wine instead of my usual cocktails and white wine. (I also just bought a bottle of sparkling rose which will be a lovely way to celebrate the power coming back on.)

Note to my dear friend visiting in August: This will all be resolved long before you arrive. Please don't worry. When you come to stay you will enjoy as modern an experience as Botswana has to offer and that means water, power, phones, and petrol will be available to all.

I Am An Island

2011-07-13T10:45:00.001+02:00

Today I woke up to the sad little ping that means my power just got turned off. Even in my hazy, pre-dawn half-slumber I knew what that sad little trill meant. Later I found out most of the country is without power for some mysterious reason. I also had to battle my way around ever increasing flood waters to reach the tar road. All my access roads are flooded now save for one. The flood water creeps up so quickly and because there is a layer of sand and debris on top you don't see it along the road until it actually covers the path you want to drive on. There's also no petrol, diesel, or propane in the country due to a transport strike in South Africa. I can't really think of anything I can do but stock up on hay, cat food, and food for myself as well. I don't worry about my house being flooded but I worry about my house becoming a very small island and I don't have a boat.

Goats in Cars

2011-07-11T10:30:00.000+02:00

I took my goats for a walk on Sunday afternoon. It took me about half an hour just to get Looloo and Feefee into my Land Rover but once that happened we were off to find a nice place to park and hang out upstream. I tied up the big ladies in back while I was driving but Emily got to sit in front and stick her nose in my ear and chew on my sleeve the whole way there and back. I thought I'd have time to relax and read while the goats grazed but they were too hyped up (on grain, that's how I lured them into the car) and wouldn't relax. Maybe next time.

Trans-Okavango: A Look Back

2011-07-11T10:05:00.000+02:00

I have some friends I'm trying to lure on the next trans-Okavango in August. Here's a look at what we got up to over the past few years.

catch and release (it's a croc!)

close encounters

Katy caught a fish!

I kissed a fish

our trusty guides

arriving at camp

I caught a nembwe!

relaxing in the sun

bush walk

Flooded Road

2011-07-08T10:03:00.000+02:00

My road is totally flooded! This happened literally overnight as Maun is quickly becoming just another island in the Okavango Delta.

Bonfire

2011-07-04T10:42:00.001+02:00

I haven't had a dinner party in a long time and with the cold winter weather I didn't really know how I'd lure anyone to my house past sunset. Then I decided to make a big fire. Looloo and Feefee got very excited with the arrival of wood and graciously helped me take it out of the car (by trying to eat it) and then got even more excited when I broke up kindling because that was just more snack food. They thought it was a lot of fun to knock over my smart, little pile of logs.

I'm feeling like a very bad goat-owner because this is the most excited they've had since I struggled to put up my hammock in the front yard last month.

The river is still rising in my yard but for some reason my local hippo whom I used to hear every evening has disappeared. At least I don't have any crocodiles in my yard because then I'd be upset.

I made my own tonic water for my friends and am very impressed with the results. This is my little gin and tonic bar that I set up before dinner. From the left I have gin, water, and tonic. I'm going to experiment with flavors a little because it's a bit too sweet for my taste and I'd like to play up the bitter and sour flavors.

Here is the gin and homemade tonic with my swanky little hotel cocktail napkins.

For dinner I made lemon and garlic roasted chicken, butternut and spinach gratin, boiled potatoes, and a fennel salad. For dessert we went outside and sat around the fire eating lemon ricotta cupcakes with tea. Lots of fun.

A Giraffe in Brooklyn

2011-06-21T04:42:00.000+02:00

A Hyaena in Brooklyn

2011-06-13T15:32:00.001+02:00

La Duree

2011-06-11T23:12:00.000+02:00

Breakfast in Paris

2011-06-11T23:09:00.000+02:00

Camping near the Buffalo Fence

2011-06-06T10:38:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I went camping with four girlfriends on Hilary’s new farm near the Buffalo Fence. It’s an easy one-hour drive from Maun and Hilary had never spent a night there before

We set up camp atop a small escarpment so we had a view of mophane copses and tall, fluttering yellow grass. Botswana is as flat as a pancake so any hint of a vista is a treat to savor. After Christiane got a bush fire going we opened up snacks and poured Bombay gin and tonics. We watched the Southern Cross come up and made promises to get up before dawn to see the rare alignment of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. After dinner I climbed up on top of my Land Rover and shook out my bedroll. I hate sleeping in a tent or on the ground. I much prefer sleeping under the moon and stars and above a masterful piece of diesel engineering. Unfortunately we heard no wildlife at night.

