Sorry, My Mom Won’t Give Me A Dowry

Well the wedding festival went off without a hitch. All together we checked a whopping 1,557 blood pressures- with 121 of them being women. I don’t want to say too much, but I would put that under the success column. After the first day, we got a really good flow and feeling for what worked best for us. With some people doing crowd control, three blood pressure takers going, and then those around to help educated and tally- I think all together we did a great job. We did have a lot more on lookers than I had anticipated, and a lot of repeats (we’re convinced if they got a higher pressure, they wanted to come back and double check), but all in all... it went quite smoothly. Here are some snap shots from under the tent...

As for the festival itself, unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to really walk around it until the last day. Due to illness, hosting, and working, it was hard to get a chance to sneak away. Just image a huge outdoor garage sale, everyone having their own tent. A flea market, if you will. Of course it wouldn’t be complete without street food and some music. Although, I wouldn’t know about the street food-- after waiting two hours for kebabs, a few who ordered that delicious looking chicken, decided to leave the table and continue on through the festival.

A few of us, however, were able to get a chance to hang out with some camels before they were shipped back off to the Sahara. A little confession: camels look really cool & exotic until you get up close. Once you’re face to face, you realize how... kind of odd they look (at least to me), and how uncomfortable they seem to be if you were to ride on one. But the riding part will come later on. Anyways, check out our little photo shoot: 

This was also my first time hosting at my new house, to which I was quite nervous. Hosting always has the potential to be stressful, but add in being sick, not having running water, and not enough sleeping space. Also, there’s no King Kullen (Walbaums, Stop & Shop, whatever) down the street to run to if I’ve forgotten something. Though, all guests are PCVs, so they’re use to these conditions, it’s still a bit demanding. But with the help of my guests, especially my better half, hosting was a breeze. Every dinner made was delicious; from spicy stir-fry, to fried chicken with mashed potatoes & applesauce... mmmm, amazing!

Cooking here has definitely been something I’ve gotten into to. And while cooking for one isn’t too exciting, when the opportunity presents itself, I’ve really enjoyed baking or cooking for the occasion. Some of these delicious dishes include (keep in mind, everything’s from scratch):

• Biscuits
• Flour Tortillas (used for tacos & burritos)
• French Toast
• Pancakes (apple cinnamon, oatmeal chocolate chip)
• Pizza (a variety, I love pizza)
• Garlic Bread
• Cream of Tomato Soup
• Vegetable Soup
• French Fries
• Hash Browns
• Mashed Potatoes
• Alfredo Sauce
• Apple Sauce
• Burgers
• A Basic Meat Sauce
• Vegetable Dip
• Stir Fry with a variety of sauces (peanut, spicy tomato, butter...)
• Huevos Rancheros
• A Variety of Omelets
• Fried Chicken
• BBQ Chicken
• Brownies
• Yogurt Cake
• Yogurt Coffee Cake (oh my lord, so good!)

I really want to make enchiladas soon, so hopefully that will happen. But alas, cooking here has been a lot of fun. Kind of making things up as I go along too. With time to spare, it’s easy to get carried away with some things, and when getting together with other volunteers- cooking is something everyone enjoys.

Along with cooking, my house is coming together slowly. I’m trying to use a lot of things I’ve found around my house, around my yard, around the area, to my advantage and in resourceful ways. Which reminds me, I have a buttload of plastic bottles, any suggestions on what I can do with them? I’d rather have some project than throw them out, as they would just stay in a landfill. So if you do, please let me know! Anyways, check out some of the updates...

my newer, smaller, yard. with fire pit and compost pile.

...make shift shelves!

Well, I’ve gone on for a while now and I must head out and get some water. Out of the 8 community taps, the two closest to me have gone dry, so I’m off to find one that is actually working, joy.