Winter Party

 

Thursday of last week, precisely a week ago, we gave a party at our home. Andy returned from Durban just in time to celebrate his birthday. Now that it is winter, he has been towing friends’ boats for repair and maintenance at the factory in Durban. So, our space outside is becoming small with the trolleys. I hope that the next boat is going to be our Navegador, waiting in line for a year now. If this is going to happen, we do have a guarantee of a good summer to come, full of islands and adventures. I truly hope so!

 

The party was a mere shadow of the one held last year, during the World Cup, when Andy decided to leave girls out and plan something huge just for the boys. It was also far from our summer backyard parties, anyway, it was nice to have music and company again.

 

Despite the cold, they stayed outside until late hours – around ten guys and just a girl. Lots of music and talk, as usual. I’m not including myself because I slept inside for most of the time, still too tired from the recent cold and avoiding the night cold and humidity, here called cacimbo (a very musical word in my opinion). Paul woke me for champagne and cake. After that it was difficult returning to sleep, so I’ve done what I usually do: some write.

 

Na quinta-feira passada, precisamente há uma semana, demos uma festa em nossa casa. O Andy voltou de Durban a tempo de celebrar o seu aniversário. Como agora é Inverno, ele tem estado a rebocar alguns barcos de amigos nossos para manutenção e reparações na fábrica em Durban. Por causa disso, o nosso quintal está a ficar pequeno para os reboques. Espero bem que o próximo barco seja o nosso Navegador, já à espera há um ano. Se isso acontecer, temos a garantia de um próximo Verão bom, cheio de ilhas e de aventuras. Espero bem que sim!

 

A festa foi apenas uma sombra daquela que demos o ano passado, durante o Mundial de Futebol, quando o Andy decidiu deixar as meninas de fora e planear uma grande festa só para a rapaziada. Também ficou muito aquém das nossas festas de Verão nas traseiras de casa, de qualquer forma foi bom ter música e companhia de novo.

 

Apesar do frio, eles ficaram lá fora até bem tarde – cerca de 10 rapazes e uma única rapariga. Muita música e conversa, como é usual. Não me estou a incluir no grupo porque estive a dormir dentro de casa durante a maior parte do tempo, ainda muito cansada da constipação e tentando evitar a humidade da noite, que aqui é chamada cacimbo (na minha opinião, uma palavra muito musical). O Paul acordou-me para champanhe e bolo. Depois disso foi difícil voltar a dormir, por isso decidi fazer aquilo que normalmente faço: escrever um pouco.

Walking by the River

 

We had a quiet long weekend. The big thing in town was the F1 boat race celebrating the 32nd Independence Day. Saturday we went to the Incomáti river just to buy prawns. It is quite a drive to shop for prawns but they are so deliciously special that we never regret the effort. Due to the river water, the taste is very sweet. They are catched at the Incomáti river mouth by local fishermen using small humble boats. In terms of food, there is nothing to compare in the entire world. You can put salt, pepper, spice, whatever… The sweetness remains untouched.

 

Sunday we feasted on them barbecue style (the best way for “tiger prawns”), just with a simple salad. One of my favorites only mixes lettuce, red onion and roasted cashew nuts, with the following seasoning: olive oil, cider vinegar, touch of salt and pepper, and dried oregano.

 

Paul opened a 1996 South African Rhebokskloof Cabernet Sauvignon. By miracle, the “poor old thing” had not yet turned into vinegar. He has been advised not to keep bottles for so long (10 years maximum), but I guess he likes this kind of wine Russian roulette. Sometimes it is vinegar, sometimes it is a poem. He was lucky for this once!

My Thumb

 

It is a sunny place here, sooooo it is wise to pay a visit to the dermatologist from time to time. Skin problems related to sun exposure are quite frequent. Months ago, some strange little spots appeared on Seabell right thumb. She wasn’t really worried, because with this climate a lot of insects do bad things to one’s innocent skin. But the spots didn’t disappear and they seemed to multiply.

 

Finally a little worried, because it could be a nasty thing, Seabell went to the best dermatologist in town. She left her husband waiting outside, doing a little of walking on the patio of the clinic, while she arrived precisely on time of entering the doctor’s room.

 

Seabell stepped inside with a little bottle of water in her hand and greeted the doctor, also an ex-smoker with a little bottle of water on his desk.

 

“Hello!” Seabell and the doctor said simultaneously in a friendly tone.

 

As they know each other, they talked a little first. Then Seabell, without hiding her preoccupation, showed her right thumb to the doctor.

 

“What is this, doctor?” she asked painly.