The next morning we had coffee, hard-boiled eggs, and campfire grilled cornbread with a small slick of butter. After breakfast we walked to Hilary’s “amphitheater,” a perfect circle of thick mophane trees with soft bushveld grass in the center. It felt ancient and pagan. In the very center water collects in the summer and elephants drink and play. In the winter all that’s left are deep gouges from their feet in the dried mud.

For the rest of the morning I sunbathed (with lots of sunscreen) and read my kindle on top of my Rover. After a lunch of snacks we packed up and drove back to Maun.

We set up camp just in time to enjoy the sunset.

A feast of snacks before dinner made by yours truly.

The perfect sundowner.

Sunset

Cornbread warming on the fire.

Ever British, Hilary made her own egg cup.

Goop's blondies with multi-colored marshmallows. Yummy. We ate them all.

Pepper in a Box

2011-06-01T10:59:00.000+02:00

Pepper likes to nap in very unusual places.

Elephant Trophies

2011-06-01T10:56:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I had brunch at Hilary and Ronnie's house. Ronnie is a professional hunter and after we ate he showed us his customized elephant-skin-cutting tool. Being a good Maun crowd we all peppered him with questions on how to skin an elephant and how to extract the trophies (tusks, feet. tail, etc) and were quite the captive audience. Christiane and I especially loved his elephant tail bracelet which you can see below.

This is part of an elephant tail ready for a wrist to adorn. Christiane suggested adding silver to make it into a bangle and I'd love to have that on my arm.

This is Ronnie's weathered and beaten elephant bracelet. Underneath it has a silver clasp.

I'd just like to add a note about hunting elephants in Botswana. There are two hundred thousand elephants in Botswana (most of them in the north) and hunting doesn't even make a dent in the population. Professional hunters like Ronnie take the utmost care with what they do and are in fact the best deterrent for poachers. A hunting safari has a lower impact on the environment compared to a photographic safari and conserves more land. If you want to see Ronnie in action you can catch his TV show on Versus Under Wild Skies. I watch it on Sunday mornings in Brooklyn when I'm missing Botswana.

Defender of Hay

2011-05-23T10:04:00.000+02:00

I don't think Pepper had a chance defending her bed of hay from a hungry Feefee but she put in a good effort.

Fresh From the Farm

2011-05-23T10:01:00.000+02:00

Every week I get produce from a nearby farm. Today I got tons of colorful spinach, rocket, parsley, and butternut squash. Can't wait for dinner tonight!

Pawleys Island, SC

2011-05-10T05:28:00.000+02:00

Pawleys Island, SC

2011-05-07T22:39:00.000+02:00

I've been on Pawleys Island with a dozen other girls for the past few days and it's just wonderful. We had some rain but today the sun came out and we all got some color. (Some more than others.) I've discovered dark rum tonics and an appreciation for grits among many other things.

Middleton Plantation, Charleston, SC

2011-05-05T04:55:00.000+02:00

Katy and I are in Charleston, SC ahead of a bachelorette party on the beach. We spent the morning at Middleton Plantation. They have a working farm with goats, cows, sheep, chickens, water buffalo, horses, peacocks. Needless to say Katy and I fell in love with lots of the animals. The gardens were beautiful and we had a lovely day wandering around.

cashmere goat

Nubian goat

peacock

reflecting pool

Tree Stump

2011-05-04T14:56:00.002+02:00

My father had to cut down the tree in the front yard. I think it looks quite majestic in a new way.

Springtime in Brooklyn

2011-04-27T15:00:00.001+02:00

Tartine Bakery and Saison Restaurant

2011-04-12T15:58:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to wrap-up photos from my trip out to the Northwest last week. On Saturday we all went to Tartine, Katy's favorite bakery in the whole wide world. There was a line out the door that stretched all the way down the block. It moved quickly and before long these gorgeous gorgere popped into my vision. They were bigger than tennis balls. I resisted only because we had had some at Chez Panisse the night before as an amuse bouche. We all shared a croissant and Katy and I decided they were the best croissant we'd had outside of Paris. They were also three times as big as any croissant in France but America just does things big.

John pointed out that the coconut cream cakes look like West Highland terriers and are about the same size as well.

This is my gruyere and jambon Tartine sandwich with pickled carrots.

Later that evening Matt, Katy, and myself went to Saison restaurant and although we had many gorgeous dishes this one stood out. It's greens from the broccoli family (broccoli rab, brussel sprouts, etc) toasted in their wood fire oven. Some broth is ladled over and the tiniest poached egg sits on top. It was one of the most delicate and gorgeous things I've eaten.

