Thailand

We had a lovely, short stay in Bangkok. We were right along the river so we watched the comings and goings of the barge traffic as well as the fishing boats and water taxis.

Water taxi

We spent our time wandering some, going on a night bike tour, eating and relaxing. In Africa, we had our dead skin eaten (maybe nibbled off is a better way to put it) by fish in a spring we were swimming in (where we were also exposed to liver flukes). In Bangkok, there were tanks where you paid to sit and put your feet (or whole body) in. The boys loved it. In my opinion, it was not an easy thing to sit for.

One day we took a dow (kind of boat) ride that was along the canals and stopped at a little side market area. We didn't have much time so we tried to rush and sample as much of the amazing foods as we could. One stand had all greens and veggies that were fried with a very light tempura-like batter. They had things like flower blossoms, leaves (that we would have thought poisonous to eat) and mushrooms. Paul and I both felt like we could have come back and spent more time there. There are several places on our ride where you can stop and feed fish. The fish seem to be type of catfish and some were GIANT and they knew what to expect if someone comes near because they start to froth and turn the water. The boys said they were so thick in number that you could just walk across the water on the backs of these fish!

Along a canal, you see some of the homes
that are backed up to the water.

One of the many snacks from the side
market. A thin dough is spread and filled then
 folded on a griddle. After is it drizzled with
sweetened condensed milk and sprinkled with
sugar. The square one pictured here has an egg in it.

These were in a place selling food so we
weren't clear if they were pets or food.

I liked how many people through town and along the streets (often in front of the doors of businesses, as well) solved the problem of garden space in the city by having lots of pots lined up with trees, shrubs and even full of water with lotus plants.

At the side market. A sweetened snack of light
and crunchy puffed grain drizzled with
hot coconut sugar. She cautioned me to be careful.

One of the temples along the canals. We saw some
young monks swimming and drinking
from a giant 2 liter bottle of Coke.

The night bike tour activity was a recommendation from one of Paul's tutors, and I am so glad we did it. The kids did really well keeping up and our guide went pretty fast but stopped here and there at interesting points. Two of the highlights were the night market and one temple- silent and lit up in the night with monks chanting.

Really, no photos can do justice
to the temples. They are so
detailed and stunning.
This is a deity who guards one.

Meat anyone? A certain someone in my family wanted these every time we passed them.

You can buy things to offer at temples or to
give to monks. They were incredibly beautiful and all made
fresh. They also had small pre-wrapped packages of things
to offer to specific places, people (memories of- statues, etc.) and such.
These are actually examples of some of the more simple offerings.

Here is where I went crazy. Our guide knew quite a few things but not all of them in English.

The market had stunning flowers. You wanted to just admire them forever. There were piles and PILES of orchid blossoms too.

We watched this monitor spend a long time eating this
live toad. We were certain he would in no way be able to swallow it.
The toad put up a good fight by puffing up quite large.
In the end... toad lost and monitor won. The monitor spent a bit of time
wiping his mouth about on things afterwards, so it must have been a slimy affair. 

This was from the night market. Fried rice curry ball (mashed by hand in a bowl). Sour pork, spices, and served with greens that you can pinch bites with. I found a few of these worm-like pieces. I knew were only meat, but I saw them and the texture was like raw meat. The dish was quite good, but at this point I sort of lost my appetite to finish it. Later that night Paul and I went to a place for a quick small snack and I found someone who could tell me what the sour (or fermented) pork sausage really was. It is pork meat, and skin, ground, mixed with spices, placed in a plastic bag, put outside (needs to be at least 30c/86f) for several days to a week for all the bacteria to develop. Paul wasn't super excited when he learned that I also had fed this to our eldest son. Oops. We didn't get sick but at that time we didn't know if the next day's flight would be exciting or not.

I made Paul take this photo. Rogue Brewery beer in Bangkok, from my home town.
 I didn't drink any. I had a really yummy lemongrass, chili martini.

