well, first off, let me say...it ain't easy. but not for reasons one might think. it's not the foods...it's crazy stove and crazy oven that are giving me fits. sure i have a double oven...but only one actually bakes anything. and the other one, upon it's choosing, blows a breaker. even though it isn't actually baking anything in the first place. the top oven, which we will call my good oven, is the only one i use. however, i discovered today that it leans to the front. my sheet cake dripped all over the front of the oven. which brings me to the sheet cake. oh. my. when we moved i wasn't sure that i could get all of the ingredients for the recipes in my pioneer woman cookbook. but hallelujah, i had all the ingredients for her sheet cake. with every taste, every child said, "oh. my. goodness." in a good way. it wasn't pretty...thanks to the leaning oven of swaziland, but it was good. very good.
everyday i try to make something new. i figure, eventually, someone will come see me...and when they do, i want to be able to make them something yummy. every meal i ask the family if this is something we could serve guests? indian tacos-yes. mediterranean chicken-no. pancakes-yes. spaghetti with homemade sauce-no. it's a little game we play that gets me super defensive and usually stirs up quite a fight. randy has tried to remain neutral, but hudson hasn't learned to keep his mouth shut. there are some things it takes men a lifetime to learn. or at least through their teenage years.....
anyway, i got a little side tracked. my other cooking obstacle is the stove. the stove that only has 2 working burners. oh sure, the others look like they are on...glowing bright red they are, but there will be no heating of my food. the two burners that do work...only cook on high. it's fantastic. not really. but i shall survive.
i have tried 4 different recipes for tortillas. each time i end up with something more the thickness of a pancake. oddly enough, my pancakes are as thin as normal tortillas. however, as previously noted, they taste very, very, good. back to my tortillas....i think i'm too weak to roll them out properly. maybe randy is right, maybe i need to do push ups. i don't have time to do push ups, what with all my running and all... ok, so i have done absolutely no physical activity whatsoever since we got here....besides cooking. which i'm pretty sure does not count. well, the kids bought a trampoline, and i did jump on it a few days. i even did a no hands flip...which hudson said i botched. i don't think it matters how you land when you can still do a hands free flip at 35 after having 4 children and your equilibrium getting all screwed up in childbirth. at least i think that is how it happens. before kids-not sick on amusement park rides. after kids-sick on amusement park rides. do you know that the kids didn't even have the decency to tell randy of my amazing no handed flip feat?!?! the one thing i ask them to tell their father...
The Good Life
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
the "grocery" store....
shopping here has not been so bad. the local pick and pay has many items to choose from. and when they don't have it, you hope for the best and walk on down to woolworths. woolworths is an interesting store with a wide variety of items. when i say wide, i am talking more by the fact that they carry both men's pajamas and ice cream....not that they carry a lot of items, they don't. it's no super target. but i cannot complain. the weird thing that strikes me every time i am in woolworths, is the music they play. it reminds me of the music i heard in an elevator of a hotel i once stayed in las vegas. an upbeat oceans 11 theme of sorts. i feel weird, like i'm suppose to walk quickly, spend lots of money and speak with a british accent. i don't know why, but the music does it to me. i keep asking randy if he feels the same way about the music, he says he hasn't even noticed the music. what?!?! how can you not notice the need to become an entirely different person just by entering into this store? anyway, as soon as i walk out, the feeling goes away, and i realize it's JUST PEPPERS that i purchased, and i am indeed still in africa. sometimes it hits me before i get into the wrong side of the vehicle, sometimes it hits me after.
where it gets a little different than home, is the grocery cart. very few people use the big carts that we use in the states. in the states it's very common to see someone pushing around a cart with food heaping over the sides. sure most of those people were buying food for a restaurant and i was buying for one week of feeding a single family, but still, i did not feel odd. here, everyone shops around with a small basket, or a mini buggy with 2 small baskets on it. they look at you strange when you buy so many groceries at one time. and they seem a bit annoyed that you are taking up so much aisle space. last week i tried to use the little buggy with 2 baskets. by the time i got to the last aisle, both of my mini buggy baskets were running over, i had had to shove stuff under the bottom basket between it and the wheel, and i was carrying toilette paper for 6, diapers, and paper towels under my arms. sometimes you just can't blend in with the locals...try as one might... i shall never mini buggy again. not unless i plan on going to the store twice a day, everyday, from now till we stop eating...
where it gets a little different than home, is the grocery cart. very few people use the big carts that we use in the states. in the states it's very common to see someone pushing around a cart with food heaping over the sides. sure most of those people were buying food for a restaurant and i was buying for one week of feeding a single family, but still, i did not feel odd. here, everyone shops around with a small basket, or a mini buggy with 2 small baskets on it. they look at you strange when you buy so many groceries at one time. and they seem a bit annoyed that you are taking up so much aisle space. last week i tried to use the little buggy with 2 baskets. by the time i got to the last aisle, both of my mini buggy baskets were running over, i had had to shove stuff under the bottom basket between it and the wheel, and i was carrying toilette paper for 6, diapers, and paper towels under my arms. sometimes you just can't blend in with the locals...try as one might... i shall never mini buggy again. not unless i plan on going to the store twice a day, everyday, from now till we stop eating...