San Francisco

2011-04-02T19:23:00.000+02:00

I arrived in SF yesterday straight from Maun two days before. Surprisingly, jetlag hasn't been an issue.

My brother, his new girlfriend, two cousins, and myself had dinner at Chez Panisse last night. Not surprisingly it was gorgeous. We had lots of wine though and that made getting up a bit difficult this morning but after a good workout I'm feeling better.

We started dinner with a champagne cocktail with kumquat syrup followed by a crawfish salad. Risotto with choritzo and peas next then squab with bitter lettuce leaves. Dessert was a bit disappointing for me. It was a rose jelly with sorbet. A bit too retro for me.

We all had a fabulous time and I'm very much looking forward to Tartine for lunch and then some serious shopping!

Maun Grafitti

2011-03-29T10:50:00.001+02:00

BBL Girls

2011-03-29T10:09:00.001+02:00

Last weekend I helped supervise a large group of Bana Ba Letsatsi girls at Audi Camp. They go with a counsellor to talk about sexual abuse and violence and how to deal with it in their lives. Then they have fun in the pool and eat a big lunch. It's a wonderful program and the girls are so much fun.

The day we went was cold and overcast with lots of drizzling rain. That hardly kept us out of the pool and before I could stop the girls they were all naked splashing in the water even though we provide bathing suits for them. I was quite grateful then for the clouds and rain that kept all the tourists away from the pool area. I didn't want any mangy European men ogling the girls.

2011-03-23T11:57:00.001+02:00

So urine is now environmentally unfriendly?

Boro 1 Happenings

2011-03-21T11:06:00.000+02:00

As I was driving home on my scooter Saturday afternoon, I saw a group of men doing something in the government cattle kraal near my house. Naturally I stopped to investigate and saw that they were slaughtering two cows. I thought this was wonderful. I think, too often, modern, health conscious consumers don't take into consideration how an animal dies. Just as cows should be raised on small farms and fed a ruminant-friendly diet, so should they be slaughtered on the farm to minimize stress and save on transport costs.

These neighbors of mine had selected one cow and one bull to slaughter. They cut the carcass on its own skin and that worked quite well to keep the meat clean and sand-free. Then they loaded the meat onto a very clean tarp in the back of a pick-up truck. The man who owned the cows and the butchery the meat was going to proposed marriage to me when I told him I was teaching English here in Maun. He thought I was making big bucks and wanted in on this and apparently wasn't afraid to tell me so. I asked him what he could offer me in return and he said, "babies," and I told him that just wasn't good enough.

Please don't think these photos are gory. These two cows lived happy lives in Boro 1. They weree completely free range and roamd the bush munching on acacia trees, sage brush, tall grass and even the occasional vegetable patch. Too often Americans are disconnected from our food. We know what lamb, beef, and poultry look like wrapped in saran wrap at the grocery store but don't want to know how a cow becomes a sirloin steak.

I believe in what my friend Dan calls, "happy meat," and even though these photos may not be pretty, they are just that.

cow testicles (I did not ask to see these. He just pulled them out.)

two boys helping

to the town butchery!

2011-03-16T12:59:00.000+02:00

Off to dinner.

Meno-a-Kwena

2011-03-16T12:52:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I went to Meno-a-Kwena with some girlfriends. It’s a lovely little haute-hippie camp in the northern reaches of the Kalahari Desert. The Boteti River flows below the camp where elephant, warthog, kudu, lion, zebra, and a multitude of other wildlife come to drink. We sat in the sun, cooled off in the pool, chatted, read, and otherwise relaxed in camp.

Late in the afternoon three elephants slowly made their way down the embankment to the river. Once there they ran into the water and spent the next hour playing. One submerged himself except for the top of his belly and the tip of his trunk. Then he would roll over onto his other side and repeat over and over again. Before dinner I took a bucket shower (from a hammered Indian copper pot) and I could still hear all the elephants splashing and playing during their shower. In the morning hippos replaced the elephants in the river grunting in contentment and nudging each other with their large snouts in friendly kisses.

Christiane listening to Handel

Four bachelor elephants

Monica reading the Economist

River rock pool

Terroir Restaurant

2011-02-21T16:08:00.000+02:00

On Saturday night we went to Terroir, one of the best known restaurants in South Africa. It's on the Kleine Zalze wine estate in Stellenbosch. The waiter brought a big chalkboard menu to our table and we picked our starters and main courses. They all sounded so yummy. I picked "baby beef" tartare as my starter and it was incredible. For my main I had beef fillet because they were already out of springbok. Everyone loves wild game here.

