The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate Cake I made for Matt's birthday - along with the delicious icing I just posted. I made two round cakes and layered them together with some icing and raspberry jam in the middle. MMMMM Good!

 

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe (Ever)

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder *

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water *

 

*I have learned that espresso powder or coffee makes an excellent addition to a chocolate anything recipe. It makes the flavor of the chocolate pop and so intense. I did not have espresso powder, and after some research learned that if a chocolate cake recipe calls for boiling water, cut out the espresso powder and in place of the boiling water use fresh brewed strong dark coffee. It accomplishes the same thing. Worked amazingly for me!

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring. (I used parchment paper).

 

2. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.

 

3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batte.

 

4. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.

 

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

 

6. Frost the case with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.

 

I put the cake in the fridge for a few hours and topped it with some maraschino cherries. So good!

 

Recipe credit: http://www.addapinch.com

 

Enjoy!

DELICIOUS Buttercream Frosting

I have decided to use this blog to keep track of some of the recipes that I've used here that I really like. This is a recipe for buttercream frosting that was amazingly tasty. When I made it I was short 1.5 cups of icing sugar, so I just used extra white granulated sugar. I also didn't have espresso powder - but I bet that would have made it even more amazing.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

 

 

Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe

 

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 cups butter, softened

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

5 cups confectioner's sugar

0.5 cups milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

0.5 teaspoon espresso powder

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

 

1. Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.

 

2. Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well combined.

 

3. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute. Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.

 

4. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.

 

5. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If it appears too wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner's sugar, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

 

Recipe credit : http://addapinch.com

 

So good on a chocolate cake! The guys raved about it when I made it for Matt's birthday!

Post-Malaria thoughts

I'm knocking on my forehead(you know, knock on wood) as I write this, hoping that the last couple of blood tests confirming I am Malaria free remain correct going forward. What an "adventure" as my dad put it when I called to tell my parents that I had contracted a bout of Malaria. An adventure, sure - if you count cycles of relentless sweats, pressure headaches, bone rattling uncontrollable chills, and oh so much heat on your list of to-do's. :)

Anyhow, as Lisa put it in her post I was the lucky host of P. falciparum (click here for the wiki link) Malaria parasites, contracted as best we can tell at the Tiki bar in camp in the last 21 days. Why me you ask? Because I was lazy with prevention, the blame lies solely with me. Like most expats that do a lot of time here you grow very comfortable with the fact that you have not contracted malaria in your time here. As we are not short term visitors, medically, it is inadvisable to continue taking anti-malarial drugs past 3 months and simply practice prevention through long pants, shoes, and spray during the ~1.5-2 hours a day that you are at risk (6PM-8PM) of bite. So wearing shorts, flip flops, and sitting outside during that time frame at the Tiki bar for the last 20 months on a regular basis it was really just a roll of the dice.

You see, Malaria isn't something that the mosquito acquires naturally as part of it's lifecycle. Mosquitoes actually have to bite someone else infected with Malaria and then bite you in order to infect you. The parasite itself actually lives in the saliva of the mosquito(yum) rather than the blood and is transferred with the initial bite. So to be infected you have to a)be out and about when the particular type of mosquito can be due to temperature/humidity b)be exposed and not wearing spray c)get bitten by the exact type of mosquito that can carry d)said mosquito must have bitten someone who was infected with Malaria within it's short 1 month lifespan e)within 2KM since they are only able to travel that far at a maximum during their lifespan. Add on top of that the fact that there have been no expat infections in the camp in months (I am one of 5 ever to get it from our expat community) and I won the Malaria lottery! Somehow I don't feel so lucky. Is this how the powerball winners feel? Hmm..

Anyway, treatment was pretty simple for those curious, I was admitted, tested, confirmed, and put on the following:

• 2 x daily x 3 days - 4x50mg Coartem (link)
• 2 x daily x 5 days - 1x50mg Doxycycline (link)
• Large amounts of oral & intra-muscular anti-inflammatories/pain killers to treat the symptoms (fever, headache, chills)
• Daily blood tests confirming organ function & parasite levels
• 12 x daily blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen level checks (these are fun at 2AM)
• Copious amounts of complaining to Lisa and milking every bit of sympathy I could (thanks dear)

Coartem is pretty neat, it's a combination of drugs that kills the parasite and the first approved by the FDA for use in the United States in '09. Very effective, quite "light" in terms of it's impact & side effects and actually tastes oddly like a fruit candy rather than the horrible tinny flavour of Doxycycline. Common side effects include Anorexia (SCORE!), death, and something else I didn't read. Kidding about the death bit.

Anyway, last blood test yesterday confirms I have no parasite levels in my blood. Minor symptoms including my current headache and temperature fluctuations are common for the next couple of weeks. Long term I can expect anything from full blown recurrence(low chance of that) to never having an issue again. I am told my immune system will actually actively kill P. Falciparum parasites should I be bitten again in the next ~4 months, but going to do my best to not test that theory.

