newest niece

My newest niece is one month old.  Her mom let me take some pictures, I think they came out nice.

Crazy hair, huh?

3 years

3 years

1 house

2 pairs of rubber boots

1.5 months with no electricity

15 goats

172 pots of beans (mas o menos)
2 trips to Chetumal
125 market saturdays
countless sunsets
2 best friends.

book review: Blackout by Connie Willis

Even though the books I've reviewed so far seem to fit a nice, educated, non-fiction category, the truth is 99% of the time I'm reading fiction.  And yes, the honor's grad in me cringes to admit it.  But I love a good story, and non-fiction can tend to be... dry.  One of my favorite types of book to read are historical fiction, because I feel like I'm learning something, even while indulging in a novel.  Not sure how true that always is, but it makes me feel better about spending 6 hours reading (wait, did I say 6 hours?  umm, I meant the minutes I scrounge between industriously cleaning and doing farm chores.)

Anyways, Blackout is historical fiction.  The book's premise is a neat concept-  time travel has been invented, and scholars use it to transport themselves back to the time they are interested in studying.  The (many) characters in this book choose different events and locations in World War 2 England.  They try to integrate themselves into daily life in order to unobtrusively study the events.   Of course, things end up going wrong.... and 500 pages later the book ends up in a major cliff hanger (huge pet peeve! but don't worry, there is a book 2).

 The details of life in wartime England are fascinating and absorbing.  The author does a wonderful job with the time traveler idea.  The characters know in theory what the "ending" will be, but they find themselves entering daily life, where people are much the same as any time period.  Even though huge events are happening all around them, the characters find themselves occupied with small everyday concerns, such as a hole in new panty hose, an annoying neighbor, or having cabbage again for supper.  The author does a wonderful job of bringing the time period alive in all the little details.  You can tell this is a very well- researched book, but the many details do not obtrude into the story, they make the story richer.

Besides the cliff hanger ending, another thing that bothered me about this book was the multitude of characters with first- person narratives, and the fact that each chapter switched characters and narratives.  While this allows the story to encompass more of what was going on in World War two England, I often found myself confused as to which character I was reading about.  The author also has the annoying habit of bringing in new characters (with first person narratives) in random chapters, leaving me trying to figure out what the heck was going on  and who was narrating. 

However, I recommend this book, especially if you need a long book for a trip or plane ride.  I don't think this is a book you can set down and then pick up a while later, because you will not be able to keep all the characters straight.  It is a long book, be ready to devote some time.  Don't be afraid of the time-travel bit, it's not a science-fictiony book.  I felt this book gave me realistic idea as to what life was like for everyday people during wartime England, and it is fascinating. 

**PS I reviewed the sequel, All Clear.

snapshots: visitors

So like I mentioned, my parents came for a little visit.  It was hot, but my car is air-conditioned.  We spent a lot of time driving around :)

 We found an old steam engine in the jungle, which amazingly was made in Pennsylvania

We attempted to go to a cave, but it was flooded....

This is Daniel's "caves are scary" face.  We also went to the inland blue hole, which normally has quite stunningly blue water.  Unfortunately the water was brown (it rained a lot).

We played scrabble by lantern-light.  Daniel beat us all, repeatedly.

And a cool sunset.  That shiny white dot is the moon.

Benque Fiesta 2011

Ok so this happened a month ago, but it was pretty much the perfect Saturday.  Market in the morning, fiesta in the afternoon-- specifically to buy Pibil, the best pork and tortilla combo ever, and then watching the last Harry Potter movie that evening.  I even think there was some lime juice thrown in there somewhere.


ps photo edited with Picnik, free and very fun.

the zoo part three

This is my final zoo post, I promise.  My parent's visit was fun last week, although it was really hot here so we didn't do much.  I'll put some pictures up as soon as I have a few extra minutes of charge on my computer (yeah, still no electricity...)

Anyways, we spent quite a while watching this little fox watch his wished- for lunch:

here, birdy birdy birdy

I don't have a super zoom lens on my camera.  I was actually this close to the little guy.  He thought I was funny looking, but that Daniel's nose has potential.  :)

One of my favorite pictures from the day.  If this bird had wanted to, he could have pecked me right through the fence.  I think the camera confused him though.  Amazing colors, true?

