this week

On Monday the MB parents left Cape Town to go back home. We had a wonderful two week visit during which, among other things, we celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary (!!) with a very special dinner.

On Tuesday I made some heavenly macaroons. The simple coconut kind, not the fancy and incredibly complicated French almond kind. I'll take simple over complicated any day. In need of a macaroon? Just ask Becky Brown.

On Wednesday I got stuck in an hour of Cape Town rush hour traffic (something I am wholly un-used to) and resigned myself to the fact that this will be the story of my life for the next five Wednesdays while I conduct a workshop out of town. But my oh my, what a view to be stuck with.

On Thursday Brendan called me out onto our porch to see the rainbow over our neighborhood. These beauties are a wonderful byproduct of our rainy winters. I also channelled my inner Julia Child and made the most *EPIC* and delicious boeuf bourguignon. The six hours of effort were fully worth it.

And today is Friday. We are going out for a big sushi supper. Life is good.

Nepal videos

Here I am paragliding in Pokhara on a very overcast day. Yes my helmet is too big for my head, and yes that is me yelping as I sail off the edge of the mountain. There is something wholly unnatural about going off the edge of anything so high, but I loved it and B and I are looking forward to paragliding again in Cape Town. Oh, and you'll have to tilt your head for this one...we thought the camera would auto-orient the image but alas that was not the case.

Next we have some Nepali street musicians/dancers. Keep your eye out for the particularly amusing whirling-dervish old guy!

Brendan's original plan was to not shave at all during the trip, heaven help my poor lily white cheeks. The day before we left for the trek he decided to clean up and have a shave at one of the Nepali barber shops. Nature took its course of the rest of our trip, however, and it was a surprisingly good look for him...far better than that horrific mustache.

And finally, a glimpse of the start of our trekking adventure. We rode for 3 hours from Pokhara to Besi Sahar, and then another hour by local taxi to Bahudanda where the Annapurna Circuit officially begins. The bus was overcrowded and the seats were minuscule. I felt sausaged into my seat, so you can imagine how Brendan- who is approximately twice the size of your average Nepali- felt.  While this video is entirely blurry, you get a sense of our jarring, dusty, musical experience.

bluebell

We bought a car last week- a 2010 Honda Jazz. Originally, we going to name it Jazzy Jeff after the Fresh Prince of Bel Air's musical companion (remember when Will Smith was a singer the first time around? before the TV show that launched his career? anyone?), but she was far too feminine to be a "Jeff" so Bluebell it is.

She's a beauty and, in a fantastic twist of fate, she's also an automatic (it's a bit of a story that involves the World Cup and a test drive, and if you really want to know all about it I can tell you via email). Needless to say, I am fully mobile now. Look out, Cape Town!

Brendan loves her. 

I love her. 

Parker hasn't cast his vote yet. That's probably because he gets motion sickness. With any luck, Parker and Bluebell will never cross paths. Otherwise, heaven help the upholstery. 

my new best friend

I would like you to meet Jill. She is my new American friend here in Cape Town. I know that she will be invaluable throughout the upcoming months as I continue to become acclimated. Having someone available to you who really knows the ins and outs of getting around a new city is just the best. Plus she sounds just like me, so there are no confusing accents to trip me up.

Sorry, did you think Jill was a person? No! Jill is the American female voice setting on our new GPS. She speaks abysmal Afrikaans, which gives me a real ego boost with regard to my meager abilities (at least I know how to pronounce "Buitenkant" street correctly...ha!). We are hot on the hunt for a second car, and I am slowly but steadily racking up the manual transmission driving hours (progress report: no curbs were injured during my last lesson).

I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship...

incommunicado

First off, thanks to everyone who has posted lovely comments, sent emails, called, and otherwise shown some love. We had a wobbly transition period into our new home due to some problems with the alarm system and needing to organize pre-scheduled work with some repair men and painters. Nothing major, but such things delay the process of making someone else's house feel like your home. To top it off, we have no internet at home currently and have been feeling a little too out of communication and cut off from the world for our tastes. Soon all this will be resolved and you won't be able to make us shut our pie holes. Consider yourself warned. 

Despite the housing hiccups, the last few days have been plenty full of good times. 

We moved in officially on Monday, but by Tuesday morning had no bowls, spoons, etc unpacked for morning breakfast. So Brendan got creative with his raisin bran. We are now much more settled and have graduated beyond such rustic modes of consumption. Last night we ate a delish vegetable risotto on real plates with real forks and had a glass of our wedding wine in real wine glasses. And this was in front of our first fire in our fireplace. It was all very charming and wonderful.

Parky-pants is settling into his new digs as well. In his prissier moments, he fancies himself as a striking mantelpiece decoration.

 

In moments of relaxation, he makes himself one with the arm of the sofa (this is a classic Parker maneuver, and I'm happy to see it is intercontinentally transferable).

We went on our first real date in Cape Town to Bella Lucia, a darling little restaurant in our neighborhood of Wynberg. 

The food was inspirational: lamb and chickpea stew, pasta rolls filled with butternut and goat cheese topped with arugula, pine nuts, parmesan, and brown butter, and amarula panacotta with carmelized naartjies (a South African tangerine). Heaven.

I've also started my driving lessons. 

It was largely uneventful- a few stalls, a few exasperated drivers stuck behind me, crazy South African taxi drivers giving me heart palpitations...the usual. I did, however, hit a curb at the end of my two hour lesson and managed to scuff the hubcaps on my instructor's brand new teaching car. Oops. She should be thankful that was the worst of my offenses. I am still finding having to make space in my brain to think about a clutch rather exhausting and will continue to fight the good fight toward investing in a manual transmission vehicle. Any support given would be greatly accepted :) 

An then, of course, there is sweet little Hannah.

I think this is probably the best note to end on.