Thanks to all for the love, support, and messages - they are definitely appreciated. Thanks also to Lisa for being totally awesome and sitting in my wonderful hospital room for 3 days whilst I enjoyed providing the utmost hospitality to Malaria.

Cliff's Notes:

• Had Malaria, it sucked
• Cured (hopefully)
• Am not a walking disease vector (for Malaria anyway)

More reading if you aren't suitably terrified:

1. WHO Malaria Fact Sheet
2. CDC Malaria Fact Sheet
3. Coartem fact sheet

Pineapple Upside Down Cake - make this now, it's amazing!

So being that I now have the time to experiment in the kitchen, and am trying all sorts of new things, I thought  would post the ones that I liked the best on here for the sake of not losing the recipes, and so you could give them a try.

I am not a huge fan of pineapple, but I planted pineapple plants in my garden a few weeks ago. Turns out that to plant those, all you do is chop the top off a pineapple and stick in the ground. This left me with 8 pineapples to do something with. I will share two of the recipes. This one was by far the most popular. Rave reviews from everyone at the potluck as well as people we have had over for dinner. So moist and delicious.

fresh market pineapple

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple (I used 20 ounce fresh chopped pineapple)
10 maraschino cherries, halved
1 cup sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1cup white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a 10 inch heavy skillet with a heat resistant handle, melt 1/2 cup butter or margarine over very low heat. Remove from heat, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pan. Arrange pineapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. Distribute cherries around pineapple; set aside.

3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

4. Separate the eggs into two bowls. In a large bowl, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and yellow. With a wire whisk or rubber scraper, using an over-and-under motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until blended. Fold in 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine and almond extract. Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet.

5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip. Loosen the edges of the cake with table knife. Cool the cake for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plate.

Not beautiful but I promise it is oh so delicious. Top it with whipped cream and you'll never want another kind of cake again!

*** I do not have a cast iron skillet, or one with a heat resistant handle. I have a pie pan that is large, so I made the cake in it and just melted the butter in a little pot and transferred it. The surface of the cake is brown and mine was cracked a bit when finished. Also, make sure you gently do the loosening with knife so that you don't gouge the sides of your cake, but do not skip this step. It will not come out of the pan when you flip it over otherwise.

Recipe credit from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Old-Fashioned-Pineapple-Upside-Down-Cake/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=old%20fashioned%20pinapple%20upside%20down%20cake&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1

Malaria Sucks...

...a lot.

This past weekend, Matt and I were supposed to be heading out with our friend Ian on a 4 day bike and quad adventure up the coast. Matt hadn't been feeling like himself for the past week or two, but attributed it to work stress and was looking forward to the time off of work and out of camp.

On Tuesday afternoon, he noticed that his knees hurt, which usually means for him that the flu is on it's way. We went to bed and he tossed and turned most of the night. Wednesday morning he got up to get ready for work and said that he had what felt like a migraine. It hurt to have his eyes open. He went to work anyway. By the time he got to work he was sweating uncontrollably. He went to talk to his boss, who took one look at him and told him to go come, he looked gross. It is about a 15 minute walk from his office to our house, and by the time he got here he had completely sweat through his clothes, including his jeans. When he walked in the house my first thought was that he looked like he had stood in someone's sprinkler for a while.

He changed his clothes and laid on the couch, the sweat stopping after about a half hour. He fell asleep for around 40 minutes, and when he woke up he was shivering uncontrollably. I got him a blanket, as we initially thought he was just cold from the air conditioning. The shivering didn't let up and he decided to get in the shower. I got layers of clothes ready for him and a hot towel in the dryer and let him be. I went to check on him about 10 minutes later and even though the shower was almost scalding hot and he wasn't shaking anymore, his lips and under his eyes had turned blue. I immediately told him to get dressed, we were heading to the clinic.

Our vehicle does not have plant access, and the clinic is on plant site, about a 20 minute drive from our door to the clinic door. This is not a distance that Matt could have walked. I called up a friend who's vehicle has access and we borrowed her driver and headed to the clinic. The minute we walked in they noticed the blue tinge to his face and put him in a treatment room. They checked all the standard things - eyes, ears, throat, temperature - and did a malaria test. It almost immediately went positive. Everything was making sense now, as he was experiencing classic symptoms of malaria.

A regimen of anti-malarial medication, as well as pain meds were started, and he was admitted to the clinic for a minimum of 72 hours. The real pain with malaria is that the fevers and chills are cyclical. You feel great for a little while and then you feel a headache coming on, and your fever spikes and you are in a remarkable amount of pain that is hard to do anything about. You just need to get the fever down. I watched Matt go through 4 of these cycles. The one at home on Wednesday morning, and then one on Thursday morning were the absolute worst, though he says over night that first night in the clinic was pretty bad as well. I never want to see anyone go through something like that again. The pain from the fever (it was over 40 degrees), was intense, and it took 2 ibuprofens, a codeine, and eventually an injection of pain meds to give even a little bit of relief.