It was good practice for me because I had to focus my camera manually in order to shoot through the fencing.   I think it added a really neat texture to the background.

book review: the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I had heard of this book when it first was published, and ignored it as another feel- good mystic self-help book.  Is this the deepest, most profound thing I’ve read in a while? No, but it was pleasantly though provoking while being a quick read.  The author decides to dedicate a year to becoming happier.  She starts this by doing a lot of research into happiness- reading studies and books that range from Oprah to Aristotle.   Then she chooses 11 premises that should increase happiness, and tries each for a month.  At the end of the year, she decides what actions/ ideas, if any, have improved her overall happiness.

I liked that the author started with research, I think it is my scientific side.  I found the studies she quoted on happiness interesting.  The beginning of the book is strong, but eventually the author starts quoting her blog comments and the writing seems to get choppy, like she realizes she’s beaten the point to death already.  However, I would recommend reading this book.  While reading, I found some of her “rules” trite, but I noticed phrases would pop into my head whenever I was in a bad mood.  For example, one of her techniques for when you need a happiness boost is to tackle a task you have been procrastinating, which worked for me.  Another tip I appreciated (and use) is to use a bathroom when it’s available (the premise being that at least you will be a little more comfortable).   Obviously not deeply profound, but sometimes it's nice to have a little reminder about daily things that can make life a bit more pleasant.

what it's like living without electricity

So we are on week 3 of no electricity.  We were told  we should be able to get electricity within 4 weeks of getting an estimate… unfortunately, it has now been 2 weeks since they promised our estimate would be ready.  Since I’m at work most of the day, I’m not having that much difficulty living without electricity.  I charge my cell phone and computer each day at work;  that way, if we want to watch a movie in the evening or I want to work on editing pictures, I have a few hours of battery life.    Eating has become a bit repetitive-- mostly bean based, but we still eat well.  The pot of beans gets boiled morning and night, and any time it is opened during the day.  So far, keeping beans like this has worked for 4-5 day stretches at a time before they start to taste slightly off.  We have quesadillas, beans and toasted cheese, burritos, eggs and beans….  As for meat, a few times we have been able to buy small portions of beef and cook that (mostly meat comes in packs that bring way too much for one meal).  Any leftovers are kept in a covered pan, and boiled before eating again (and eaten as soon as possible).  We are buying small amounts of groceries more frequently to keep things from spoiling.  The biggest expense so far is laundry--  we’re paying $20 Bze a week to get our laundry done, but it’s a necessity because I don’t have time to wash everything by hand.  And Daniel’s farm clothes get really dirty and yucky.  Another annoyance is no iron.  When I was a teacher here I somehow never needed to iron clothes (or maybe my clothes were wrinkled, but we didn’t have a mirror so I couldn’t tell).  Anyways, now I’m limited to a few wrinkle-resistant outfits I have been wearing over and over for work.  In the evenings we have light till about 7, and after that we use candles and a kerosene lantern.  The lantern actually gives enough light to read by, although it does get kind of smoky.  I'm paranoid to leave it without someone in the room though because I’m afraid of the cat knocking it over, although so far she hasn’t gone near it.  This results in me carrying a lantern around from room to room, which makes me feel very 18th- century.  We also are getting a lot more sleep- we go to bed around 9pm and get up at 6am or earlier (um, we got some guinea hens, and they like to make a lot of noise around 5am. But their feathers are so pretty!)  We boil water in a kettle on the stove when we want hot water.   I do miss listening to music or downloaded podcasts on my computer while I’m cleaning or cooking, but it tends to run the computer battery down fast.  We have a solar-powered radio, but the only radio channels are a Christian Spanish channel and Love FM (which is wonderful during a hurricane, but leaves much to be desired the rest of the time).   

