Two trios: Since I did not get photos of the gecko or my dinner, I just decided to add a couple of favorite photos from my most recent visit to Uganda...
We’ll start with the last one first. Yes, my name is Phoebe and I’m not a closer.
“Closer to what?” you ask. Or at least that is what I would be asking. There is a television show called “The Closer.” I don’t believe I’ve ever watched it on TV but I do sometimes see it on airplanes when the flight is long and there are no better options with which to pass the time. It’s a crime drama about a woman who is especially good at solving (or closing) cases that no one else can figure out.
I always get the feeling that the title is supposed to be quite dramatic and impressive, and yet every time I see it written somewhere, I think “closer to what?” and then realize, “Ohhhhh, The Clozer.” Which takes away from the intended impact a bit, I'm sure.
Anyway, whatever you think of the word, I am coming to the realization more and more that I am not one. In baseball (not that I’m by any means an expert) I think they give this title to the pitcher who finishes out the game. If I were a pitcher, I would not be this guy. I might be the one who starts out the game, or even the one who cleans up the mess of the one who starts out, when he’s having a bad day. But I would not be the closer.
I can easily and quickly complete 99% of almost any task. It’s that last one percent that nearly does me in. Take, for instance, this very blog. Two years ago the last entry I made was that I would be back with a last update "in the next few days." The next entry was when I was getting ready to move to Rwanda.
More recently, I turn to the example of unpacking my boxes. For those who may not have heard yet, my shipping container finally arrived in June and I have been having a wonderful time unpacking everything -- or at least most of it. I had somewhere in the neighborhood of 140 different items, boxes, bins, etc, to unpack. I sailed through the first 120 in record time in spite of interruptions like trips to Kenya, Ghana, and just plain old having to go to work. The final 20 have been sitting mostly untouched for over a week now.
It’s because I moved on to curtains. I had been collecting fabric from various countries during the months that I didn’t have anything in my house and once I had unpacked things like beds and the sofa and dishes and some decorations, I decided it was much more important (or should I say interesting) to do something about the faded peach drapes I’ve been living with since March.
The good news is that I’ve finished everything except the last two windows so I can now move on to the next project. You may think I’m joking, but already I’m beginning to rub my hands in anticipation of drilling holes in the walls as I look at all items propped on tables and against floorboards that need to be hung.
moving on to geckos
Geckos crack me up. They truly seem to believe that regardless of their color or where they're sitting, if they just sit still enough for long enough, no one/nothing will know they are there. In other words, all geckos believe they are chameleons.
It’s probably good that I had been traveling into warm climates for several years before moving here. Staying in many places where buildings are not sealed tight and doors and windows are often open and walls sometimes only go halfway up had long ago cured me of the mentality that only human beings and select, chosen pets should be allowed inside buildings.
For instance, there are these funny little worm-type creatures that continually find their way into the house. They like to curl themselves up sort of like those little roly bugs we played with as kids. The first couple times I did pause and think, “Hmm, I wonder what could be done about keeping those out of the house.” But 4.5 months and several dozen worms later, I just laugh at the various odd places I find them curled up.
(Before I pat myself on the back too many times I have to admit that there was a mouse who had decided to make himself at home in my kitchen a while back and no matter how many geckos and worms I'm willing to put up with, that was not okay with me.)
And then of course there are the geckos. Lest some of you are beginning to think twice about ever coming to visit me, be assured that neither the worms nor the geckos are overrunning the house. They’re just around, here and there. They say that geckos catch bugs, and so I don't mind a few of them running up and down the walls now and then.
Last night there was one in an upper corner of the dining room. He was especially small, and these I find particularly cute. He sat there for ages and ages and I got the distinct impression that he was humming to himself, “She can’t see me, she can’t see me, she can’t see me.” Finally he told me to turn on some music. Okay, not really but I sat watching him for long enough that I became very aware of the silence and said to him, “You’re right, we do need some music,” and turned it on.
and then there is the salmon
I was reading my friend Dara’s blog yesterday (by the way, she and I had a fun couple days wondering around Accra, Ghana, at the beginning of July) and she inspired me. It was an entry she had written a couple months ago, talking about the various things she has learned to cook and bake in rural Ghana with unusual ingredients and challenging cooking situations. It made me realize I had gotten into a rut with my cooking.
It's mostly because certain foods last longer. Cabbage and green beans, for instance, last a long tine. Since I moved here, I don’t believe I’ve ever thrown out green beans or cabbage because they spoiled. Avocados, on the other hand, one must eat within a couple of days. I don’t throw them out either, by the by, but I do suddenly find myself eating two or three in a day sometimes in order to keep from doing so. Thankfully I really love avocados so this isn't a big problem.
Because of my recurring travel during the last 6 months, these food facts have been driving my buying decisions, since I need food that holds up well. And last night I was feeling rather tired of everything I’ve been eating. I started rummaging around to see what new combination I might come up with and before I knew it had a regular gourmet meal for one in the works.
The menu? In fancy restaurantese: Salmon Cakes on a Bed of Steamed Cabbage with Toasted Gouda Crostini Bites Complemented by a Tree Tomato & Tonic Spritzer. In plain English, it was tasty.
When I was buying things for my shipping container my friend Erin encouraged me to get some canned salmon. I bought a few cans, but I will admit that I was a little skeptical. While I love fresh salmon, I wasn’t sure if canned salmon was something that would particularly excite me. Erin, I was wrong. After six months of no salmon at all, these little salmon cakes tonight were one of the nicest treats I’ve had since I got here.
And so, my friends, I ate happily in the company of my friend the gecko and finished 100%, while contemplating about 5 of the boxes that I haven’t gotten round to opening and admiring one of the windows that I did get round to making curtains for.
postscript--
In case anyone is interested in recreating my little meal, to the salmon I added egg, some crushed crackers that I can buy here that are sort of like soda crackers, garlic, dill, parsley and a touch of cayenne. Once they were formed into cakes I lightly coated them in flour so they would brown nicely in the olive oil. (I cooked them on very low heat so they would firm up a bit on the inside.)
For the greens, I sautéed a few onions in a bit of butter before adding the cabbage and steaming it till it was cooked but not limp.
The little “crostinis” were actually a plain white bread I can get here. It’s frankly dried out within a couple hours of getting it home, but it’s very cheap and I’ve noticed that it makes really nice toast, grilled cheese, etc. So I cut these into quarters, put a bit of butter on the under side and gouda on the top and very slowly toasted them in a covered pan so they would brown on the bottom while also melting the cheese (a locally made gouda is almost the only cheese you can find here...).
As for the tree tomatoes, I don’t know if you can get your hands on in North America. Which is too bad because they’re the most brilliant color inside and after a little pureeing with a hand blender and mixing them with tonic water, they made a beautiful drink and added nice color to an otherwise somewhat pale meal. If you happen to live in Ecuador, if I remember correctly tree tomatoes do grow there!
