AfricanKelli

I ran errands with my mom this morning while my car was being repaired. We took my grandparent’s geezer mobile because as my mother said, “Well, it was parked in the driveway and it’s not my gas…”

My mom had dropped them off yesterday at the airport and will pick them up next week after their lovely, aging skin has turned a perfect golden Hawaiian brown. Being left at home, my mother feels the least she can do is drive their ginormous Buick and bitch about not being on the beach. Instead, we were left to swelter in the Phoenician heat.

[Yes, I am still complaining about the weather. Yes, it is still above 100 degrees. Yes, they have brought out fall merchandise at the mall just to taunt me. Pumpkins, people. It is so hot, the cactus are dying, and yet, Macy’s has pumpkins on display.]

So, we are out and about in the giant Buick when I realize that Oh. My. God. the car I’ve been in all afternoon has a “W” sticker on the back of it.

I look at my mother in despair.

“Do you see that?” I ask, trying to remain level-headed.

“Yes.”
“Well? Do you feel like your ovaries are climbing up in your body, shriveling and dying? Mom, don’t believe what you read. ‘W’ is NOT for ‘women.’”

“Honey,” she replies coolly, “I don’t know how to tell you this, but my ovaries up and died a long time ago. Get in the car.”

Huh.

My roommate has been talking about moving, with her boyfriend, into their own home. That would mean approximately 450 square feet more for me. (And several hundred dollars a month less.) Rather than find another roomie, I’ve decided to live by myself for the first time. It is thrilling and terrifying to think about having my entire tiny home all to my anal retentive cleaning Monica Gellar self.

·        The opportunity to bake in the nude, if so desired. (Thrilling!)

·        The emptiness of returning home after a long trip to dust bunnies greeting me at the door. (Not so thrilling.)

To focus on the positive, I’ve decided to turn the space into an art room, where my sewing machine, rubber stamps, barrel of yarn, writing desk, and slew of paints, ink, fabric and needles will finally have a permanent residence. I’m considering painting a mural on one of the walls, or painting them all some outlandish color like tangerine or lilac. Or maybe I’ll go with the Phoenix Suns motif and do both.

I am so excited. Hopefully there will be enough room for a small futon as well so I’m no longer on the couch when guests come to town. Yippee!

On the current craft table (aka, the kitchen table), rest a slew of knitting projects that need to be finished. I’ve started this for Shayla’s birthday, which was two weeks ago. But I used my eBay yarn and ran out about 1 skein before I meant to. I’m new to this knitting thing. Thankfully, Kim at Fiber Fancies is dyeing me more yarn so I can complete the project. Say it with me, yippee!

The table also has a dozen pieces of African fabrics, which will slowly be converted into tote bags and sent to African Knits participants as thank yous. I’m thinking about lining the bags with felt and creating hand-sewn coin/lip gloss pouches to match. I’m headed to the fabric store after work tonight to browse. Any suggestions on using/sewing felt are welcomed.

Otherwise, I finished a great knitting project for Kacey as a going away gift. I’m excited to give it to her tomorrow. And I’ve almost got Finny’s birthday bag completed. I’m stuck on the part of the pattern that calls for three handled stitch. Or something like that. It should all be ironed out during my scheduled road trip with the Great Quilter this weekend. She will answer the questions and drive the car and I will curse and scream and eventually figure it out with her coaxing. Woo hoo! I love giving homemade gifts.

I know. I know.

I’m a dork.

Did I also mention I LOVE this month’s issue of Martha Stewart Living? The stamping section rocks. Literally. Who knew you could stamp rocks? So inventive, that Martha. What do you bet that ankle bracelet has some great little knitted weave around it to minimize the chaffing? Martie, you crafty crook, you.