Honestly, I expected to become cranky and fed up with this situation really quickly (I only lasted 1 week when we didn't have running water before throwing a major fit.  We had running water the next day.)  But... it really isn't that big of a deal.  Shocking, coming from someone who hates camping.  I sort of feel like Laura Ingalls :)

My parents are coming to visit next week, but they will stay in a cabin with electricity :)  We’ll send our fans over for them to use, and probably borrow the fridge for a little.  Cold drinks!!

day at the zoo, part two: Charlie the Macaw

After we visited with Buddy, the zookeeper said that since it was my birthday, he would let me visit with one of the zoo's Scarlet Macaws!  Meet Charlie.

Daniel and I got to feed Charlie some peanuts.

Charlie very politely took a peanut from my hand... but Daniel-- not so much.  Charlie tried very hard to remove a finger from Daniel. 

Such innocence....

It turns out that anyone can visit with Charlie for $10Bze, which is pretty cool.  Scarlet Macaws are magnificent birds, but they aren't seen much in the wild any more, so visiting at the zoo is the best place to get really close.

Also, visiting the Belize zoo for your birthday is the best.

Dona Betty's Belizean Stewed Chicken, Rice and Beans

The cook at the Rectory, Dona Betty, makes hands-down the best stewed chicken I have ever had.  And believe me, living in Belize means you eat a lot of stewed chicken. It's one of 3 things you are likely to get anywhere you might be given food (the other things being cheese dip and tiny sandwiches with a spicy mystery spread).  People have requested this recipe for years (this is for you, Jena!) but a) I eat it so often I had no desire to make it at home and b) Dona Betty doesn't speak English and maybe I still don't speak much Spanish.  Ahem.  Anyways, Daniel translated for me one day, then I tried it at home... soooo good. 

Caveat:  Dona Betty just listed the ingredients for me.  I don't think her amounts  matter much anyways, as she is normally cooking for 30 people so the amounts would be really different.  I will tell what things I measured, but this recipe is pretty flexible.   Also, Dona Betty uses a Belizean season all spice mixture that is ubiquitous here, but has no ingredients listed.  As far as I can tell, it contains salt, recado, oregano, lime, garlic and onion powder- all of which are in the dish, so I don't think it will matter much not to add it.

The spice recado is essential to this dish, it gives it the flavour and color.  I have seen it in Mexican groceries in the States. It is also called achiote.  It mostly come in a clay-like block, but see if you can find the powder, it is much easier to work with.  If not, just make the recado into a paste by adding some water.

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts (I used this because I had it.  Use whatever you like, bone-in is great, just remove the skin)
2 cubes chicken bullion
juice of one lime
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Belizean Season all
2 tablespoons recado (the red kind)
3 tsp garlic powder
sprinkling of pepper
1 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 tablespoon sugar
oil

Add chicken bullion cubes (add a little water to make them a paste), soy sauce, lime juice, garlic powder, season all, and 1 tablespoon recado to chicken and let marinate for an hour or two.

Coat a deep pan or dutch oven with oil.  Brown the sugar in the oil until it melts like this:

Brown the chicken in the sugar/oil mixture.

Dump in the leftover marinade mixture, the remaining tablespoon of recado, and the diced vegetables.  Cover, turn to low, and let simmer about 40 minutes or so.

Check that the chicken looks cooked.  Taste the broth, you may need a little more salt or recado powder at this point-- you want a nice orange color.  Now let the chicken simmer without a lid to thicken the sauce.

That's about the right thickness.

Stewed chicken is traditionally served with fried plantain, coleslaw, and rice and beans.  Rice and beans are really easy to make if you have a pot of stewed beans (or I supposed you could use beans from a can, if you are desperate, but you need to salt and season them well).

Rice and Beans
Take the amount of non-instant rice you want, and wash.  Instead of adding water, add the liquid from stewed beans till it covers the rice.  Add enough water so the rice is covered plus about 1 cm.  Add beans (the amount varies with how much rice you are making- I do about 1/2 cup of beans to every cup of rice).  Cover and bring to a rolling boil.  Reduce heat and cook till rice is done. 

Serve the stewed chicken over the rice and beans.

Enjoy!

Edited to add:  So this recipe by far gets the most views on my blog.  Please leave a comment if you have tried it!  Let me know if it turned out well, or if I should redo the recipe with more exact measurements.  Thanks!