He finally fell asleep around noon on Thursday and slept until 4:30, and woke up feeling a bit better. Luckily we were now past the first 24 hours and things were looking like they might improve. Although there was the occasional fever, he never spiked over 40 degrees again, and was able to come home on Saturday morning after three miserable days in the tiny little sardine can of a room he was in. 

He continues to improve, though the fevers can still happen for up to 10 days, so he is off work until at least Wednesday. They are sure that the parasite is gone. This was confirmed every single day with blood and urine tests. He needs to keep going on the medication for a little while longer just to make sure, but it looks like he is in the clear.

They told me at the clinic that it was going to be alright because he had non-complicated malaria and it was going to be easy to treat. We got the official name today and I did some research. They are dirty rotten liars. But first:

Malaria Selfie!

A card from the guys when they came to visit - they are hilarious..

:( - the wrist brace is from a quad incident, but that's another story.

Spending three days on a bed that's so small you can't even stretch out flat is pretty miserable. This is the size of the entire room. So small. Though it did have it's own comically tiny bathroom.

So it turns out that Matt had Falciparum Malaria. According to Wikipedia, this is the malaria that causes the highest number of malaria deaths. Great. They did not tell us that at the clinic, assuring us that it was good, we had caught it early, and he would be fine. They are very smart. I would have lost my mind.  Luckily, Malaria is no longer the kind of parasite that continues to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life. Once it is treated and killed with the meds, it is gone. There is no vaccine for it, but it can be killed. Living in a Malaria zone means that you may get it again, but only if you have the unfortunate luck of being bitten by an infected mosquito again. The mosquito only gets infected by biting someone that has malaria and then biting you. They are not carriers of the disease on their own. It is also only certain kinds of mosquitos (females) in a certain period of their lifespan, that can only fly a maximum of 4 feet off the ground. So basically it's those damn ankle biters.

For those that are interested, here is the Wikipedia article on the kind of malaria:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmodium_falciparum

And here is one on malaria in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria

There are anti-malarial drugs that you can take, but they are not recommended for more than three months as they basically tear apart your liver. So the best practice here is to be religious with bug spray that has deet, and to cover up at night. It is far too hot during the day for them. I am going to invest in large amounts of citronella things, and am going to be looking for tiki torch type things that burn citronella oil so that I can put them around our little back yard, as we love to sit on the porch and play cards in the evening.

We are also very lucky to have a lot of support here. Matt's boss immediately made calls to ensure I had a vehicle with access on plant site so that I could be with Matt as often as I wanted, friends gave up their driver to get him there, we had constant phone calls and text messages (from people here and people at home) checking on both of us, on Thursday night a friend made me dinner when I got home late from the clinic, and we had tasty fresh out of the bakery oven chocolate croissants brought to us. Ian doesn't even hate us for cancelling on him a day before we were supposed to leave. People are awesome <3.

Rest assured that Matt is recovering nicely, has no organ damage or lasting effects, and is doing very well. Now lets just hope that I don't get it either - I am much more of a suck :)

Two months of normal(ish)

Lisa came up with (or stole) the wonderful idea of putting together our thoughts on the first two months of her time here. I warn you that the following may be disjointed, rambling, and at sometimes mushy, revealing, or totally insensitive. With that disclaimer out of the way, here goes the bullet points (i like bullet points).

• It's pretty great
• Having your wife around is awesome (if it isn't - maybe it's time for you to reconsider your priorities) so it's pretty obvious that it's a great. It took a few days to get adjusted to normal again but beyond that I'd say it's better than it's ever been as you're forced to communicate, work together, and enjoy time with each other more since we're fairly isolated. As a couple that's pretty awesome as it grants us the opportunity to grow closer and be more awesomer(yea, it's a word) than we would had we had all the convenient distractions of home.
• It's pretty stressful
• For both of us! Lisa has to worry about remote school stuff, staying sane in a closed camp, meeting all of the new people that I already for the most part know, doing a bunch of home making things that I'm sure initially seem enjoyable but probably turn into a chore, be 15000KM from the dogs, family, regularly scheduled activities, job, home, etc and on top of which put up with my shit, and I have a lot of shit!!
• But it's still pretty great.
• Weekends off and hour changes are nifty (but rare)
• Now that I'm residential I'm supposed to only work 40 hours and 5 days a week. The reality is there is much more to do than that and you're stuck trying to ensure your pace matches and/or exceeds that of your rotational colleagues. I certainly have a new appreciation for "those lazy residentials" that I thought had it great. Don't get me wrong, it is better (especially with Lisa around) but it's also not easy to get time not-work time. That said, so far I've managed to take three Saturdays off and they've made for some excellent breaks.
• 3.5 months is a long time but 6 months is longer
• So far I've been away from home since June and it's starting to wear on me that I've yet to have my previously regularly scheduled 2 weeks off out of every 8. My brain understands this but my subconscious still seems to operate on the assumption that at any moment I will be jet setting home. The home sickness is a wee bit stronger than it has been in the past and I am definitely consciously aware that there is a long slog until we get to see everyone at Christmas. Don't get me wrong - it's character building, it makes you better appreciate what you have (and are missing), and all-in-all I wouldn't change the choice we made but it being away does wear on you more than perhaps I gave credit.
• Seeing / doing / experiencing more
• Since Lisa has been here I think we've done more in country than I ever did (other than ride dirtbikes into the hills). Lemur parks, beaches, restaurants, impromptu baking sessions and upcoming exploring are all totally excellent things that we have and are planning on doing. It's been awesome and I am thankful for what's passed and excited for whats to come.
• Hard choices are good choices
• Being here requires that you be confronted by the results of your decision to be here daily. Every day I think about where we would be had we not made the decision to do what we've done over the last two years. I'm sure we would be happy but I'm not so sure we'd have grown as much as we have as a result of the experience. It's made me realize that those difficult choices that previously I was a bigger fan of approaching bullishly and oftentimes ignorantly were not things to be afraid of or shy away from but opportunities to seized. So yes, the decision was hard and the stress has been great but all in all it's pushed us to grow, change, and adapt to situations and surroundings that we would've avoided previously. Whether that avoidance motivator be fear, apathy, or otherwise, thinking through and making the call has forever changed us as people and a couple and it's awesome. There will be more hard choices in the future, as there always is, but we will be ready to approach them as opportunities to grow rather than things to shy away from.