If there were one person to blame for my domesticity, look no farther than Finny herself. It was her knitting, baking and sewing ways that turned me on to all this nonsense years ago. And now, I sit at work with piles of things to do, dreaming about my Singer and the thread I’m going to use, and the card I’m going to stamp to go with the gift. And the ribbon, the ink, the pattern…

The Fin and the Donk.

~AK

I’m having a bit of a problem with my new digital camera. I don’t know all of the settings yet and I’ve obviously selected the “blurry” option for many of my
Nicaragua photos. Nonetheless, they are now downloaded and available for viewing here.

The trip went something like this: arrive in Nicaragua, take a yellow school bus three hours north to Jinotega, go out for drinks with staff, take some photos of flowers around the hotel, go to the baptism, go to the hospital and hang out with new moms, go to a community health meeting, have one of the ladies in this community make me lunch, come home.

Brief, but to the point.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of this trip was returning to the community hospital and visiting the maternity ward. By ward, I mean overstuffed room. There were a dozen women who’d had a baby in the last day resting in the room. Some were hooked up to IVs and some were waiting for a pole to become available so they could get medication. I’d found several packages of onesies at Wal-Mart on clearance before the trip. I scooped them up and happily handed each mom a new piece of clothing. They also posed with their babies while I took Polaroids. They were thrilled to watch their photo develop before their very eyes. I get such pleasure in moments like these. It is a simple joy to give someone a photo, or a $2 piece of clothing, but it made them feel special. I loved it.

A couple of the moms were indigenous women who’d hiked into the hospital after delivering at home. Home births are not uncommon, but seeing indigenous people in the hospital is. They were from such outlying areas, they didn’t speak Spanish. However, our midwives have provided enough information to their communities that they knew they needed to take their little ones into the hospital when signs of danger presented. Public health at work. Yay!

Also, you’ll see knitted items above newborns in incubators in several of the photos. When I returned from Mozambique, there was another small package of African Knit items that had arrived. These were distributed to premies at the hospital. Their mothers were very thankful. So am I.

Cheers,

Kelli

Thankfully, the Nicaraguan mechanic worked muy bien y aqui estoy. I made it home safe and sound late last night and even mustered the energy for an ass-kicking 92 degree run this morning. My routine has returned. Yay!

One of the many not-so-productive things I’ve accomplished in the last month is the completion for four novels. I know! Can you believe it? Well, that’s what ample time will do to you. I finished, “The Lovely Bones,” which was indeed lovely. I enjoyed the character’s perspective of heaven. She described it as such a personal space and I like the idea of being able to watch over my family one day. Three out of five bananas.

Then came an Oprah book, which I swear I will never do again, and then invariably end up reading yet another one of these sappy tales. I love Opie, but for the love of all things literary, she knows how to pick novels that make me a little weepy. Okay, a lot weepy. “Midwives,” made me actually consider having a midwife someday or even become a midwife. I loved the details the author included and the scenery. I’ve never been to
Vermont, but this book makes me want to give it a whirl. Four out of five bananas. Bravo!

Then came “Everything Is Illuminated” by Jonathan Safran Foer. Foer is this young and hot upcoming author the New York Times fawns over regularly. When I found this book on the Book Boat for just $1 (or a handful of meticals, at the time), I was thrilled! I’d been wanting to read his book for quite some time and here it was! So cheap! So perfect! And in big print. Yay! The book was nothing what I expected, but was entertaining and I read it quickly. When it was all said and done, however, I couldn’t help but wonder why Foer has been labeled this great “Jewish author” of Generation X. The book had absolutely nothing to do with Judaism. Then I read the acknowledgement page and became completely lost. It was written by a literary agent who was mourning the death of the book’s author, Willie. She said how much she’d miss him and how proud she was of “Taps” and she was thankful the book had been published as Willie’s last.

What?

Then I pulled the cover off of my $1 Book Boat find only to discover, yes you guessed it, it was not “Everything is Illuminated,” but some other book with the wrong cover! Some book called “Taps!” (Which, by the way, this title is much more fitting.) I laughed at my error and shook my head. Oy. Next time, review the cover page before buying discount books. “Taps” gets three out of five bananas.