Hiking in the Franschhoek Mountains

2011-02-21T15:51:00.000+02:00

On Sunday John and I went hiking in the mountains around Franschhoek where we are staying outside of Cape Town. The path was steep and the sun was very hot above us.

After an hour of hiking we found a small ledge with the only shade around. We rested and had some water and nectarines while taking in the view of Franschhoek and the surrounding vineyards in the valley.

95 Keerom

2011-02-19T15:33:00.000+02:00

After climbing Table Mountain our parents were too tired to go out so John and I went, just the two of us , to 95 Keerom, an Italian restaurant. We both ordered tuna carpaccio to start. It was so delicate and simple with just some olive oil on top of the rocket. Then I got a trio of game from the chef's very own farm. From the left, it's kudu, springbok, and widlebeest. It was so tender and yummy! John got Karoo lamb from his farm as well. Super simple food, well done.

Cape Town

2011-02-19T15:21:00.003+02:00

My family and I arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday, my birthday. On Friday we climbed Table Mountain via the Platteklip Gorge that you can see bisecting the two peaks above. The first half of the climb was almost straight up stone steps. We climbed three miles in three hours.

Below you can see where we finally reached the top of the mountain. We very wisely took the cable car down and had a seafood lunch at the V & A waterfront.

Below is a little dassie, found only on rocky outcrops in Southern Africa. He was very cute admiring the view for a long time. He also looked to be incredibly well fed which is common among any rodents living in areas populated by hungry tourists.

The Batswana Snack of Choice

2011-02-08T10:50:00.002+02:00

Mophane Worms

For six and a half years I have somehow managed to avoid the culinary delicacy of Botswana, the mophane worm. Then Trace invited me over for tea at her new house after work. She brought out two snacks, boiled salted peanuts and mophane worms.

At the beginning of every summer, Batswana start salivating over the anticipation of their beloved snack emerging from the ground with the first rains. This worm is actually a caterpillar with very large spikes coming from its body but they do no good against hungry desert dwellers. Batswana catch them by the bucket full and Trace paid for her daughter’s first school uniform by catching, cooking, and selling 50kgs of mophane worms.

She told me that what you do is you get a small stick. You find a worm and jam the stick inside the little body and drain out the inner puss (unless you catch this mophane worm the very first day it emerges from the ground, then the puss draining is not necessary). You put the worms in a big pot over a fire and cook them. Then you leave them to dry out on a piece of cardboard in the sun. Once they are dry and hard you can rub one against another to get the spikes off.

I’m a bit embarrassed now by all the faces and noises I made leading up to putting a very small piece of mophane worm in my mouth, chewing, and then swallowing it. I am proud to now say that I have eaten mophane worm and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. That is not to say I will ever eat another one but it tasted like salty, black tea and that was fine. I have endured far worse much closer to home and attempting to eat room temperature cow tongue and vegetables in aspic at a family gathering sticks out as having been much more debilitating on my gag reflex than mophane worms.

I asked Trace if there was any food that us makgoa devoured with delight that appalled her. Her answer was quick and short. Crab. Whole crab.

Sunday Afternoon Boat Cruise

2011-01-31T09:56:00.000+02:00

On Sunday afternoon my friend Hilary organized a boat cruise with lots of her friends. We slowly cruised up the Thamalakane river until we reached the junction and then headed north up the Boro river. We cruised over a hippo which felt like a sandbar going bu-bump-ba-bump under the boat. Colin, our quiet and trusty captain who was sipping water instead of his usual whiskey, stopped the boat to have a look at this creature but he barely came up for air and we never really saw the shy guy. After that out came the food and drinks. People poured wine, gin and tonic, tea, or soda water. Out of cool boxes and picnic baskets came chips, crackers, cheese, cruidite, chickpea salad, and for myself, I made yogurt banana cake that I adapted from a new book I just read, Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes. Roger alone ate six pieces. It was yummy, if I do say so myself. Traditional banana bread made a little sweeter and more unctuous. We stopped at a sand bar and all got out to swim. The day was not as hot as I would have wanted but the water was warm and the company lovely.

