On the road...

Here is a random gathering of photos... pictures taken on the road...

One of our fearless drivers- Beu (B-eh-oh)

The other fearless driver, Ze

Driving in to...you guessed it, Lubango!

Scowling in the front seat, probably because I'm trying not to toss my cookies, and also because my anxiety level was sky high

We saw so many cows on the road....SOOOO many!

The view from the road heading up to our campsite in Lobito

Pile of rocks on the road to Lobito

On the first day, snacks on the road- we were eating my bagels actually!

Unnerving sights on the road

Another shot

Taking a well deserved break

More cows- I'm telling you there were so many!

We had to slow to a stop sometimes while the dang cows got out of the way. And yeah, finally on about day 7 of the trip, the blue car hit a cow. Luckily, while the cow did shit itself (and leave it on the car) and leave a big dent in the side of the car, it walked away unharmed, as did all of us.

A beautiful sunset...on the road...

Again... this was in the desert (as was the last one)

Between the cities of Lubango and Namibe come this famous stretch of road- pretty to look at, a little bit scary to drive!

There's the whole thing!

A waterfall just off the side of that road

The road winds along further than you think!

Me, by the road, not sure how I feel about it!

The waterfall again

Can you get enough of that road?!?

Here is what is going on...

I wanted to post about this trip day by day, but because of the 200+ photos that it would be impossible for me to upload in the right order, I am posting about this trip by event or topic. So far, I've at least partially completed three parts (The Oasis, The Desert, and Women with things on their heads). I am pooped from just getting these three up- and it's taken me most of the evening, just because of the photos. So, tomorrow, I will post more, and I warn, I might add to already posted info. So, until I officially declare this trip blogged about, you might want to keep checking what's already there- or, if you dare, just wait til it's all up, and then read the whole thing at once. I wouldn't be able to do that though! :)

The Oasis

I think the name of this oasis was translated as Two Arches. This oasis was in the middle of the desert that we reached towards the end of our trip. It's unfortunate that there is no easy way for me to post all of these pictures in some normal order- but, if you go down to the post about the desert, and picture all that sand and sky all around, that is what we were driving through, when we came upon this:

Well, actually, we drove our cars in as far as we could, and then we had to walk in the rest of the way. It was hot.

Us, at the oasis.

Joel on top of a big jutting rock. Actually, the local guy who "guided" us out to this spot was nervous about Joel getting up there, because he said that it just looks like rock, it's really just solid sand. We later sat under an overhang like this to enjoy the shade and SP, one of our fellow travelers commented, "Well, this overhang has probably been here for, hmm, 10,000 years? Let's hope it lasts another 10 minutes while we rest."

One of the arches?

It was a winding path we followed and the glimpses of what was ahead were amazing.

Joel on those rocks again.

Another view of the lake.

Definitely an arch.

It's SO green compared to the absolute blue and brown-ness of the desert.

These are the houses of the people who live on one side of the oasis. They "watched our cars" while we walked in- which translates as, if you give us money, we won't steal anything. And one of them guided us in- which basically means he walked ahead of us on the path and later asked for money. Of course, we're happy to give these people some money. And actually, the guide did tell us a little bit about the place.

The oasis was so green- and it was over-run with wild cherry tomato plants. It was very clear what a large part of the local diet was.

Another shot of the tomatoes. I couldn't get them very obviously, but if you look closely, you can see there are tons. The guide told us that the locals eat what they grow, and that they eat a mostly vegetarian diet- they only eat meat when there is a big party. We saw an area that was obviously a planted crop- we were told they were sweet potatoes. Yum.

These things grew all over as well. I'm not sure what they are- someone thought they were gooseberries. They reminded me of these.

I didn't mess with em though, so I have no idea what was hiding inside these beautiful lantern looking like pods.

Women carrying things on their heads

African women are amazing. They must all have amazing balance, and strong necks and backs, and well, just be in great shape. So, a look at the kinds of things they carry on their heads... (pictures taken all along the trip...)

Looks like laundry in this one. Notice also, baby strapped to back. I'm so gonna do that.

Pasta for sale.

Very large, heavy metal gas can. Amazing.