My bullet points have unintentionally turned into "Matt's Chicken Soup for the Expat Soul" rather than "Matt's coherent thoughts on what's been going on the last two months" but hopefully you get the point. :)

Two Month Update

On the day that marked one month of me living here, I thought to myself, "Self, you should do an update type of blog post", and I continued to think that, until all of a sudden I have been here for two months. TWO MONTHS! How in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks did that happen?! The two months have been drastically different from each other, as the experience morphed from feeling like I was on vacation to feeling like I better get my butt in gear and start trying to make it home, to feeling like I am getting a routine and making it home. I have also had many experiences, some good and some bad, that have taught me things. Those are the things I will share with you now. Be warned, I may babble on for quite some time.

1. No matter how good you think you are doing, it probably doesn't hurt to keep trying....
          - I have been working quite diligently on losing weight and getting in shape. This was one of my main goals in being here. In the management village, there is a gym and a very nice pool, and tennis courts. You can take gym sessions three times per week, zumba and yoga twice per week, and tennis lessons once per week All of these are free, or very close to free. I have started with yoga, and am seriously considering venturing into the world of tennis as I have always been pretty interested in it. I have been going for "runs" three mornings a week using the Couch to 5k app I have on my phone, and doing squat, push up and crunch challenges. Matt has been a huge inspiration to me in all of this - he plays hockey three times per week, and has started running again, finally achieving a goal of being able to run 5k. I'm very proud of him and it motivates me to do more. I have started noticing differences and am feeling really good about my progress. About 2 weeks ago I was going in to town for groceries and we drove down a street I had never seen during the day, when the shops are actually open. It was several neat places where I can go shopping. Touristy places with nice clothes, home décor, jewellery, purses, etc... I was quite excited that I might be able to get some neat items and headed in to the first shop, quickly finding a Madagascar shirt that I really liked. It seems that the way clothing is sold here is that one sample of each item is on display, with no sizes or prices listed so you have to ask. I found a saleswoman and asked her about the shirt, what colors it came in, and how much. She said I should try it on, and said "So, double extra large?" I hrmphed my way to the change room, and was quite happy when I came out and in fact did not need a XXL. Unfortunately, the only color I liked and was even remotely reasonable here was only available in a XXL (Dammit!). I bought it anyway, and continued on my way. We found a Maki Clothing Company shop that looked neat so I headed in there and again found a lovely flowing dress that I really wanted. I asked the saleswoman what sizes they had and she looked me over from top to bottom, shook her head and said "For you?...No." Sigh......


2. Don't judge, no matter how odd you think things are......
      About a week ago, on a Saturday afternoon, Matt and I were heading in to town for a quick grocery shop. Ahead of us on the road, I saw a largish group of people, who were carrying something over their heads and they seemed to be dancing. Once we got closer I saw that they were indeed dancing and singing, and that two of the were carrying something over their heads that resembled a toy chest, but it was made of cloth and bamboo. I asked our driver, Bien, what was going on. He said "The old man, in the box, came to the family in a dream and said that he was cold, so they are getting him new clothes." I immediately assumed there had been some sort of miscommunication and looked to Matt for clarification. He was looking at me with a grin on his face and told me not to judge, it's cultural. Further explanation was required, and it turns out that the family believes that the man who had been deceased for quite some time was in fact cold where he had been buried. They gather together and go and dig up whatever remains there are, put them in a box and parade them through town, clean the remains and redress them, then bury them again. The older and more respected the person, the bigger the party...... interesting.  It is also customary for a person to be buried in the place they were born. This costs money, and often families don't have it. The family member will be buried where they died, until such a time that the family can save enough money to move them to their birth place. This can take time, sometimes years. During the Day of the Dead, which is basically during the week of November 1st, many families use this time to actually exhume the bodies of the deceased and carry them on their backs to the final resting place. While I understand that this is cultural and very meaningful, I will not be going to town during the week of November 1st.