Yogurt Banana Cake (adapted from Elizabeth Bard)

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup brown sugar

large pinch of sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup melted or soft butter

2 large eggs

1 ½ cup flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

zest of one lemon

2 small ripe bananas (or one large) roughly mashed plus more for garnish

Preheat oven to 350F

I was feeling carefree and lazy when I made this Saturday morning so I just dumped everything into one bowl at once and mixed it all up. It worked. Butter a pan and set in baking paper then butter the baking paper. I cut up a third banana (my bananas here in Botswana are quite small) to make a pretty ‘X’ design in the batter. Pour in the mixture and cook for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This cake gets moister the longer it sits. I made mine on Saturday morning and served it Sunday afternoon and it was actually nicer. I also made mine with rice flour because one my closest friends can’t eat gluten. You’d never know the difference and I’m not one to sacrifice taste for diet. Elizabeth Bard also suggests using any kind of fruit you want to put in the cake. I had bananas so I used those.

Milking Mopipi's Cows

2011-01-18T10:42:00.000+02:00

You can see Mopipi on the left milking a cow.

Stormy Weather

2011-01-18T09:48:00.000+02:00

We've had so much rain and lots of thunder storms this summer! I love this weather because the earth is so fragrant after a good rain and the temperature drops so it's nice and cool. Everything is blooming and green. Goats and cows are fat on all the green grass and trees. But there are also downsides. All of Northwest Botswana lost power from Sunday morning to Monday evening around midnight. I missed the Golden Globes! Very disappointing.

Mopipi's Cows

2011-01-18T09:43:00.000+02:00

Saturday morning I got up early and walked to the river. I had planned to meet my gardener, Mopipi, and milk his cow. Ever since I was a little girl, it’s been my dream to milk a cow, but today was not my day. I’ve been sick lately and just didn’t have the energy to take milk home, pasteurize it, and then figure out something to do with it like making ricotta cheese or ice cream. Way too much work, and food, for my lackluster body.

I arrived at the river and saw Mopipi and some other men on the other side. I cheekily yelled, “Mokoro,” the ubiquitous call for a ride across the river, and all the men laughed. One came to fetch me in a very old fiberglass boat with a shallow covering of muddy water sloshing around my toes. Once I got to the other side we all started walking the distance to Mopipi’s farm. On this side of the river there are no cars, no roads, no power lines, no water lines, nothing. It is rural farmland with few donkeys, no machines, and few people. We stopped at Abraham’s farm to look at his basil, parsley, spring onions, tomatoes, and rocket. Abraham is a short man with a big belly, always a sign of wealth in Africa. He sells his herbs and lettuces to the local supermarket and safari companies but he has only a small portion of his land plowed and seeded. He has no donkeys or plow or labor to do the rest. He wanted to show me his sweet potatoes but I begged off and said the cows were waiting for us. Abraham is quite the talker.

As we approached Mopipi’s plot I saw a round hut with a straw roof partially covered with a large tarp. He had a tidy metal border outside the hut with a fire and hot water on top. We met one of Mopipi’s sons there and collected some buckets. I saw no cows though. He explained he keeps his cows with his neighbor because sometimes me must go to town to stay with his wife and children. His neighbors then look after his cows. He told me has eight of them but doesn’t count their babies which would make it sixteen cows. A black and yellow dog named Tiger follows Mopipi everywhere and he calls him, “my friend.”

We reached the kraal where the cows where kept. One pen was full of the mamas and another pen with their calves. Mopipi’s son opened the gate separating the two pens and the mama cows slowly meandered in to find their hungry calves. Both Mopipi and his son started milking. They each had a length of rope, a stick, and a bucket. They each chose a cow, tied her hind legs together tightly with the rope then squatted down with a bucket. With the stick they gently, but meaningfully, kept the calf away while they milked. They took only three liters or so from each cow leaving plenty leftover for the calf. The milk was poured into a large bucket from each cow and soon filled up. It was foamy on top, like a latte. Another neighbor, a very old man, came over and told me I was the first white person he had seen this side of the river. I took this to mean I’m the only farm animal obsessed white girl in Maun who has fantasized about being a milkmaid her entire life. In Maun, it seems milking cows is men’s business because there were no other women around.