 

“Let me see! Hum… Hum…” he said while looking all over her hands. “Nothing in your hands, just the right thumb…” he concluded with a relaxed tone of voice that was already a relief.

 

“Do you have any spots on your feet?” he also asked.

 

“Well, I don’t think so, but as I am with sandals it will be easier if you check by yourself…” she told him.

 

“Nothing… Nothing… Perfect… Perfect…” he resumed.

 

“What do I have!!!???” Seabell asked with deep curiosity.

 

“Are you stressed? Have you been sleeping well lately?” he wanted to know to her surprise.

 

“I feel fine, doctor!”

“Well, I tell you that you have an eczema on your thumb and all indicates that it is stress related!” he said in all his sapience already writing an antistaminic prescription.

 

Once outside, Seabell found her husband at the bottom of the stairs looking up.

 

“What is it?” he asked.

 

“I have stress on my right thumb!” Seabell replied instantly. Only after she saw a few puzzled looks on a couple of faces leaving and arriving at the clinic.

Bleue Politique

 

I like coming to this page. It is about the sea, but also about me. I discovered recently that when I open it, the sensation is very similar to the one we usually feel underwater. I know that I have readers because of the stats, but they don’t comment and in part I am grateful for that because their silence it is almost like the silence of diving. I am not a solitary person in real life. Even if I were, I would never complain because I do enjoy being alone. Something that I learned from my own experience is that people who tend to “live” at night usually appreciate solitude.

 

Now that I have talked a little me, lets get to the point. I know that some people out there love to read when I write about politics. Perhaps it is a surprise for them to see how *sweet* blue Seabell is capable of having an opinion…

 

Sometime ago a friend described to us the situation in South Africa with the following words:

 

“Give them time and South Africa is going to be the same as Zimbabwe! It is going to happen slower, but it is going to happen!” Usually when I hear such comments I try to be careful. I don’t want to loose my sleep because of the prophecies of one of the so many discontents of this world. But the opinion came from someone that I see as wise, keen-sighted and moderate in terms of options.

 

Recently I was reminded of his opinion while reading a newspaper article signed by one of the democratic fighters against apartheid in South Africa, a political commentator and also a businessman. I am not saying names, but the article in question was published on June 17.

 

First of all, the author points to the dangers of anarchy and proves it with the tendency “to take the law in our own hands”. (Sounds familiar! Remember what I recently described in my post of June 6?)

 

The second aspect has to do with the problem of less clear ideologies used to justify the slow pace of services delivery. There is a tendency to mistake “legitimacy” with “competence”. Just because someone is from “the party” and black that doesn’t make him competent de per se. The article in question pointed a few cases, but I just want to remember how unfair are measures like creating tax facilities for services employing a certain percentage of blacks.

 

These measures are so unfair like the ones used by apartheid. It is so disappointing to see people that fought against apartheid defending such steps to achieve a leveled society. This is my opinion. I guess that such measures can be discussed under different lights. Nonetheless, at the end I would always write down the same: one must occupy a job by his professional qualities, not by his color. I’ve said it!

 

Not long ago I wrote about a particular bank. Weeks later a scandal broke, a name is going to be out soon but nothing is going to change. Money, power and honesty don’t go hand in hand… At the precise moment I am writing about our neighbour country, South Africans are striking since three weeks for better wages. Political commentators talk about anarchy, about economical instability and the consequences for the region. Not even during apartheid such huge protests took place! The way to look at this scenery is only one: someone is eating too much while others eat too less.

Feeling Great (Again)

 

I am so happy! I couldn’t write it down because I am ashamed of being sick. You have to understand that I never get sick, so when it happens people do look at me in a strange way. You should see the look on my cook Tieta face when she learned that I was with a cold. With her eyes she told me all her surprise, the same amount of surprise you could find in someone believing that you are immortal – which I am not!

 

There are various opinions ventilated about my recent cold. They range from a bacteria brought by Andy, a cold spell because of late hours sleeping while in Nelspruit – with a much colder climate than I am used to – cold water during our last beach walk… I am inclined to the Nelspruit explanation, but I also think that my body needed to be sick just to level the things. I discovered how much better my mind and heart are when for the first time I went out. I felt powerful, happy and all those wonderful sensations that I am used to carry at hand. It has to be this! The weakness of my body put the things at the same level (or at least closer). Having a leveled whole is so important! During these days I had a gentle help, someone that played so little and at the same time so much in my recovery. I own him a lot and I wonder if he is going to know it at all.

 

“And now?” you ask. Now, the sky is the limit!