I was disappointed I hadn’t yet read Foer, after reading such hype. I found a lone remaining copy of the actual “E is I” in Houston and scooped that sucker up. I’m 60 pages in, it has a LOT to do with Judaism and I am loving it. He really is creative and funny and worth the hype. So far, anyway.

The other book I read was “The Millionaire Next Door,” loaned to me from The Amazing Zippered Woman. I give this read one banana out of five. Let me sum up the book in one sentence: their financial advice is to be cheap and save your cash. Don’t splurge on nice clothing, watches, cars or homes. Live cheap and then you can retire early and budget for the rest of your life.

This is not my plan. I like to save and am getting better at it, but I work to have fun, not to spend my Saturday morning cutting coupons.  I got mostly through “MillionsSaved” also. Not a financial planning book, but one on how to plan great health programs; One for any public health cronies out there. It is an excellent read about programs that have worked well in the last 50 years, including the eradication of small pox.

Today I’m off to find the latest issue of Elle magazine, which has a smoking hot photo of Jessica Simpson on the cover. I’m getting my hair cut like hers in this shot. It is a great bob with a thick bang. Love it!

Cheers,

Kelli

Ahh… the Nicaraguan adventure continues.  After getting up at
3:45 am (even early for me), I crossed the street to the airport where I stood in the same line until 8 am. Yes, 8 am. When I reached the counter, I was politely informed that our plane is broken and parts are being flown in.

I am thankful they figured this out beforehand.

So, it is back to my hotel room for eight hours, or so, to watch CNN en EspaÑol! and try to find something for lunch that involves absolutely no beans, rice, tortillas or fried bananas. I´ve had my fill, so to speak, and unfortunately packed my immodium in the luggage that is now on the plane, on the tarmac, not moving. To sound like a petty American for a bit, I just want a bowl of shredded wheat with skim milk I can trust has been pasteurized (thank you Shamrock) and a good, long run. Is that too much to ask? The silly things we appreciate when they are not available.

Enough complaining. This trip has been lovely. I´ve been very, very lucky to see some incredible places this summer, eat great meals, play with cute kids and have a good bit of time for reflection, knitting, reading and writing. I have a pretty funny story about the book I thought I was reading and a mishap with a book cover, but it will have to wait until I am not in an Internet Café with a dozen Texan missionaries staring over my shoulder.

Oy, vey, y´all.

Here´s to being stateside manana!

Saludos,

Kelli

There is an Internet cafe next to my hotel — which has HBO — that has high speed access for less than $1 per hour. I am officially living large! It´s always nice to be reminded how technologically behind you are by visiting a developing country with more advanced amentities than you are accustomed to. On the other hand, I´ve yet to find a bagel shop, Barnes and Nobel or Banana Republic. So I´m not moving here any time soon.

The bus ride from the capital to Jinotega was uneventful, thankfully. I wanted desperately to take photos of the bus but soon realized the batteries in my camera were muerto. I will take some shots on the way home Monday. If you´ve ever wondered (and really, why would you?) what they do with old Blue Bird giant yellow school buses once they´ve passed their prime, the answer is they ship them to Nicaragua. These are the common man´s transport. It cost me 100 cordoba to get from the hotel to the bus station  via taxi (about a 5 minute ride) and just 60 cordoba to get from Managua to Jinotega — about four hours via bus. Go figure.

Tomorrow I´ve effectively got the day off, which is slightly thrilling. The baptism and health meeting I´m here for aren´t until Sunday. So, I´ll more than likely take a long hike to the top of one of the many surrounding mountains, take some photos, feed hungry dogs,  knit, walk around and email.

For $1 an hour, I might read the Times and catch up on blogs too. It may just be a fun Saturday yet!