After all the milk was collected Mopipi turned to me and waved in the direction of the cows and said, “You can see I am suffering.” At the moment, forgive me, but I thought I was suffering. I was tired, my tonsils were infected and painful, my feet were dirty and wet and I probably had cow poo on them as I had, in a weird twist of vanity, not wanted to get any of my shoes dirty so I had worn flip flops. I just wanted to go home and shower and lay on my couch reading for the rest of the day. I said, “I don’t see suffering. You have lots of fresh milk and healthy cows.” Even further the day was lovely. Heavy clouds obscured the sun and it was pleasantly cool. Mopipi’s farm is beautiful and fertile greenery surrounded us. He repeated, “I am suffering.” Suffering is such a relative idea. Of course he is suffering next to me. He is probably HIV positive. He has many children to support on his salary. I truly wouldn’t say he works hard at my house but he does a very good job and has many responsibilities tending to his cows, goats, and family. I have few responsibilities, I don’t work terribly hard, I am young and healthy, I have financial security, etc, etc. But then of course there are many countries around the world that define poverty in the world and Botswana is not one of them. There is no war, famine, or political instability here. Eight cows and a small herd of goats is relative security for many people. Mopipi is clearly a happy man though and “suffering” is something that all Batswana nurse and care for in their hearts.

As we walked back to the river Abaham walked with us. He asked me where I was from. I told him New York. He asked me where were my parents? I said New York, for simplicity’s sake. He asked whom did I live with here? I said I lived alone. This is a very common form of questioning in Botswana and I knew where it was going. Abraham shook his head. “You white people, you are so funny! You go everywhere, and you go alone! We Batswana, we take in everyone. Our houses are full of people. You go to my house now and you’ll see eighteen people. But you live alone.” I just laughed and kept quiet. The Batswana always want to know where my parents are. One Motswana asked me in a hushed tone, “Does your father know that you are here?” as if I had snuck away.

When my brother comes in a few weeks I want to take him to Mopipi’s farm and collect some milk for mozzarella and ice cream. I will not be sick and will wear proper shoes and will try to learn how to milk the cows myself. It will be much fun.

Feefee Snacking on Tree Branches

2011-01-10T12:04:00.000+02:00

This is probably one of many reasons why my landlady doesn't want my goats on the porch.

Boxing Day

2010-12-27T13:14:00.000+02:00

On Boxing Day I went up the river with my friends Alex and Craig in Alex’s boat. We met up with my neighbor Colin and some other boats. Everyone was in the water relaxing and chatting. Colin played old country music from America and South Africa from his boat. Some young boys came along in a fiberglass mokoro. I climbed in and took some photos of the get-together and the boys. It was lots of fun and I got a little tan.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-27T13:04:00.000+02:00

On Christmas morning I went to my friend Trace’s church, Bible Life Ministries. I’ve been there twice before with mixed feelings. The first time I went the singing was beautiful. The second time, not so much. The sermons are always a bit harsh. One woman spoke about how we must all be “watchmen for our faith.” We must watch our family, friends, and church fellows for any sign of weakness. My goodness, what work that would be! I felt tired just listening to her. I don’t want to think about anyone’s faith but my own.

This was definitely my last visit. Some women made catty comments to Trace about her three-week absence from church. Watchmen! In my three visits to this church I’ve never once heard anyone speak about God’s endless love, peace, or forgiveness. Trace also told me that another lady made fun of the length of her skirt, calling it a miniskirt. It actually covered her knees and was longer than mine.

The ladies in charge of opening the church were late and we all had to wait out in the rain for them to come. When this woman did arrive, she being the only other person there to have a car except for me and the pastor, she exclaimed loudly, “You can’t be mad at me. It’s Christmas!” Well I was upset with her because I was quite wet and so was everybody who walked from home in the rain.

Once we found seats inside I noticed two large, modern, and very comfortable looking chairs in the front row with a table in between. All the other chairs were stackable and plastic. Trace told me this was where the pastor and his wife sat. This was a new feature since the last time I had visited over a year ago. True enough the pastor’s wife came and sat herself down. She wasn’t a very large woman but had rolls of fat down her arms and around her middle. Her neck was squashed and her face a bit mannish with a very unfortunate hair do of short, uneven relaxed tresses. Or perhaps it was just a bad wig. Hard to tell sometimes. She wore a traditional lavender dress with a wide, frilly, boat-neck collar with a cursive dollar sign design around the top. In her defense, as a pastor’s wife, she may not have known it was a dollar sign.

A man started the service with a short reading about the birth of Christ then proceeded with about forty-five minutes of “praising the Lord,” or what I would call bad singing. One woman’s rendition of “Silent Night” was taken with many liberties, in both English and Setswana. Then the pastor, arriving an hour late, gave a sermon about how this was a time of celebration for Christians, and a time of trouble for our enemies. Really, what ever happened to wishing peace and love for our enemies? Then there was more singing, and by “more” I mean an hour more. The woman who came late to unlock the church doors tried to get just the poor, parentless, and hungry children in the back to sing for everyone. When they proved to be too shy (and probably hungry) the congregation stepped in again to help them but she shushed us and told us to be quiet then tried again unsuccessfully to get the children to sing. They had only come for the cake and juice to be passed out at the end.