4. Don't complain about your job, at least you have one, and it could ALWAYS be worse......
     The roads here are terrible. Potholes, if you could even call them that, the size of your car are very common. Very few roads are paved, and there is an astounding amount of traffic. Matt had told me that a lot of items are made by and here, such as gravel, but I had yet to really see it until recently. We were on our way to the lemur park and one whole section of the road had different piles of gravel along it, and beside these piles were children, banging big rocks onto slightly smaller rocks, making gravel by hand. I don't think that I would enjoy that job. Then one day we were heading out to lunch and the road there is quite terrible. Up ahead we could see a couple of local guys standing around what appeared to be an extremely large pile of rocks in one of the holes in the road. Turns out it was actually cinder blocks piled high on one another, that these men were banging together to make the gravel that would fill in the holes. Talk about manual labor!

5. If you think that it might be nice to do something for someone, do it! You may end up getting even more out of it than they do.....
    This is something that I learned every single day while at work. But I am learning it in a different way here.
     Our driver is a very nice man. He doesn't ask for much, he works hard, and is very protective of me when I venture in to town on my own. He doesn't believe in ladies carrying groceries, and despite how many times we've told him he can call us Matt and Lisa, he calls us Mr. Boss Matt, and Miss Lady Boss. When in the car we put our iphones on and listen to music, and he seem to appreciate the oldies the best, so we listen to a lot of Buddy Holly and the like. Him and I are teaching each other our native languages. He will point to something, and I will say the word in English and he then tells me the French and/or the Malagas word for the same object. He has taught me to say "Magna ne'Lanitra", which means "sky is blue", and which I am reasonably certain I have absolutely butchered the spelling of. He also taught me that "Ow" means "Ok" in Malagas, and looked at me funny when I laughed and told him that in English, "Ow" most definitely does not mean "Ok". He asked me to teach him the word for sprinkler, and the best we've gotten so far is "Squinkwler", and when the Bay City Rollers came on the ipod and he asked who it was he could only say Bay City. He tried and tried to say Rollers and then just looked at me and said "No, too hard!" It's fun. One day we were out shopping and it was a particularly hot day. Bien essentially waits around until Matt or I have to go somewhere and then he drives us there. We often buy him a cold drink and snack when we make a run to the store, but on this day I decided that I wanted some ice cream. I asked him if he liked ice cream, and would he like to go get some. He got all excited and said yes, so he took me to an ice cream shop and told me to enjoy my ice cream. I told him to get out of the car and come with me. Another funny look, and I reminded him that he was also getting ice cream and he needed to pick what kind he wanted. He hopped out of the car like a little kid and I swear I was half done my cone before he picked what flavor he wanted. It made my day seeing him so happy, and it was obvious that it is not something that he gets very often, if at all. Today is his 50th birthday. He told me this a month and a half ago when he asked how old Matt and I are. It hasn't come up since, but yesterday when he was done work for the day, I gave him a large homemade chocolate cake for him and his family, plus a small gift. He was absolutely shocked, and said thank you so many times I almost stopped answering. We also told him to take today off so that he could be at home with his family. Again, it made him happy, but I think I got more out of it than he did. I found at home there was a lot of times I would think of all these nice things I wanted to do for people that I never got around to doing. Here, I get the chance to do them, and I look forward to being able to do more things like that. I love bringing joy to people, and if all it takes is an ice cream cone or a chocolate cake, how can I possibly say I don't have time for that.