 

Update: Yesterday I returned to tae bo classes. Our Cuban teacher decided to kick our lazy capitalist bums by introducing push-ups to our routine. JP started his grand adventure in Angola. Tuesday he crossed the border South Africa-Angola at 2pm local time, at Oshikango, in the south, and then turned left to the coast heading to Santa Lucira. When his job is done, Angola is going to be well cabled! TD traveled yesterday for the second time in a month to Paris for a festival in Saint Lieu, Andy left today for Durban and, in Germany, a little brave girl that a know finished her first “maraton”!

 

Informações de última hora: Ontem voltei às aulas de tae bo. A professora cubana decidiu castigar os nossos preguiçosos traseiros capitalistas introduzindo flexões na nossa rotina. O JP começou a sua grande aventura em Angola. Nesta terça-feira atravessou a fronteira África do Sul-Angola às 2 da tarde, hora local, em Oshikango, no sul, para logo em seguida virar para a esquerda, onde fica a zona costeira, em direcção a Santa Lucira. Quando o trabalho dele acabar, Angola vai estar cheia de cabos! O TD voou ontem pela segunda vez num mês para Paris a fim de actuar no festival de Saint Lieu, o Andy partiu hoje para Durban e, na Alemanha, uma destemida pequena que eu conheço acabou de enfrentar a sua primeira “maratona”.

Last Weekends

 

We do have been doing plans for the weekends, but the weather changed a little our drive to go out. Besides our routine activities, we don’t feel like doing a lot more.

 

Sometimes can be pleasant to stay at home. In this case, I can simply wrap something blue around me and, for instance, do a little of creative cooking. This happened recently. I prepared what I call “Mozambican Minestrone Soup” and my personal version of garlic prawns, here called “Camarão à Alhinho”.

 

Mozambican Minestrone Soup
- 3 or 4 nice fresh tomatoes
- 1 large onion
- 3 or 4 gloves of garlic
- olive oil
- spinach
- 1 or 2 carrots
- 2 potatoes
- salt, pepper, whatever you like in your soup

 

Gently fry the onion and garlic in a pan with olive oil. Add the fresh tomatoes finely shopped, followed by the spinach. Add the carrot(s) and potatoes very well chopped (you can use the greater). Add plenty of water and salt to your taste. Let it boil for 30 to 60 minutes. Optionally, you can add more olive oil and Parmesan cheese when serving.

 

Garlic Prawns With Oregano
Prepare polenta, chips or salad as side dish for the prawns. Clean the prawns. You can leave the tails, if you want, and also a couple with skin and head just to give more taste. Marinate the prawns in olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Piri-piri is optional. Put plenty of olive oil in a saucepan, fry enough garlic to your taste, fry the prawns and at the end cover them with more good quality oregano. I opted for dried oregano just because I love it, but you can use other type of herbs like parsley of coriander.

 

I created this version just to prove that “Garlic Prawns” can be tasty without all the butter and fat used in local restaurants.

A Different Walk

 

Paul and I are the most faithful walking duo in this town! Our walking days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday and our favorite walking place still is Miradouro. Last Thursday, when we arrived at Miradouro for our usual walk, we were greeted by stunning pinks and blues on the horizon. Lately, these two soft tones are substituting the usual end of afternoon reds and oranges. It is no longer summer and the best way to feel it is to look at the bay.

 

There are less people on the streets, but it is possible to find other groups of walking aficionados. As a result of less people, business is slow for some. We found a curious meeting going on at one of Miradouro benches. Five street vendors decided to get together and discuss with enthusiasm their common concerns. It was really funny watching them, especially because they had put on the ground, all around the bench, the rectangular cartoons where they carry chips, chocolate and a few other things that they sell from one extreme of Miradouro to the other. It was like saying: “This is a private meeting!” I had never seen such curious professional reunion!

 

During the same walk, we also had the surprise of crossing with one of the finest bachelors I know in this town: Andy! Perhaps due to the cold weather, he decided to be active and is biking almost at the same time as we walk. It was really nice to see him doing some exercise too!

 

Our walks last usually a little more than one hour. When we leave Miradouro, the battle of pinks and blues in the sky is already won by the blues. To our left side, where the bay lies, it is only possible to see shades of blue wrapped on some grey mist. The moon shines very bright on the sky and designs a perfect silvery path on the water. Lately, the bay turned into a gigantic silver mirror reflecting the small lights coming from numerous charming fishing boats.

Feng Shui

 

Some time ago I had the visit of a lady friend that I haven’t seen for a long time. She came inside our house and after a while she looked a little puzzled. I saw her disapproval look directed to my duck collection.