Wooden crafts for sale.

Miscellaneous items in tubs. You see LOTS of women with these. Notice these women have babies in front- it probably means they are feeding. They just flip em from back to front when they need to- and there is no modesty about the boob being out. In some areas, we did see women simply topless.

The Desert

We visited the desert at the geographic end of our trip- what I mean is- our trip took us from Luanda south through several different cities... Tumbwa, where the desert was, was the southern most point we got to. So, to me it feels like the "end" of the trip, even though we still had a couple of days coming back up north after we did this.

Anyway, we got a guide to drive us out into the desert. A few of us, I think understandably, were very excited to see "THE desert". It's not every day that you get to see pure sand and blue sky stretching as far as you can see. Here you can see, just before we head off, letting some air out of the tires- which apparently you need to do to be able to drive in the desert.

Here we are in the back of the car. I am definitely clutching both Joel's leg and the "oh-shit" handle. I'm smiling, but, on the inside I was getting sick and having an anxiety attack. I found out on this trip (long before we hit the desert) that I don't do well off-roading, or driving on roads that require 4 wheel drive. I ended up taking Valium to calm myself and try to stave off the sickness...

THE desert (emphasis on the THE, as is, not just the desert but THEE desert)

The desert, funny as it may sound, actually borders the ocean. This was one of the shipwrecks that could be seen there.

It was late afternoon, and the sun over the ocean was beautiful.

These people were just walking in the desert. It was unbelievable to us- there was nothing around for MILES, and they are just walking. This is their life. Obviously, they were exited to see us.

Very near the ocean we passed these dwellings. Fisherman and their families live here. The men fish all day. The women spend all day walking to town to sell the fish, and buy water, and then come back again. This is what they do, day in and day out, every day. It is REALLY windy out there, and these dwellings were made mostly out of sticks and random pieces of cloth and other materials patched together.

More houses...Me, in the desert.

Our guide took us to a part of the desert where there were massive deposits of shells. He told us they were probably deposited there thousands of years ago. If you were lucky, you could find two halves that made a whole. That is why these two are looking so intently. :)

The lot of us, our cars, checking out shells and enjoying the sunshine.

Did I mention it was windy? When the wind blows the sand it really stings against your skin as well. So I was all wrapped up. I can understand now, why desert dwellers dress the way they do.

On the way home...it was awesome.

We're back.

We're safe and sound- unscathed. I'm really looking forward to posting about our 9 day camping trip, with lots of pictures included- but it's going to take me a few days to get that together. So I just wanted to let you all know, we're back. We're ok. We had a great time. We had adventures, a lot of time in a car, and more than one eye-opening, wonderfully Africa-revealing experience. More to come soon!

Mmmm...

Look at my wonderful bagels! :) I made these last night.

I tried to post these pictures last night and it wouldn't work, which was really darn annoying! Anyway, at least it worked now.

They are mostly white, but slightly whole wheat (because I ran out of white flour!), and half of them have an "everything" topping (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and garlic flakes- I am missing course salt, unfortunately) and half are just plain.

I have to thank Joel's friend Kez for sending me the recipe. I love bagels, and I know I always thought they were impossible to make. A friend commented on the fact that I made them by saying, "Mara, I so totally cannot believe that you MADE bagels. Seriously. For me it's like, "Some people are lucky enough to have a bagel tree in their yard..." I can't imagine baking them." I definitely used to share her sentiments. It's one of those silly things, but I never thought bagels were something you could make at home. :) Ha ha. So, I am thankful to him for exposing me to what it takes to make a bagel- not that hard actually! :) Now, I just need to figure out how to get that really shiny, rounded finish on them- maybe that has to do with not having been able to make pure white flour ones, but I don't think so. There is something I can change that will produce a prettier end product- you can count on me to try to figure it out. :)

Now to end on a cute note...

I received an email from a colleague last night. Attached was this picture- taken at the beach last weekend.

Her text said, "Here is the picture of you and (my child). You look so ready to have children."

How right she is!




Now, Joel and I and three other couples from our school are off on a 9 day road trip around Angola starting Friday, so don't expect any new posts for another week. Yeah, that's right- I'm not going to be on the computer for more than a week! Yikes! :) I'll be back with loads of pictures I'm sure when we return. :)

On working out...