As much as I enjoy traveling for work, I am looking forward to spending Fall in the U.S. I feel like I haven´t seen my girlfriends in months, my garden is dead and I´ve got laundry stacked in my closet. Then again, I should probably just enjoy HBO while I´ve got it.

Buen fin de semana a todos,

Kelli

I made it into Nicaragua safely this evening. We had lots of weather delays, but the bbq at the Houston airport made it all worthwhile. It isn´t often I eat at an airport and think, ¨Man I hope I can eat here on the way home!¨

Tomorrow morning I´ll get up early, take a taxi to the bus depot and then take an Indiana Jones style bus to Jinotega. It is the rainy season and Jinotega should be a balmy 75. It is a much welcomed break from Phoenician heat.

I more than likely won´t have Internet there, but will check in when I get back to the capital. Wish me luck on the godmothering. Gulp.

Kelli

My claim with British Airways has been formally filed. I hope to have a new Rebel by the fall. I discovered yesterday that some clothing had been stolen also, including my Gap jean jacket. Pathetic as it is, I wore this thing ALL the time and it will be nearly as missed as the camera. I hope to find another one at the outlet before winter.

I managed to bring home two rolls of film, in addition to the digital images already posted. Here are some pics from my work at the orphanage. I volunteered with the other Americans in the evenings at the center. We would help feed, bathe and put these little beauties in bed. It was a sweet ritual. They are well cared for, but it couldn’t help but break my heart that the same little boy I fell in love with last time I was there was still at the orphanage.

December 2003

July 2005

Oy. If only I were Angelina, had a movie star budget and thought I could handle adopting a child by myself. Chico would be the one.

The remaining random photos from the trip can be found here. I love the shots of the school.

I’m off to Nicaragua for work tomorrow. Catch you on the flip side.

Cheers,

Kelli

If I’m known for anything, it is my ability to sleep. Planes, trains, automobiles. 12 hours, 14 hours, once even 15. I’m an unabashed lover of clean sheets, a comfy bed and lots of time for slumber.

You can imagine my dismay when jet lag comes a knockin’. I haven’t gotten more than six hours of continuous sleep in the last week. In combination with the ever-so-fantastic oven-like weather, I’m getting a bit jittery. I woke up at 4 am this morning ready to go. After briefly considering yet another episode of pre-dawn “Hawaii 5-0,” I instead decided it was time to get going. I was at the gym in the pool by 4:45 and to work an hour early. Now, of course, the energy was waned and I’m exhausted and so ready for a mid-morning nap. I know my friends with children are reading this right now and thinking, “Can you believe she is complaining?”

My true dismay of the week is that I’m once again mid-knitting project and have run out of yarn. Of course, this isn’t the typical dismay of, “Oy, now I have to find time to make it to the yarn store on the other side of town before it closes at 5 pm.” But more like, “Oy! I bought this yarn on eBay. Now what do I do?”

Shay, your birthday gift may take a bit longer to arrive than planned. My bad. My mother keenly suggested I start buying a third skein of yarn when starting projects because I’ve pretty much never had enough yarn to finish anything as planned. Such wise advice, while needed, still hits the gut like a giant “I told you so.”

I’m going to steal away early from work and get an afternoon nap and perhaps find the time to hit the craft store to find a solution. And maybe some gelato.

~AK

I started this blog a few months ago because I wanted to share my travel journals and photos. I was inspired by Robin, Dooce and Mrs. Kennedy. Their witty writing and photography provided a pleasant break to the day.

I appreciate the email many of you have sent in support of my work. It is nice to have interest in what I’m doing. It took a bit of time, but I sorted through the 300+ photos I took in
Mozambique and have posted a handful here.

Also, I’ve been climbing Camelback Mountain intermittently for two years. There is a majestic saguaro on the path I’ve long wanted to photograph. Yesterday was the perfect day. Photos of the beauty and the view from the top can be seen here.

Cheers,

Kelli