Chagga Coffee

One day, I arranged a waterfall tour for me and the boys. The wife of one of Paul's classmates joined us as well. There were various things we were to have seen and we did, in a fashion, see most of them. Overall, though, it was a very different day than expected. We saw a really beautiful area and hiked along the countryside, through banana, bean, coffee, and various other small farms. We saw a Chagga cave and several waterfalls (one involving a ridiculous amount of very steep, slippery stairs.) We walked along and over a river and and saw wild chameleons (we had to stop and try to hold each one.) It was stunning and so very, very nice to be away from the noise, heat and dust of the city. The end point of the tour was to go see a coffee farm with a Chagga coffee farmer.

A photo of the tour of one of the caves the Chagga used when they were hiding from the Maasai (we were also told some disturbingly bloody stories about that). This was been a long, long time ago, and of course then they didn't have electricity then. As it was, this single bulb, suspended from a long cord patched along the walk, was running on a generator that cut out during our time on the tour.

One of the waterfalls. It was SO nice to get out of the dust,y noisy city and hike. Incredibly beautiful area. Here you see O with our guide, PDD (short for Puff Daddy).

ONE of the wild chameleons we saw. Of course I FREAKED out with excitement over them and we stopped to hold each one. The locals found that rather amusing. Apparently Tanzanian women do not touch them, I forget exactly why. There was something specific they were supposedly afraid of happening. Just let me reiterate how EXCITED I was to see them in the wild. Seriously so, so, so excited and we saw SEVEN. Which means we missed many, many more. Did I make it clear how much I LOVED seeing them? Never really grew tired of it.

Land Snail

The farm we toured was very small and the farmer was proud of the diversity of things he grew. What I thought was a sort of barn, was his house. A wooden structure of two rooms, not connected, with doors open to the "yard". Connected to them, were his goats in enclosures that were up off the ground. That way he could collect the droppings to fertilize with.

One of the goats.

We decided not to drink a cup of coffee. Several reasons why, and I felt guilty about not- since then you "donate" for the coffee and he was showing us other things we could buy. I then (guilt) bought a bag of coffee beans from him. The only issue was that he had a 2 1/2 foot tall mortar and pestle they use to 'grind' the coffee (it's really pounded by hand with a long wooden stick that reaches deep into the wood structure) and the beans I bought were whole. No one in town had a grinder except the one coffee shop in town that roasted and sold their own beans. I did ask if they'd grind it for me and they said no.

The coffee farmer with the boys.

Here he shows us how he grinds his beans, the little boy in the background, he said, was one of his grandchildren.

Coffee Around the World

 I took photos of coffee that I had around the world. There is something that seems so sweet and tender about someone making a coffee for you (or tea), particularly when they know the way you like it. The format is a bit funky with the photos and the last two, from Africa, are out of order.

In Belgium at a cafe. 

Lennie's mom, Marleen, made this for me one day at their house
See the so darling creamer and chocolate? Loved it. Nice creamy
head on the espresso too. Just was the nicest heartwarming touch.

In Paris.

A morning coffee on the overnight
Thello train the boys and I took between
Belgium and Italy. You'd think it'd be
bad, but it wasn't.

I loved in Europe that the coffee and
espresso cups had matching saucers.
Just makes it feel so intentional.
This is made by Gesi with the stovetop
espresso maker.

An early morning espresso alone... I made in the
Nespresso (best ever espresso maker!) at Chuck's house. It
was a sweet moment, quiet, beautiful, and the nice kitty
joined me. 

On our day trip to Venice. Seems like you
have to have at least one coffee there!
Thankfully Natasha, Gesi's mom,
was always up for getting a coffee too.

Really, does this count as a coffee? No.
It was a decedent and so sweet ice cream,
beautifully presented with coffee in it. In Italy.

Gesi's dad, Bashkim, makes her mom
an afternoon coffee when he is home.
 I found it incredibly touching and sweet. This
day he brought Gesi, Natasha (her mom)
and I each up a cup.

