Vignettes II

Chitenje Pants!

African fabrics – called “chitenje” in the local vernacular – are gorgeous and diverse. I love the bright colors, and the way many of the nicer wax prints integrate metallic gold. My friend Haley thinks the “nature” colored fabrics in tones of brown and green are simply stunning. Nathaniel neglected to bring any lounge pants on our journey and, considering that we spend a fair amount of time in the evenings reading, playing scrabble or otherwise puttering around, this was something of a miss. Inspired by our friend Finn’s brightly colored, tailor made, version, Nathaniel commissioned me to sew him up some pajamas. After weeks of waiting for Nathaniel to venture into the fabric isle at the market with me, Haley and I take matters into our own hands. 

I copy my Old Navy standbys, with a few adjustments for the guy’s size.

Of course the fabric I picked for myself is a little more wild…

An Embarrassment of Avocados

Nathaniel purchases six softball sized avocados from an affable gentleman near his office for the incredible price of $2.90. With Nathaniel in Blantyre for a few days, I am left with almost too many of these gorgeous fruits. I cut one open to make some guacamole topping for my rice and beans and can just stare in wonderment at the most perfect avocado I’ve ever seen. Inch thick flesh, a perfect pea green color, extends from the pit to the skin on all sides. Unlike avocados earlier in the season, which had a strange, liquid texture (like guacamole you buy ready made from BJ’s or Trader Joe’s) this one has just the right mixture of firmness and creaminess. I use only a quarter and have more than ample quantities to garnish my one-woman meal.

Every time I learn to cook something using this local produce that seems so decadent to me (avocado soup, pineapple cream, mango rum crumble) there is some corner of my brain occupied with the concern that I may develop addictions that will prove dangerously expensive upon our return to the states. Our friends Dave and Haley, normally from San Diego have two words for me, “Southern California.”

Learning Patience

Have you ever waited six minutes (literally…this is not “Typical Harms Exaggeration” here people) for your gmail to load and then merely been happy to get through at all? You’ve read the descriptions of hours long waits in bureaucratic queues and weeks long waits for mail to arrive (if it gets here at all), but it goes beyond that too. Mostly, I’ve lead a crazy, hectic life for the past…10 years? 15 years? Just finding ways to entertain myself with the much slower pace of life here is increasing my attention span more than I would have expected.

Given the general lack of free time in our Boston life, Nathaniel and I had gotten to the point of having mostly joint hobbies to ensure any QT at all. Here, with evenings and weekends stretching out long, Nathaniel’s attending permaculture classes, teaching himself to play the guitar and, of course keeping up his extensive reading practices. Luckily, my need to demand attention is decreasing apace. In fact, I’m so absorbed in The Hunger Games trilogy (highly recommended) over the weekend that Nathaniel is the one who keeps wandering in, lonely and demanding assistance cooking up his sixth batch of molasses cookies…