Trace and I tried to leave after the service but everyone heckled us to stay for cake. Eventually we left and I asked Trace to please come with me to the Catholic Church next time.

Back in Maun

2010-12-21T11:02:00.000+02:00

I'm back in Maun for Christmas and it's just gorgeous here. Days are balmy, nights are almost cool. Everything is green and it rains often. Sometimes the air smells salty, like the ocean is just behind my trees. I don't know where that is coming from but it's delightful.

Dekalb Ave

2010-12-05T01:38:00.000+02:00

Q Train: Manhattan to Brooklyn

2010-11-30T05:53:00.001+02:00

I love the Q train. It crosses the East river on the Manhattan Bridge and there is always a great view of downtown.

Holly On a War Rug

2010-11-28T19:21:00.000+02:00

This is our old dog Holly. My father bought the rug in Afghanistan where carpet makers are inspired by helicopters, tanks, machine guns, and ammo. I have one too here in Brooklyn.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T19:17:00.000+02:00

I went home for Thanksgiving to be with my parents. The house is tucked into the base of a small mountain. One of my favorite walks is taking the stone steps up to an overlook.

Instead of walking down the way I came, I walked further down the other side where there is a dirt road and found a path that leads back to the house from the opposite direction. I love fall days in New England. The leaves have all fallen down, days are cold but there is no snow yet. Just lots of sunshine.

I ended the day with a St. Germain martini in one of my mother's gorgeous cocktail glasses. We ate smoked trout and chevre cheese before dinner in front of the fire.

I set the table for Thanksgiving. My mother has the most gorgeous collection of crystal ever. It actually looks more appropriate for Easter spring with all the pink and white but I really dislike classic fall colors. The runner was a gift from my aunt from Guatemala. We had a lovely time and my mother's food was to-die-for as always.

Dawn Over Dekalb

2010-11-20T13:36:00.000+02:00

Home!

2010-11-16T18:27:00.000+02:00

Cocktails at the Kempinsky

2010-11-13T21:14:00.001+02:00

As usual Katy and I got a glass of vodka at the hotel bar before heading out for dinner. First our bartender flirted with Katy. He asked her if she had any connection to the town in America that is the same as her last name. He lingered by her side peppering her with questions. Then an older businessman came in and immediately started gesticulating at her and shouting across the bar in Russian to her. As we were leaving he offered to take her out on his boat on the Neva river and told she was an 'icon of beauty.' I just had some greasy man stare at me for half an hour until his wife and small child showed up.

Palace Park

2010-11-13T21:06:00.001+02:00

This morning Katy and I wandered around the park land around the summer palace. The gardens closest to the palace are quite formal and French in their design, but the further out you walk the more wild and rambling they become. We exploded our buildings, peeking through their windows and crossed bridges over man made streams.

Summer Palace

2010-11-13T21:01:00.000+02:00

As always in these royal palaces, gilt and chandeliers abound. The entire palace was gutted inside and out during WWII and it has been beautifully restored.

Me and Katy in the palace

2010-11-13T20:58:00.000+02:00

We are sporting paper shoe covers.

Nazi Tour Guide

2010-11-13T20:56:00.001+02:00

This is our Nazi tour guide who yelled at us.

Pushkin, the royal summer palace

2010-11-13T20:54:00.000+02:00

We drove to Pushkin yesterday to visit the royal summer palace. We checked into our hotel (in the palace, but sooo dreary!), had lunch, then walked back to the palace to walk around. Everyone was sooo mean! The ticket lady glared at us and softened not a little with all our meager Russian. People yelled at us to take off our coats. Yelled again to put paper covers over our shoes. Then somehow we got shuttled onto a Russian tour with the most unfriendly tour guide I have ever encountered. Katy and I learned nothing but what we could piece together ourselves. The Amber Room was amazing and well worth the pain and boredom of taking an hour long tour in a language you don't understand.

Hermitage Museum

2010-11-12T09:48:00.002+02:00

Hermitage Museum

2010-11-12T09:48:00.001+02:00

I still can't get these palace interiors out of my head. The spaces are breathtaking. I could move in tomorrow.