6.  Say Yes!...or life is going to be really boring.......
          - A lot of living here involves me getting drastically out of my safe little bubble of comfort that I created at home. I am not an adventurous person really, and the idea of meeting new people every single day makes me nauseous with nerves. This is partly because I am not very confident in the fact that people will like me, partly because I worry that Matt already knows all these people and I don't want to do something stupid and embarrass him, and partly because again, I like my little bubble. I was very lucky in that Matt has made a group of very wonderful friends, who welcomed me warmly and who I am very comfortable with. These are the people that Matt goes on his dirt bike adventures with, and where the idea of me getting a quad to join in the fun came from. In the past couple years, though I appear to have become afraid of just about everything, I have decided that even if it scares me, I am going to try to do it. I refuse to miss out on a fun adventure if I can help it, because I don't want to be the one that has to come back and say I didn't do it because I was scared....cage diving with great white sharks in South Africa is the biggest example of this that comes to mind. Getting on a quad in itself was scary as I am not used to it, and it's been a long time since I have been on one...I think the last time I was quite a bit younger and was riding with my dad or my aunt around a family friend's farm. Couple that with the fact that I am in a country where I am unsure of my surroundings and there are dangers that aren't the same as at home, and I turn into a chicken. However, I refuse to miss seeing the landscape and the places that I won't get to by car. The few adventures we have done, though they have left me covered in human fecal matter, or have been slow and tedious down the beach, have been great fun. Matt and his friends are very understanding and have no problem coaching me through something I am scared of or helping me out if I chicken out and get the quad stuck. All of those are things I would have missed if I had said no. The same goes for meeting people. It is difficult to be here all day by myself with really not a lot to do, and without the ability to just get up and go. Some people here do not interact with others, but some really like to and I have to find a happy medium, but not without getting out of that bubble. Having someone you just met on the sidewalk coming back from yoga introduce themselves and invite you over for coffee the next day....sure! Want to go exploring tomorrow, person I don't know all that well....sure! Want to go for dinner where the only person I will know in a group of 20 is my husband....sounds great! Let's take 4 days and drive several hundred kilometres on the quads and bikes and explore bits of Madagascar.....absolutely!  I have been lucky in that there are three women here around my age (a rarity here), and we seem to have clicked. There have been coffee and tea dates at each others houses, shopping for plants, or going to visit and tan by the pool. Myself and one of these women, Alex, have planned a "Meet the Neighbors" potluck at the hall here in the village and invited the entire village. There is going to be the potluck, and hopefully a game of soccer on a Sunday afternoon in a couple of weeks. I found this absolutely terrifying, and the day my email invitation went out to everyone I thought I was going to be sick! The response so far has been extremely positive, and most people are coming, and have thanked us for setting it up - and it hasn't even happened yet! Now I get to panic about what to make :) Alex and I are starting plans for a trade fair of sorts here in the village as well. Alex teaches yoga and practices acupuncture, I am going to offer photography services, and there are a lot of other people here that have services they can offer or skills they can teach, and we want to get the word out. Making friends and keeping busy and trying new things has helped me to open up, gain confidence, and find new people that will add to our lives. All things I would have missed had I said no. It's been a fantastic thing...and Matt will often get a phone call from a giggly Lisa saying "I think I made a friend today!",  and that is something that I have needed for a long time.

7. I am unemployed, and that's okay!
       I am still trying to convince myself of that, but it's getting easier. The past two weeks I have felt useless and homesick. I enjoy working, bringing home a paycheck (no matter how meager) and contributing to the growth and stability of my little family. I enjoy having a career that is my own, and a way that I felt I was contributing and making a difference in someone else's life. Let's be realistic, you don't get in to my field of choice for the money. I keep in touch with past coworkers and talk weekly to those that used to be my clients, who I can now proudly call my friends, but I hear the struggles of a busy work life and want to jump in and help. I've told Matt that I feel useless and that I feel I have nothing to contribute by being here. Luckily, he does not agree, and reminds me that my job in being here is to finish my school, and that is an investment in our future. I will go back home with a degree and have my pick of jobs. I am also going to get involved with volunteering and community organizations, and Matt and I are going to take French classes. I have been cooking and baking up a storm, getting really inventive with substitutions when half of the ingredients aren't available. Who knows, I might even write a book while I'm here. The possibilities for self discovery are endless and I can't wait! It is also giving me the time to put some serious thought into where I want to go with my life. As much as I loved the work I was doing, I felt I was stagnating and was no longer sure of my purpose where I was. Thus is the nature of an ever changing field I suppose, but frustrating none the less.  Matt of course works very hard to make this a worthwhile opportunity and it makes me very proud to see how hard he works, and how much he loves what he is currently doing (despite being so far away from home.) He often comes home and we talk about our days, and even on rough days when he is stressed and annoyed, the story always ends with "But I learnt So Much!", and that's pretty fantastic.

8. Ties to family are strong, and remain so regardless of distance.
      It is fall. Fall means FOOTBALL!!!! (and pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks). This is the first year in all the years that my brothers have been playing that I have missed a season, let alone missed a game other than those that were in other provinces, or while I was on my honeymoon. I knew this would bother me, but I had no idea how much. I brought my Edmonton Wildcats Jersey, which proudly states "Brett, #64" on the back, and my other Wildcats gear. I wear these on game day. I have even worn my jersey out to dinner :) When the internet works, I get up every weekend regardless of the time to watch the game.....typically they are night games, so I am getting up at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. to attempt to watch a live streamed game just so I can scream at the lap top and keep Matt up when he has to work Monday morning. I am able to talk to family through the whole game usually, but I have yet to decide if this makes it better or worse. Football season is one of my favorite times of year for many reasons. I get to go and support my little brother(s), I get to spend at least a couple hours per week with family and friends, I get to be outside enjoying the fall weather, and I get a Pumpkin Spiced Latte and a stadium hotdog. Not being there and missing all the time with family, not being able to scream and cheer along with the crowd, not being able to yell "KICK HIS ASS, JAKE!!!", when I feel someone is being silly on the field, is all very hard to deal with. Top that off with missing my dogs terribly and you've got a rather glum Lisa. I always knew we were a close family, on both sides, but this experience has cemented that idea for me. We have been very lucky that we can talk to people on a relatively frequent basis(including the dogs), through the wonders of email, Facebook, What's App and FaceTime. I even surprised my Grandma one day with a phone call, and she spent much of our short conversation stating how amazing it was that I was calling her FROM MADAGASCAR! It was awesome.  Lots of emails as well, so we feel in touch, though we also feel very out of touch. It's nice to be able to see what's going on, but very hard to see what's going on without you. Matt's mom said it best in one of her emails....."I think we might actually end up talking more now that you are away than we did when you were here!" Life is funny.