Thursday, June 23, 2011
oh, where to start...
on may 23rd we packed up the rest of what could fit into the containers that we had left. we had made a personal commitment to not buy any more containers, as it was getting a bit ridiculous, and so as we got to the end it became clear we weren't going to be able to take the lantern. yes, we left our lantern. let it be noted that on june 17th, the electricity was out for a very long time here in swaziland, and we wished we had replaced some of the brownie mix with the lantern.... anyway, we finished up the very last bits of packing, said our good byes to randy's parents, my sister, her children, and my grandparents. those moments in time are meant for a much more sad blog. *sigh* so anyway, we put everything we had on the trailer, and off we went to the airport. we had such favor as we checked in our luggage. it went incredibly smooth, and quickly, too. all things considered. :) we got something to eat, and then we boarded. my parents were kind enough to come with us to swaziland. not permanently, but long enough to help us get settled in, and to help with the trip. THANK YOU! i'm not sure we would have all made it without them.
as the plane took off i told ella to say, "good-bye to america." she waved....
we landed in london 8 hours later.
we were blessed that the flight wasn't very full, and everyone was able to stretch out a lot. most of us got enough sleep, and so the london excursion that i forced everyone to endure was less of a beating. we took the tube around the city and we did it with a double stroller. the tube, and most of its entrances and exits, are not created for a double stroller...not to mention, 2 carry ons, 3 back packs, 2 toddlers, 2 purses full of things that could not fit into the carry ons, 2 blankies, 4 pacifiers...in case one of them lost one, and the london "treasures" that olivia felt compelled to purchase...which included, but was not limited to, a poster that could not be bent or folded. now when i say that the tube was not meant for a double stroller, it's not because it's not big enough. there was plenty of room....once we were on. unfortunately, there are no elevators, so we, and when i say we, i mean randy, had to carry the stroller up or down 2, 3, 4 flights of stairs and usually some unbelievably steep escalator. i would post a picture, but none of us had hands to take a picture with. well, i might could have taken a picture while carrying ella, my purse, and 3 back packs, but my camera battery was dead. yes, i was in london with a dead camera battery. i had planned ahead and put batteries in my purse in case such an incident took place....unfortunately, i didn't remember that until i got to africa. hudson made a video of our london trip...he made it look like we had a good time. that's all that matters really. we laughed a lot. we yelled from time to time. we gave each other dirty looks. we wondered why on earth dezra would make us take on such an adventurous feat with 4 kids in tow. we finally made it back to the airport. i don't know if i ever want to see london again. pretty sure i don't.
our flight to johannesburg was delayed. so we took naps. and then we boarded the plane. being blessed yet again, the flight had almost no one on it. i had 8 seats in all at my disposal. but i also had ella...which meant not much sleep. it could have been worse. at least she was quiet. and so everyone on board didn't hate me the next morning.
when we got to johannesburg, the trailer we had rented was the size of my dining room table. we had asked for the biggest one they had, but that clearly meant nothing to them on this particular morning. God preformed a few miracles, and we were able to get all of our belongings to swaziland. all 40 pieces of luggage. only one serving dish, from target, was broken. everything else was exactly how we packed it. we made it to our new home on the evening of may 25th, to the welcoming claps of the missionaries that were already on the ground here. and that was our trip from allen to ezulwini...at least i think that's how you spell it....
as the plane took off i told ella to say, "good-bye to america." she waved....
we landed in london 8 hours later.
we were blessed that the flight wasn't very full, and everyone was able to stretch out a lot. most of us got enough sleep, and so the london excursion that i forced everyone to endure was less of a beating. we took the tube around the city and we did it with a double stroller. the tube, and most of its entrances and exits, are not created for a double stroller...not to mention, 2 carry ons, 3 back packs, 2 toddlers, 2 purses full of things that could not fit into the carry ons, 2 blankies, 4 pacifiers...in case one of them lost one, and the london "treasures" that olivia felt compelled to purchase...which included, but was not limited to, a poster that could not be bent or folded. now when i say that the tube was not meant for a double stroller, it's not because it's not big enough. there was plenty of room....once we were on. unfortunately, there are no elevators, so we, and when i say we, i mean randy, had to carry the stroller up or down 2, 3, 4 flights of stairs and usually some unbelievably steep escalator. i would post a picture, but none of us had hands to take a picture with. well, i might could have taken a picture while carrying ella, my purse, and 3 back packs, but my camera battery was dead. yes, i was in london with a dead camera battery. i had planned ahead and put batteries in my purse in case such an incident took place....unfortunately, i didn't remember that until i got to africa. hudson made a video of our london trip...he made it look like we had a good time. that's all that matters really. we laughed a lot. we yelled from time to time. we gave each other dirty looks. we wondered why on earth dezra would make us take on such an adventurous feat with 4 kids in tow. we finally made it back to the airport. i don't know if i ever want to see london again. pretty sure i don't.
our flight to johannesburg was delayed. so we took naps. and then we boarded the plane. being blessed yet again, the flight had almost no one on it. i had 8 seats in all at my disposal. but i also had ella...which meant not much sleep. it could have been worse. at least she was quiet. and so everyone on board didn't hate me the next morning.
when we got to johannesburg, the trailer we had rented was the size of my dining room table. we had asked for the biggest one they had, but that clearly meant nothing to them on this particular morning. God preformed a few miracles, and we were able to get all of our belongings to swaziland. all 40 pieces of luggage. only one serving dish, from target, was broken. everything else was exactly how we packed it. we made it to our new home on the evening of may 25th, to the welcoming claps of the missionaries that were already on the ground here. and that was our trip from allen to ezulwini...at least i think that's how you spell it....
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