Hermitage: Day 2

2010-11-11T16:44:00.000+02:00

Today Katy and I spent all day at the Hermitage. It was an epic feat of exertion. We saw French art from the 15th-20th century, British art, palace interiors, treasure galleries, gold galleries, diamond galleries, and the 'Hidden Treasue' galleries which aren't even on the museum map due to their controversial history and present state. They are stolen art collections from the Nazis that the Russian army seized during WWII. By far this collection has the best Impressionist and post Impressionist pieces in the museum.

I do believe Katy and I walked through every room in the museum, some two or three or four times. We were run a bit ragged by the end.

Triton

2010-11-11T16:31:00.000+02:00

Katy and I went to this crazy kitsch restaurant Triton last night. There is a waterfall inside, multiple fish tanks, sea murals, and an overall cloying fish bowl scent. My Caspian Sea black caviar was delicious but unfortunately it was downhill from there food wise. The bathroom had a toilet tank fish bowl but thank goodness it's just for show. Waves crashing on the beach could be heard from speakers overhead. The restaurant was mostly empty and it was obvious why. Tonight we are off to the ballet to see Balanchine's Apollo.

Tea Time

2010-11-10T15:33:00.001+02:00

After our stroll we had tea at our hotel. The blinis and scones were yummy!

Onion Domes

2010-11-10T15:31:00.000+02:00

We came upon this church with the most magnificent 3-D onion domes.

Wandering

2010-11-10T15:30:00.001+02:00

This afternoon Katy and I took a stroll around our neighborhood hoping to buy more fur. Instead we just wandered.

Disco Taxi

2010-11-09T20:53:00.001+02:00

After a very eventful dinner at Palkin we took a taxi back to our hotel on Monday. Our driver had a computer monitor set up and actually used his mouse to find just the right song for our ride. Apparently we inspired him to play Enigma. He also turned on a full spectrum disco light that turned behind our heads. I could not stop laughing the entire time.

Sent from my iPhone

Disco Taxi

2010-11-09T20:51:00.001+02:00

The Hermitage: Day 1

2010-11-09T15:56:00.000+02:00

We started off small at the Hermitage today. First off we couldn't find a map of the museum so we wandered a bit blindly through the Italian and Spanish galleries. The rooms are the most impressive for me so far. The excessively intricate molding overwhelms the eyes. If ever anyone thinks rococo French design over the top, they haven't seen Russia's version.

Fur shopping

2010-11-08T15:39:00.000+02:00

We went fur shopping today and I bought a hat and stole. Can't wait to wear it!

Lunch in St P

2010-11-08T15:37:00.001+02:00

We had a super yummy lunch today on Nevsky Prospect. We both got borsch soup, a big mushroom blini, and Baltika beer. The menu was in Russian and no one spoke English but with our minuscule vocabulary we were able to get some good food. It all cost about $8 so I hope this balances out our super fancy dinners!

St Petersburg

2010-11-08T12:07:00.001+02:00

This is the canal in front of our hotel. St P is like Paris and Florence on steroids. All the buildings are brightly painted, perfectly restored, and very uniform in exuberance.

St Petersburg

2010-11-08T12:00:00.001+02:00

The Hermitage is closed today but Katy and I walked by since it's so close to our hotel. This though is a view away from the winter palace.

Kremlin Church

2010-11-06T17:49:00.000+02:00

Mary and Jesus under a cold sky.

Ready For Church

2010-11-06T17:45:00.001+02:00

This is me respectfully covering my head for a very cold morning of visiting orthodox churches.

Contemporary Russian Art

2010-11-06T17:42:00.000+02:00

Quite the looker, she is. Perhaps Russians are finally over pretty women.

The Kremlin

2010-11-06T16:54:00.000+02:00

Katy and I finally made it all through the Kremlin today after a fun night out with American expat friends. We saw tiny, compact orthodox churches with ancient frescos and icons. We saw diamonds and jewels galore from the czars and the church. Then we went to an exhibition about The Lithuanian "Monsters" of photography (one of whom is a family friend) and walked around two gallery districts in Moscow. All in all a very fun, full day of ancient and contemporary art in Moscow. Tomorrow we take the train to St Petersburg.

Vodka

2010-11-04T22:04:00.000+02:00

Katy and I are getting very good at sipping vodka.

Cafe Pushkin

2010-11-04T22:03:00.000+02:00

Katy and I had dinner at Cafe Pushkin tonight. It's a gorgeous old restaurant in a Renaissance style building. Katy ordered pork trotters and she got an actual hoof delivered to the table. Everything was lovely and the food was yummy Russian peasant food done up fancy. My favorite!