9. This was the right decision
    This was a hard decision. This was not a spur of the moment decision. This was a decision that took two years to make, and a decision that still gets questioned at least weekly. Leaving the dogs, the house, the family and my career were not easy things to leave. The almost two years apart allowed Matt and I to grow together, and separately, in ways that likely would not have been possible to the same extent had we stuck with the status quo. Just today Matt came home for lunch. It's something small, but it's a luxury we haven't had in so long, and I love every minute of it.  For a long time I struggled with Matt being here, because I felt like he had a whole chunk of his life that I wasn't able to see or be a part of. That was alleviated a little when I was here earlier this year to visit and realized that he in fact was not alone, but it also made me want to experience this with him even more. That does not mean that I wasn't sobbing on the phone when he signed his contract for 2 years residential. It does not mean I didn't ugly cry after my farewell dinners with family, or that Jacob didn't have to let me sob all over his shoulder the morning they drove me to the airport and he watched me say goodbye to my dogs. We are also very aware that this wouldn't have happened without help from some fantastic people...most notably my sister who is living in our house and watching our dogs for two years. Even factoring all of that in, I feel like this was right. Matt and I needed to be together now. I needed the time away from work to regroup and figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I needed to meet new people and make new friends, with Matt and on my own. It's only been two months and I already feel like a different person. This was the right decision.

I told Matt that he should also write an update from his perspective, and while I have been drafting my post for 3 days, I see that he has gone and written his post within an hour of me mentioning that he should do so. I must go read it now.
We have lots of fun things planned over the next little while, so the blog will be quite active.

We miss you all very much! See you at Christmas!

Bonfires and Whale Watching - September Long Weekend, Madagascar Style

Just as I suspected when I wrote the last blog, this past weekend was fantastic.

Unfortunately, Matt had to get up and go to work Saturday morning, but that allowed me time to get up and ready and clean house at a leisurely pace. Our driver Bien and I went and picked him up at the office at noon and it was off to lunch with some friends to a place on the beach called Clare de Lune (sp?). It took about 1.5 hours to get our food, but you can't really complain too much when all of your pizza, including the dough, is hand made and then cooked in an authentic pizza oven. So tasty! It also helps when you are sitting on a "balcony" watching the ocean and drinking beer while waiting for your pizza.

After lunch Matt and I ventured off to get some groceries - we had the brilliant (?) idea to have a bunch of people over for dinner on Sunday being that Whale Watching was going to be done so early, then it was time to head back home and prep for the bonfire. Our friend Kent had brought back some bags of marshmallows the last time he was in Canada and as requested we made a batch of Rice Krispie squares with Mars bars melted on top. Omnomnom...they were delicious. We loaded up the cooler, hopped on the bike and the quad and were on our way to the Ops Camp where there is a large bonfire pit and some wooden benches. There is also a large cookout structure but it doesn't seem to function.

Starting the fire proved to be a little bit tricky, even though Kent had bought 40 bundles of what looked to be really dry wood. Turns out it wasn't all that dry. Three basketball magazines, one cardboard box, five fire starters and a bag of coal later and we finally had a fire. The weather was beautiful, the company great, and the music and snacks perfect. I have never had a "sit under the stars" experience like I've had here. There is almost no ambient light, unless you are in camp where they have put some street lights, and the sky is amazing and clear. We ended up playing charades for well over an hour, Matt and Ian acting things out, and me being the shocking ringer getting the most obscure clues correct. We roasted marshmallows and chatted, and it was an absolutely fantastic evening. Unfortunately it had to come to a relatively early end because we needed to be up and on the road by 7 am on Sunday morning to get to our Whale Watching Adventure.

Fire!

Once we got it going, the flames were beautiful!

Roasting Marshmallows



Can't ever just get a nice photo

Playing Charades - "First Word..."

Sunday morning came bright and early. No pancakes today! Matt had suggested having our pancake breakfast at 6:00 a.m., which was very quickly veto'd by most of us, though I was likely the loudest protester. Matt and I had our driver so we picked up Nolan and everyone else took a bus into town. We were to meet at Club Nautique, a private club right near the port, and find a guy named Bernard. He was right there waiting for us and we were on our way in short order to his little vessel.

