Strawberries in December?

We ordered 5 bundles of strawberries from a local farm here. The strawberries are at their prime right now and the taste could not be sweeter. I bought WAY more than I thought we could eat thinking I would freeze several bags. Until I realized:

Asa can eat half his weight in strawberries in only one sitting.

Sedona can pound back the berries until her belly nearly explodes.

And, within two nights, the bag was empty and the kids were begging for more.

I will be placing another order soon. How can I resist this strawberry smeared face?

What We Eat

Here is a brief overview of what is part of our diet here in Nepal...

Milk

I think because of the Hindu 'Holy Cow' belief, they can't bare to round up a million cows and use them for their dairy. (We are talking about a country where the cows have the right away in city traffic, not the people). Therefore, there is a significant lack of dairy products here. I didn't realize how much I loved cheese and yogurt until I had no chance of really finding it.

Here is the milk that we use. It sits in our pantry for weeks until it is ready to be opened. I lived in Romania and Croatia and during that time, I never once opened a 'boxed milk'. Axel always tried to convince me that it wasn't so bad but I was headstrong and the gross factor was way too high in my books. Now, over 9 years later, I have given into using boxed, unrefridgerated milk on a daily basis. I am so converted that Axel found some fresh milk nearby and that I would not drink. In a bag, on ice? Nah, ah.

Yogurt

This is the only stuff I can find that remotely resembles real yogurt. Again, you buy this stuff unrefridgerated and you can even take it from a communal container. I splurge a little and buy the one that is in its own container. Cause I am a little snobby like that.

This isn't so bad if you blend up some mango, strawberries, or whatever is to your liking and mix it with this 'sweetened' stuff. It is not quite like my favourite Yoplait Thick and Creamy yogurt, but it will have to do.

Eggs

I knew our chickens would come in handy. Everyday, we get an egg out of our hen and, what do you know, it tastes the same as all other eggs I have eaten. It almost makes it worth waking at the butt crack of dawn from the loud rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo.

I said almost...

Fruit and Vegetables

If it is in season, you can find it. If not, it is like trying to find an English song on the radio. (It ain't going to happen). We have plenty of produce at our home but it is also fun to barter on the streets.

Mangos and lychees

Typical fruit vendor

Here is part of our garden. It is full force right now and gives us plenty of stuff for our typical stirfrys.

This is our squash that had latched on to our peach tree.

Dal

No real Nepali meal is complete without dal. It is the staple food here and our maid, Kopila, makes it every night. The kids love it, I enjoy it, and Axel hates it. It is a seed of some kind and I hear it is an excellent source of protein. Although Axel and I love Indian food we also both agree that it all just looks like various shades of poop. Dal is the yellow kind. However, if you close your eyes and try it, it is quite tasty.

MoMos

A close second to dal is the national Nepali food, The MoMo. If you take a Nepalese person to a restaurant, they want momos; if you invite them for dinner, they want momos; if you go to the grocery store to buy food, they buy momos. I admit, they are tasty but their obsession for the momo baffles me. They also have a way of telling if the momo is good or poorly made. I have yet to figure it out. I have had momos that cost 50 cents for a dozen, and I have had momos that cost $3 a dozen (which is expensive for Nepal). They taste the same, it is a momo.

The Nepalese people love the momo so much they have a momo mascot, you know, kind of like Ronald McDonald.

The momo man

I do enjoy my momo every now and then. They come in veg, chicken or buff (as in buffalo). Not a bad snack, just not every day, every meal, all the time--thank you.

Now that I have shared with you what is on the menu, do you still want to come over for dinner?

Al Fardan Preschool

Preschools in Doha can easily run around 6K a year per kid. I got suckered into sending both Heavah and Xavier to preschool in Dubai, but soon realized that they were not doing long division or quoting shakespeare by the end of the year. I was not going to pay a college tuition for Dona to go to preschool to learn her alphabet and colors. Plus, I adore Sedona and can't stand the thought of being away from her for too long during the day. Golden children do that to you.

In protest to the huge tuition fees, several moms and I formed a preschool coop. It works out great. Six cute kids, all in close proximity, and all Mormon. Each mom has a week- Mondays and Wednesdays-and we have a schedule but really encourage flexibility and the use of our talents as moms. It is perfect and the best thing for Sedona. The kids love it and it really isn't that excruciating for me, when it is my turn.

This week I had the letter 'S'. What a great letter. There are so many easy ways of getting kids excited. We had a superhero day, ate strawberries and soup, and did some serious sponge painting. It was pure three-year old bliss.

Tomorrow I will be doing 'season's. We will plant seeds and make fake snow. It should be a low key day considering that in the evening all the moms will be boarding a plane for Goa, India (except for Michelle who is nauseously gravid. We will miss you!). In many ways the preschool has been great for the kids, but it is especially great for the moms. This will be really true after we arrive home with tanned skins and stories to share.

Namaste.

Strawberry Fields & Bombs

Sedona's love of strawberries inspired me to make this dress. It was a fun one that I designed myself. Yeah, cause my girls need more dresses.

In other news: While we were at church today we were told that a bombing took place at the Catholic church in Kathmandu. Apparently some Hindu extremists placed a bomb inside the chapel area. Two people killed, a dozen injured. To be honest, I am in shock. I never felt that I, as a Christian, could be a target for violence in Nepal. This is a first. There are very few Christians in Nepal and we aren't sure why the Catholic church was specifically targeted.

So, if it isn't a King being murdered, a Prime Minister resigning, or a lack of water, electricity or petrol, it is a terrorist attack.

Never a dull moment.