 

Before leaving, she asked me how was my relation with my husband. “Fine”, I answered with astonishment, avoiding asking why. But she explained to me what was her worry.

 

“You know that you are wrong having all these ducks at your home. Feng Shui says that it is ok to have two ducks. If you have more, you are asking for trouble!”

 

“Trouble?” I said showing genuine surprise.

 

“Yes, trouble. That means you will have lots of boyfriends and male attention around you”. Having said that, she left with her wise manner, leaving me speechless at the entrance door.

 

After a second of hesitation, I walked to the gate with the intention of saying:

 

“But the ducks are my husband’s present!”

 

What the heck! Or should I say quack!?

Diary of a Journey

 

1. On the 3rd of this month
Let me tell you that it is far more pleasant to travel this time of the year, when it is fresher. Unfortunately, all puffed in the air when we arrived at the border. Truly indescribable! South Africans solved the crowd problem with a simple measure: separation of pedestrians from drivers. This way the passengers dropped from busses go to one side while the drivers – usually tourists, businessmen or wealthy weekenders – go to the other. When is Mozambican side implement the same measure to stop the torture once and for all?

 

2. Shopping for cameras
First of all, we decided to shop for cameras as soon as arrived in Nelspruit. Despite the fact that the camera was for me, that wasn’t my call. Paul really likes to buy that kind of stuff! In a place like Nelspruit, we don’t have many options. We liked one of those “small black boxes”. After what happened to me on the Marginal, we didn’t want something big, shinning or expensive. Some quality would be fine too. We only found one camera with such characteristics.

 

3. Investing elsewhere
We were a little curious about places that some people from Mozambique are opening in Nelspruit, as investment moves. Why should people invest in SA and not in Mozambique? What is attracting money to that side? We decided to spend the night in a B&B owned by someone from Mozambique. We liked the place. The rooms are a little basic, but the atmosphere and the German management were very much at our taste. Breakfast was one of the best since a very long time, with a special note for the muesli with lots of fresh fruit and the eggs perfectly done, full of paprika and pepper. The German lady in charge confirmed that business wasn’t that good due to competition. However, the owner applied for a subsidy, a way out for small and medium investors in a country taking tourism seriously. If you invest in Mozambique, there are no alternatives at all. If you go down, you stay down. I think that this is enough to explain why even small investors are opting for South Africa.

 

4. Doctors are different
After breakfast, we had to rush to the doctors, beginning with a first appointment with the dermatologist. I think I am going to like him. It gives me a good sensation when a doctor seems to be capable of reading in your blood… That is the only explanation for the first sentence that he pronounced the moment he looked at me: “Are you French?” As for the dentist, I think that I cannot like him the same way, even if he asks me hundreds of interesting questions! After the doctors, we just had to shop and return to Maputo.

 

5. First timer
I traveled for the first time with my computer. It was really nice. While traveling, a computer can be great company. At least now I know that traveling from Maputo to Nelspruit and back takes the same time than writing a short story. It is also nice to keep in touch, because of all existing wireless places. A bit risky too, with all those stories of people killed while carrying a computer!

 

6. Che Guevara
The travel back to Maputo was so good that we arrived at 5:15pm and at 5:30pm I was ready for my tae bo class. I couldn’t resist telling to my Cuban teacher about the camera incident. I think that she was so excited with the idea of someone from her class fighting a thief that her usual energetic attitude doubled at once. The result of all this was that my journey ended up with me (and a whole class of 16 women and 1 man) doing something that not even in a exotic dream I could foresee: dancing Cuban style at the sound of a music whose refrain included Che Guevara! Thanks to my tae bo teacher, that was the first time that I felt really good since my camera was stolen. I think that in the future I have to deal with my attachment to objects that belong to me, enjoying more the contact with people and the uniqueness of moments that life can bring, such as dancing some salsa tune about Che.

Best of May

 

May was a good month for me. Perhaps because May was so good, June had to start the wrong way with the camera incident. In May happened at least three important things in my life, each one of them worth mentioning as best. Nonetheless, I am going to underline something that occurred very far from where I am.

 

During May, the press was taken by surprise with the news of a treasure discovery. It is curious how a fact happening so far could bring back hope to our quest of finding our own underwater treasure!

 

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/05/explorers_find_.html

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6645472,00.html

 

JP was here and commented at once that if local rules about underwater cargos were clearer, he and his buddies could bring back to light almost everything that still remains in this coast. Thanks to another people good luck, May had a certain taste of possible. Adventure and fortune dreams are difficult to die!