Club Nautique

The "Norsk"

 

As we headed out of port, I snapped some shots of local activities. This is the only port on the entire island! It is very busy, both with big container ships, and with much smaller vessels.

 

Once we hit open water, the whale action started pretty quickly. These were humpback whales, similar to what we saw while on Maui. The action was relatively consistent, which was great for a 4 hour excursion. The two coolest things we saw was a double breach quite close to the boat, which of course none of us got on camera, and a mating routine, in which the male whale was continuously slapping his tail and doing all sorts of thins to show off to the females. We saw more breaches than I could count, though most of them were off in the distance, and so many babies. We even saw a baby that was sleeping riding on the back of it's mama. This is the third time I have gone whale watching, twice in Hawaii and once here. All three times have been different experiences, and they take different approaches to whale watching, but these beautiful creatures never cease to amaze me.
Below are a few shots from the day:

After the whale watching was over we started on our way back to the car, and we came across scooter races! Right on the streets of the city! We of course stopped and watched the action for a little while. I don't have the pictures ready, or the video, but it was quite a sight to see. Then we went on our way to a place called Calypso for lunch, where, naturally, a cow walked by. Then it was time to go home and prepare a rather large roast dinner for our friends, while Matt and Nolan took the quad out to see what it was made of. Matt came home covered in mud (and Zebu poop) with a big smile on his face, so I guess it turned out alright :)

Ivoloina Parc Zoologique (also known as The Lemur Park)

As is typical of most weekends here, Sundays are a day to gather with friends and go and do something cool. I have wanted to go to the Lemur Park since I was here in January and was happy to find out that several of our friends have not been before, and were interested in checking it out.

After our usual Sunday morning pancakes, complemented by the homemade cinnamon buns that I got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. to make, we loaded up in a couple cars and got on our way. It was about a half hour drive or so to the park, and after turning off the main road, the road deteriorated drastically. I couldn't believe we were able to drive on it in the car we had, and likely would not even consider it if it was raining.

After we all arrived at the park, we headed on our way - first stop, lemurs! There were several cages with lemurs, tortoise and lizard/chameleon things, as well as a snake. We didn't see the chameleons, they were hiding very well.  The lemurs were very cute - they make noises that sound a lot like pigs. There were also lemurs outside of the cages, that roamed free, but had collars with name tags. They started to feed those lemurs who came from all over the place. It was really neat. A friend had been eating cookies at the start of the zoo, and the lemurs were extremely interested in him. He ended up with two lemurs on his shoulder that were trying to find the cookies that they were sure were in his back pack.

Two lemurs cuddling in their house

 

A group of Tortoises (Tortie?)

 

"You has cookies?!"

 

Very interested in the bananas that were just put out for him.

 

 

Uwe and his lemur friend

 

These guys make hilarious sounds

 

"Why you won't give me cookies?!"

 

This guy finally gave up and went to town munching on a branch

 

Look at those eyes! Beautiful!

After I had giggled like a child for the required amount of time at the antics of all the lemurs, we started on the hike. It is a 7km hike on a mountain, and it was ridiculously hot and humid. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of rather steep climbs, but the views were incredible and we happened across salamanders, day geckos and any number of other interesting things. Once we reached the top - well, lets be honest, once everyone else reached the top and had a nice relaxing wait while I huffed and puffed up the very large hills - we took a group photo and decided that we did indeed want to continue on to see the waterfall. Petite Cascade waterfall, is quite tiny, but has a lovely little pond underneath it that was cool and refreshing to wade in. Apparently somewhere along the hike there is Grand Cascade waterfall, but we didn't find that. After resting and enjoying the waterfall we continued on our way, mercifully mostly downhill, back to the zoo. All in all, it took us about 2.5 hours to complete the hike, and everyone was very good about my being so slow. Let this be a lesson to you kids - don't let yourself get overweight and out of shape - especially if you want to climb mountains to see lemurs in Madagascar :)

A view of the lake that we circled

 

Matt crossing one of the  many sketchy "bridges"

 

 

The view from about halfway to the top

 

 

Me crossing the bridge to the waterfall

 

Rhonda and I relaxing in the cool pond under the waterfall

 

Cascade waterfall

 

 

 

Luckily, some of the up bits on the hike had stairs

 

About to cross one of the least scary bridges

 

Pretty purple flower things

 

Sweaty and tired after 3/4 of the hike

 

The group shot at the peak

Being a sucker for gift shops, upon our arrival at the main entrance, I of course begged Matt to purchase a few items, and ended up with a woven lemur that now sits proudly on our shelf in our little living room.

It was a beautiful way to spend a Sunday, followed by the F1 race, then dinner at the Tiki bar with friends. Next weekend promises to be just as fantastic - a bon fire on Saturday night and whale watching on Sunday. I am sure I will write another post about it :)