Sunday, March 12, 2006
The new apartment and avacado ice cream
We have Novidades! There´s been a lot of interesting things going on lately- for starters, we´re pretty sure that we will be able to move into our new apartment on time- probobly this thursday. They´ve started working on it this saturday; we went over to see what was going on, and there were 6 people working construction and my pedagogical director (a good guy who´s the 12th grade bio teacher too) was there to control the situation. They´re doing a lot of work to this place, like putting mosquitoe nets over the balconies, windows, putting new doors on, painting, re-tiling the kitchen, putting cement on the floor, adding a new toilet, getting furniture, etc. So we´re really excited to see what it´ll look like when its done. During the day we could appreciate the view more too- it looks out towards the bay, although because it´s low it´s not a perfect view, but still a lot cooler than our current apartment´s! Eli says the balcony is the best part.
While we were there we noticed that the stairwell was a little wet, but also, curiously, pretty well lit, especially considering that Moçambican stairwells don´t have lights... so we went up another floor and looked up into the bright blue afternoon sky. So, the stairwell is open to the air, and I´m still not sure if that´s a feature or a defect. Apparently the roof blew off during a cyclone in ´93, and it´s never been repaired. They added a little cement ´patio´ in front of our door (it extends really far out into the hall, and I feel bad, like someone is going to trip over it) in order to keep water from getting into our house when it rains! I can just imagine water pouring down the stairwells like a water fall.
Eli says that it won´t be a problem because it hardly ever rains here in Nacala- and right now is technically the rainny season! As for the water situation- we actually have had running water for the last few days, although I don´t know how much longer that will last. The new house will also have running water (well, theoretically...) and indoor plumbing, and the school will get us some water tanks to keep in the house.
As for how trash removal works here... we just keep our trash in a bucket, which we empty every day or two in the local trash pit, which is the street, and it´s cleaned 3-4 times a week. Nacala is actually a really clean city, compared to other places we´ve been.
This weekend we had a school meeting where we learned that in 1 week (starting on the 20th), we have to give final exams (the ACP)! We´ve only had about 4 weeks of school so far, and we just recently gave tests to our classes. After the ACP, which is a whole week of testing and no classes, we will have 2 more weeks of class, and then a break. Although most likely students aren´t going to be comming to all these classes since the final exam will already be done...
Eli and I are really looking forward to cooking tonight... we just bought 4 lobsters (1 enormous, 1 normal, and 2 smalls, all for $10) and we´re going to be grilling the big daddy over an open flame tonight. Our neighbors helped us to prepare and marinade it, so it should be good! This big one is about 16 inches from head to tail, not counting appendages.
Since we´re moving so soon we´re trying to use up our extra energy (power here is pre-paid) so the other night I slept with a fan directly beside me and the AC on :-) Very nice. Surprised that we have AC? We´ve only just started using it, but this apartment is like an old luxery apartment, it has a lot of nice features. Also, the AC doesn´t work too well because one of our windows is broke (no glass, only a mosquitoe net), so its kind of wastefull. To use it now we cover it with a curtain.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the other day I made what will be the first of many batches of Avacado Ice Cream :-) Basically it´s just sweatened condensed milk and avacado, frozen, but its really good- if you can get over the funky green texture.
P.S. To answer some of Janet´s questions about family structure, etc. we´ll need to use a whole new blog entry, since it´s fairly complex here- matrilineal society- but we will get to it!
Hope everyone´s doing well, please keep sending us messages. Also recipies for cookies, shrimp and fish dishes are welcome. Thanks!
While we were there we noticed that the stairwell was a little wet, but also, curiously, pretty well lit, especially considering that Moçambican stairwells don´t have lights... so we went up another floor and looked up into the bright blue afternoon sky. So, the stairwell is open to the air, and I´m still not sure if that´s a feature or a defect. Apparently the roof blew off during a cyclone in ´93, and it´s never been repaired. They added a little cement ´patio´ in front of our door (it extends really far out into the hall, and I feel bad, like someone is going to trip over it) in order to keep water from getting into our house when it rains! I can just imagine water pouring down the stairwells like a water fall.
Eli says that it won´t be a problem because it hardly ever rains here in Nacala- and right now is technically the rainny season! As for the water situation- we actually have had running water for the last few days, although I don´t know how much longer that will last. The new house will also have running water (well, theoretically...) and indoor plumbing, and the school will get us some water tanks to keep in the house.
As for how trash removal works here... we just keep our trash in a bucket, which we empty every day or two in the local trash pit, which is the street, and it´s cleaned 3-4 times a week. Nacala is actually a really clean city, compared to other places we´ve been.
This weekend we had a school meeting where we learned that in 1 week (starting on the 20th), we have to give final exams (the ACP)! We´ve only had about 4 weeks of school so far, and we just recently gave tests to our classes. After the ACP, which is a whole week of testing and no classes, we will have 2 more weeks of class, and then a break. Although most likely students aren´t going to be comming to all these classes since the final exam will already be done...
Eli and I are really looking forward to cooking tonight... we just bought 4 lobsters (1 enormous, 1 normal, and 2 smalls, all for $10) and we´re going to be grilling the big daddy over an open flame tonight. Our neighbors helped us to prepare and marinade it, so it should be good! This big one is about 16 inches from head to tail, not counting appendages.
Since we´re moving so soon we´re trying to use up our extra energy (power here is pre-paid) so the other night I slept with a fan directly beside me and the AC on :-) Very nice. Surprised that we have AC? We´ve only just started using it, but this apartment is like an old luxery apartment, it has a lot of nice features. Also, the AC doesn´t work too well because one of our windows is broke (no glass, only a mosquitoe net), so its kind of wastefull. To use it now we cover it with a curtain.
Lastly, but certainly not least, the other day I made what will be the first of many batches of Avacado Ice Cream :-) Basically it´s just sweatened condensed milk and avacado, frozen, but its really good- if you can get over the funky green texture.
P.S. To answer some of Janet´s questions about family structure, etc. we´ll need to use a whole new blog entry, since it´s fairly complex here- matrilineal society- but we will get to it!
Hope everyone´s doing well, please keep sending us messages. Also recipies for cookies, shrimp and fish dishes are welcome. Thanks!
# posted by Paul and Eli @ 7:51 AM 