Gesi's family used a stove top espresso
maker. These happen to be the ones at
Govanna's Grandma's house.
We had the same one growing up.

Gesi bought me my stove top espresso maker to take home.
Here you can see it does not fit on the burner
at the B&B in Moshi. I only accidentally melted
a teeny bit of the handle once and never
actually burned myself ALL the way. They
had no pot holders. They also had a french press but
after breakfast time was over this is how I made
myself a coffee. I also made them for the gardener, Ben.

This is the very special Chugga coffee
Ben made me. Almost like what we think
of Cowboy coffee. He gave me the better,
'less grounds in the cup' cup, I noticed. 

When we were in Moshi, and while Paul was with classmates, the boys
and I took a weekend day trip to
the house of an ex-pat who turns her
place into a restaurant on the weekends.

While the boys and I were on safari, we had hot water,
powder coffee and powder milk. This is what happens
when you don't mix well enough.

When the boys and I were in Jinja, we went
to an Indian Restaurant. I love how O is
photo bombing this. Warm milk and powder coffee. This place had the biggest selection of Indian desserts we'd ever seen.

An espresso to go! They did have lids I just didn't take one-
 and yes it is in Styrofoam. In Jinja

One weekend when Paul was studying with a classmate the boys and I
treated ourselves to a 'fancy' American breakfast. We
thought the mint lemonade was like being at the country fair.

This was a very Westernized place in the
airport in Dubai. It totally took me back to
my childhood, making early morning drives to
Portland with my father when he would
make the occasional runs to pick supplies up
for the kitchen store. The original Bob's Red Mill being one of them.

Thai iced coffee in process..... Powdered milk
sweetened condensed milk,
evaporated milk and fresh milk.

Sri Lankan mid-day snack and warm milk
with powdered instant coffee.

Funny name for coffee stand in Bangkok.
Yes, it was good. 

A fast food place espresso in Taiwan!

Zanzibar coffee! From our first trip there as a family of 4.

How most of the coffee was in Africa. Or how locals drank it. Instant. 

You would get a carafe of hot water (or sometimes hot milk) 

and warm milk, powdered milk, or no milk. This was when the kids and I went back just the 3 of us.

Starbucks..... and obviously had Wi-Fi .This
was at a beautifully done cultural
heritage center in Taiwan.

Dubai Photos

We did a 'hop on, hop off'' tour  by bus. This is a shot from the top level of the bus.

The bus turned out to be a nice tour of the city, with history thrown in (audio tour part).

Love this.

I tried to take photos in each country of the food we have in the States, but in different languages. The kids got a soda almost every day. NOT remotely the norm at home, they enjoyed it (in fact I think they've had none in the 6 + weeks we've been back, or none with me anyway.)

This child was impossible to photograph on this trip. It would have been easier at times to have a cat pose in a suit for photos.

Another city shot.

What is amazing is that just 200 years ago this was a simple pear diving village. This is from an old fort that is now a museum. We enjoyed the museum very much. 

I have no photos of the indoor ski slope; the gold plated, diamond encrusted cell phone or the great food we had. I think Paul  has them on his iPhone.

Chugga Wedding Photos

 Just a few photos to go with the Traditional Wedding Celebration post, 9/23/13.

Traditional banana beer. Very unfiltered. Made me understand old books written about unfiltered mead and why they write about people wiping their mouths. There is a trick to drinking it that they showed me so you don't get so much of the frothy head. The bride must taste then offer a taste to her husband to be, then family members (in a certain order) then to the older people in the community and so forth.

O was folding origami which drew a crowd that grew larger and larger. This little girl sitting to his right was so shy and wouldn't talk to him when Paul pressured him to say hello to her (I say pressured since he was shy too).

L was drawing pictures, also was interesting to the kids. Here he is giving the portrait he drew to Paul's friend Emanuel.