I've been working out... what feels like a lot. To the left you can see my sticker chart (yes, I *am* an EC teacher!). As you can see, for every time I work out, I get a sticker. Once I get 10 stickers, I get a reward, which I choose before I start earning stickers.

So, as you can see, since I started (about a month ago?) I've worked out 20 times. The first 5 or 6 stickers took me almost two weeks to earn, but the second 10 only took a week and a half, as I adjusted to working out so much, that I started going almost every day. My first prize was a pan, and my second (yet to be redeemed) is a manicure. I'm considering making the third prize a pedicure, and going for two prizes at once.

So I feel good that I am working out. When I go, I do at least 40 minutes of working out. I do 4 different machines for 10 minutes each- stair master, rowing machine, elliptical and treadmill. I always do the treadmill last because I do my ten minutes at a high pace carrying hand weights, and then I cool down on there for 5 minutes or so at a slower pace. I also stop at some point and do a headstand. I hate doing sit ups or crunches or any other direct ab exercises. Standing on your head might not seem like a direct route to strong abs, but, if you do it right, it takes A LOT of power in your core- so I do it. For some reason (there probably is one) I really like being upside down. Headstands are my favorite.

I chose to do 4 machines for 10 minutes each because a super-fit and into learning and reading about being fit colleague of mine told me that your body burns the most calories in the first 5 minutes of a particular exercise. Since my aim is definitely to burn calories and take off the pounds, I was happy to do this "keeping my body on it's toes" kind of exercise. (I think that is the idea behind the switching it up thing... your body doesn't know what is happening, and keeps having to adjust for a new exercise, therefore exerting big effort.) But I also choose to do weight bearing cardio (like the rowing machine, and carrying weights while walking) to add in some extra muscle work.

So, it's been a month or so- twenty good workouts at least. I have noticed progress. When I first started working out, I was running at a pace of 15.something on the elliptical. These days, I average a 16.5-17.something. On the rowing machine, I was rowing at a pace of 550 calories/min, and now, I row at a pace of 650-700+ calories/min (ha ha ha! Did you notice my typo? calories/MIN! I WISH I could burn 600 calories in a minute! That was supposed to say calories/hour- but I'm just going to leave the typo in, cause I think it's funny!). On the stair master, I have tried harder programs at higher levels and done well, where before, I about died on the random at level 2. So yeah, I see the progress. I LOVE glancing at my arms while I do the rowing machine. I love seeing the muscle definition as I pull back. And the way I feel all the muscles along my sides in that same motion is so cool. I picture slim, spare-tire free curves somewhere in the future.

But then, here is the thing, even though I have seen all this progress- the two times I have stepped on a scale, there has been absolutely no difference. My pants, shirts, swim suits, etc, fit no differently than they did a month ago. Naked, I don't see any difference.

I have calculated that I am burning at least 300 (but possibly as much as 400) calories per workout. 300 calories per workout- 5 workouts per week- that's 1500 calories. Surely, in a months time, I would have seen a pound come off at least, no?

So, here's the thing with working out and me... I don't really enjoy it. I don't despise it, but, yeah, it's not like I sit around during school hours daydreaming of being able to get into the gym. Once I get there, I generally get into it, and before I know it, I've been in the gym an hour (between changing machines, stretching and that head standing...). And I do it because I know that it is good for me. Because I know that when I am exercising regularly, I sleep better, feel better, even poop better (it's true!).

But why is it that the ONE result I would like to see, just doesn't come up? I suppose it really, really is true that weight loss has to include a change to your exercise and eating habits? I don't know... I keep trying not to be disheartened. It's fun earning rewards for working out. Sometimes when I come home from the gym and catch a glimpse of my same-looking-self in the mirror I say to Joel, "Tell me what I'm doing is making a difference. Tell me it's worth something." And he does. And he gives me a kiss, and as usual, he tells me to chill out. He tells me to stop thinking about it. Ahh... if only it were that easy. (He'll look good in his board shorts pool side for our wedding week regardless...)

So, in my last post, I ended with the question, "Why did you have em?" And now I end with, "What's it going to take?"

All in a weekend's baking...

I finally got around to finding *most* of the ingredients to one of maybe the two desserts that Joel actually likes. I have to thank my future SIL Mook for suggesting that I make it. The dessert in question is Caramel Slice, and this was the recipe I used, except that I didn't have brown sugar or golden syrup, so I used white sugar and honey. You can see the three distinct layers of crust, caramel and chocolate. Yummy! The good news is that Joel really liked it too. The one criticism was that the caramel layer wasn't thick enough. I actually agreed, but, that is just the way it came out by following the recipe exactly. If I made it again, I would use more condensed milk.

Just last weekend a neighbor came by and offered us pieces of Lemon Slice (it was very nice!). I'm just left wondering how it came to be that Australians call these things slices, and Americans would call them bars (caramel bars, lemon bars, etc). Neither is a superior descriptor I suppose- just different. One of those things...

Anyway, I baked that Caramel Slice on Saturday night... and today, on Sunday, I had another go at the bread. My problem until now with the bread had been that it wasn't rising enough. I was following all directions exactly, the problem was because I had never watched anyone make bread (as an adult), I didn't have a feel for it. When the recipe said, "The bread should be sticky, but not too sticky" I didn't know what that meant! So, today, I asked a friend and colleague who is a veteran bread baker to come around and just walk me through it. I used the same recipe I had used before, that has a great taste, but as I said, just didn't rise. It turns out the problem might have been that I wasn't kneading the dough quite long enough- and maybe wasn't using quite the right amount of flour. Anyway... Joel wanted big bread... so let me present!

Isn't it pretty?!?

Just to show you how big this loaf is (Joel called it gigantor) I put a normal sized coffee mug next to it... see how it towers over?! I love it! :)

I haven't tried it yet, but, I expect it will be deeeeelish. :)

The reasons....

My cousin Liene asked for her readers to post questions for her to answer on her blog. I posted her the question, "What are the (10) things that make your life so good, that you could die tomorrow, and it would have all been enough?" I realize this is a big question, and therefore decided to not only pose the question, but to take it on myself. It's never a bad time to look on the bright side.

So, these are the reasons I could die tomorrow, and it would all have been enough- not the reasons I'll be content when I die an old woman, because I'm sure they will change. I asked Liene for 10 reasons- I'm not necessarily shooting for 10 myself (it was an arbitrary number) but I'll be very happy to hit 10! Also, these are listed in no particular order.

• I've loved. Deeply, honestly, truly. I know I said these were in no particular order, but actually, I think this reason is in its rightful place. Having loved (everyone I ever have loved) has surely been my greatest achievement and contribution to the world.
  
• I have touched the lives of at least 100 children that I have taught in my teaching career (that counts only the years I have been a paid teacher). There are so, so, so many tiny, virtually inconsequential ways that teachers affect their students every day- except when that tiny thing actually makes a big difference in one child's life on one day. As someone eloquent once said, "I do it because of one child."
• I have traveled and seen the world. Scenarios/people/places/events that I at one point could not have imagined, I have seen with my own eyes, experienced with my own body and soul.
  
• A program I once participated in encouraged its participants to push themselves through the "eye of the needle" and come out the other side a changed person. I have done this- when I left home, relatively young, and certainly naive in some respects, to live in PR China I took on a journey that I could not even fathom. But here I am- out the other side- better, worse? Different, changed. But still me. :)
  
• I have, and continue to, explore, question, and experience my spirituality. I have traveled deeply into this through yoga, which has transformed my life.
  
• Because I value education, I am extremely proud of myself for earning a Masters degree. I surprise myself in realizing that there is some desire somewhere inside of me to earn a Doctorate degree.
  
• I have dreams. I have not achieved all that I want in life. I have LOTS to live for, to strive for. That means I have passion for life.
  
• I strive to live authentically, making choices that align with my values and ethics. I am not perfect, and I am willing to admit that, but I can say that I am comfortable with the choices I make on a daily basis.

It's getting late, and I'm up to 8 reasons... I'll sleep on two more and be back with you if I come up with em.