Homeland Affairs

We know we've been promising videos of the house, but our cameras and bandwidth just aren't up to it. Instead, we're producing some poorly stitched panoramics of each room. Here are the first three, with apologies for the "Picasso Effect".

Foyer

Kitchen

Living room

We're going more and more native on a daily basis. Behold Russell, our new electric kettle. Much more efficient than the stove (=less blinking of that red light on the meter). This puppy can boil 8cups of water in 90 seconds flat. Kelsey is in love. Saffers will boil water in this, then add it to a pot on the stove where they use it to cook pasta. Thanks for the tip, Cornel!

Until Kelsey gets a job, we'll just have to settle for the hired help we can afford...

Here are our costumes from the department Christmas/grad student going away party. The theme was "South Africa". Kelsey was the box of buttermilk rusks on the right, I was a box of custard.

Cooking:

We've been playing around with local chow. Below is a picture of our Bobotie recipe, basically a curried meatloaf with eggs on top.

And these are Marina's rusks, our favorite local brand of dryyyyyyyyyy cookie. They go with everything, and never get moldy.

Unlike the USA, Mexicans are hard to find here. There's a local company called "Banditos," which brands itself as being "South of Mexico." In our opinion it's somewhere south of "bunk". Instead, we've been making our own tortillas and refried beans, thanks to recipes from our favorite Mexican, Tyler Faith.

(Those are refrieds, not dogfrieds)


Kelsey has also discovered Litchis, a small fruit that satiates her love of berries.

Here's how to eat them:

And finally, what would life be without daal?

Puppy Update

It's been an eventful couple of weeks in the lives of the dogs. They're now 13 weeks, a whopping 25 pounds each (give or take), and fully inoculated, so we've started taking walks in the puppy park and taking puppy classes. The classes required us to join the Johannesburg Doberman Club (which accepts all breeds as far as we know). 

The dogs have been experimenting with fine backyard cuisine. Midas has been eating gravel, which he generally throws up at ~2am (one time he barfed up 11 stones). Kelsey has now sprayed said gravel with a bitter substance that only seems to encourage vomiting, not discourage gravel eating. Mella, on the other hand, enjoys a fine mouthful of seasonal grass. Unfortunately, given the season, this contains bees. She got stung on the gums two weeks ago, which resulted in a nasty case of hives. We had to deliver a benadryl/cheese cocktail to reduce the swelling.

We recently had the house inspected by the insurance assessors, who told me all kinds of horrible ways people get burgled. Of course, this made me panic a little inside, and the very next day, while Kelsey was away, I came home to this:

Of course, I immediately thought someone had broken in and rifled through our belongings, but when I got to the bedroom, I found that Midas had broken out of his crate, gone bananas in the house, and somehow locked himself back in the bedroom.

Tyler, you've done an astute job of noticing that we've been giving the hounds ostrich bones to chew on. Eventually we'll have an ostrich skeleton which I can use to teach comparative anatomy. Here's Kelsey with two tibiae.

We have to use ostrich bones, because here is what they do to anything soft:

UPDATE:

It looks like Bushmeat II isn't going to make it.

Bathtime has been particularly fun, and particularly necessary as we've had a muddy spring and early summer.

Midas likes to sit on the stoep, and we often find him sitting gazing about, and it's just too cute to not go sit with him.

Finally, Merry Christmas from Midas and Mella! (They're wearing rosemary wreaths)

Back from the 'Berg!

While Jonah was home holding down the fort, I was "galavanting" around the Drakensberg picking sweet-smelling daisies. Literally. Though my 'field work' doesn't require sharp outfits (see below), 

it does require some sure-footedness....climbing rocks at high elevations yet again! It's Houstonia all over again...

This time, I was looking for Helichrysum odoratissimum...and was duped several times:

 not it.

Nope, not it either. Grrrr...

GOT IT! (we think...)

But really, what you want to hear about (read about) are the amazing views of the 'Berg and the ANIMALS I saw while there. Yes, all were wild and roaming, some ventured closer than I'd have liked, so sadly I did not get photos of the BABOONS! Next time, don't worry.

This little guy is a Vervet Monkey...sneaky and cute.

This gent is apparently the "ugliest" of SA's herbivores...also known as a Hartebeest. Quite comical, creatures.

The Majestic Eland

A cricket in the garden...WHAT??

Mike's Pass, where we off-roaded to collect plants...you can't see it here, but it's a steep 1000m drop to the right. Eek.

This is a view from the top of Mike's Pass, the Drakensberg are topped with basalt deposits that form these amazingly stark and angular cliffs.

This snake was first identified as a BLACK MAMBA! (those who saw me before I left know I was mortified of coming upon one in the field...). Thankfully, it turns out this slowly slithering snake was not dangerous, but a olive green constrictor. Whew.

This is the view from the room I stayed in...which was on a conservation estate. Yes, I said Estate. Lovely, hey?

The town, Emmaus, that we drove through on our way to Mike's Pass. This was a "big" town, as there was a hospital, which was currently under construction, so patients were just chillin' in the road.

And in case you were wondering, there are mud huts in Africa, just not in Joburg. Driving through this town was incredibly humbling, because we have so much (especially as an American). Honestly, being in Africa has taught me multiple valuable life lessons in just the short time I've been here. Below are photos of houses, yes houses, as we drove through the town. I couldn't help but snap a few photos for folks back home.

Yes, this tin outbuilding is someone's house.

Back to animals: the adorable Impalas (Rooibok--named so for their 3/4 red coat)

And my favorite fowl: THE GUINEA HENS! These guys were hilarious as they darted back and forth across the road and picked at bugs. lol

Oh yes, the cricket diversity is tremendous here...

So, apparently in Africa you can drink the water. Straight from the source. I am not kidding. It's some of the cleanest, most delicious water, ever. As a Northeasterner, I was beyond skeptical, but Glynis (my advisor) looked so trusting, that I gave it a shot. What's the worst that could happen? A little Montezuma's revenge? Nah, he's in Mexico, water is safe in Africa. So, yes, if you were wondering, I drank right from that waterfall. And I'm alive to tell about it, and no discernible aftermath (yet).

Helichrysum appendiculatum

I kind of wanted to work on this plant because it's so purty.

And, of course, I'm in Africa, so there must be a photo of a Protea. Wowza.

Here's where we collected on our last day. UNESCO World Heritage Site- check.

Please note what you aren't supposed to do here...(third from left on top...)

After each hard day of climbing and collecting plants, we retired to the stoepe (back patio) with a glass of wine or sherry to enjoy some sundowners of Cathedral Peak in the Drakensberg. This is some of what's in store for you when you come visit.

Holding down the fort

Kelsey's away in the field looking for Helichrysum odoratissimum, so I'm holding down the fort with the ruthless guard dogs. We'll post a full update when she returns, but in the meantime...

I picked up the car on Saturday (there's still some issues but in case the South African government is reading I will relay them later), which drives like a rocket. First thing I did was put Tom Petty in the CD player. Since the speed traps here are practically invisible - just people with cameras on lawnchairs that send you the ticket in the mail - I'm sure our "private bag" will soon be full of joyous traffic summons.

Since Kelsey left for the field it's been non-stop rain, so the dogs either refuse to go out and pee or go out and immediately roll around in the mud.

Finally, here are some more pictures of the dogs to keep you all occupied until we can post Kelsey's trip photos. Notice the typical pitbull sleeping postures: