The Grimm Adventures...

We have been thinking a lot about what sort of food we will be preparing when we are in Tanzania. As you can imagine, the supermarket is not too super, and there is less selection than we have here. We will also have less in the way of kitchen appliances, such as microwave ovens and electric choppers. So we have been looking at our cookbooks with an eye to take one that may have more "from scratch" type meals in it. The one we have settled on, more rustic and...well older, than the rest is The All-Purpose Cookbook Joy of Cooking.

My mother had given us this version on one of her visits because I had mentioned to her that there were a few really great recipes in her copy. The one she gave us came from, I believe the thrift store, where she volunteers and while it is in good shape was obviously well used. It was published in 1973, with its first copyright from 1931. Written by Irma and Marion Rombauer ( either mother and daughter or sisters) I am fairly certain that over 3,000 of the 4300 recipes were in the original version of the book from 1931 as many are very odd indeed, especially the ones for wild game.

We are pretty sure that we will have door-to-door meat salesmen trying to sell us their latest kill and while this will most probably consist of Rabbit or small Antelope for which there are recipes in the book, it is the recipe for Opossum that I would like to share with you.

If possible, trap 'possum and feed it on milk and cereal for 10 days before killing. Clean, but do not skin. Treat as for pig by immersing the unskinned animal in water just below the boiling point. Test frequently by plucking at the hair. When it slips out readily, remove the possum from the water and scrape. While scraping repeatedly, pour cool water over the surface of the animal. Remove small red glandes in small of back and under each foreleg between the shoulder and rib. Parboil, 1 hour. Roast as for pork [on] page 407. Serve with Turnip greens.

This recipe along with the one for wild boar and not only functional, but they provide Abby with much amusement. She cannot believe that people would actually cook these animals and the description of how to do it cracks her up time and again. I don't actually know if 'possums live in Tanzania but rest assured we do not intend to trap, feed, kill, boil, skin and roast our own food. Perhaps the last one, but at this point that is all... I repeat all, I am prepared to do.

As you can imagine I have been checking out the news that is coming out of Tanzania; I set up an RSS feed so I can get all the news that Google finds about the country. Reading the interesting news gives us an idea of what is going on and if there are any concerns. I have a couple of concerns but nothing too distressing. If you know me well you know that I am not a soccer fan and much of the news from Tanzania is regarding different aspects of the different National teams and school teams, "New Coach named, Tanzania Takes it to Nairobi, 3 to nil in a Kicking of Kenya". The number of Soccer-related headlines concerns me that we will have to take up soccer while we are away. But the more disturbing headlines relate to "making rain".

Tanzania has had a history of periodic severe droughts which reek havoc on both crops and live stock. Last year saw such a drought that left millions on the brink of starvation, many cattle dead and an unprecedented disruption to the supply of electricity. In a bid to avoid such a drought in the future Tanzania has sought to gain some technology that would enable the ministry of agriculture to...make rain. In a highly unexpected move the King of Thailand has granted, his own ministry of agriculture , permission to provide his rain-making technology to the Tanzanians. I know what you're thinking and I'm with you. Apparently it is much more complicated than a simple rain dance. Though you may still see a video, at some point, of us out dancing in the dust so we can get some rain on our garden.

The actual method does involve science, chemicals and aircraft or artillery. I am not a hundred percent certain that this is best for the environment of Tanzania. Cloud-seeding as it is called is when one injects foreign materials into clouds in the hope that it will cause them to release some rain. The upside is obvious; rain where you want it when you want it. Questions arise however about the potential downside. What effect will targeted rain have on the natural weather patterns? What will happen to the ecology of the affected areas? What effect does Silver Iodide (the chemical often used in cloud seeding) have on the flora and fauna?

I suppose we'll see which method works best in the months to come. I suspect there is a better chance of me doing a rain dance than seeding clouds...but you never know.

It was another typical Edmonton winter day. Light snow, mild wind, partly sunny and damn cold. It's difficult to complain too much about the cold when the sun peaks through from time to time. I also enjoy a fresh blanket of snow, now that I am not commuting. I like to look out and see the sun glisten off the snow rather than that brownish grey coating everything gets after too many thaws. So that is the day we woke up to today.

Shortly after waking up, Abby and I picked Nicole up at work (at 8:00 AM) and headed to the travel clinic. Abby was less than thrilled with the idea of Immunizations (shots) but did very well on the way there only mentioning that she was not happy about the whole thing. The Nurse was very helpful though loud, and talked to us about where we were going and for how long etc. Then gave her recommendations for vaccines for the different diseases we may come in contact with. Abby would squirm from time to time thinking that the needles would appear at any moment. However it was an hour before we were even ready for the Nurse to go out and prepare the needles. But I am getting ahead of myself. I was struck by the humour of the discussions about diseases, vaccines and side effects.

I know the Nurse must have given the same advice and provided the same explanations hundreds of times and while she was great, she did go quite quickly. She could spout off some long medical name, that I had never heard, as if she were reading a Dr. Suess book for the tenth time in a day. All of these terms went over my head but the side effects of the vaccines were much easier to understand and it seemed a lot like deja vu. I quickly realized that I had heard the same speel many times on TV with the drug ads. "Side effects may include ... and only 25% of those who take dithrohistochloridomeniaphadine experience psychotic episodes lasting longer than 3 weeks and 2 in a million drop dead." I really had to concentrate on what she was saying so I didn't laugh. This was serious and while we knew pretty much what vaccines we needed there may have been some side effect that would have prevented us from getting a certain shot. In the end I took 5 shots, Abby 3 and Nik got off easy with 1. But its not over; I have to go back twice more and Abby will have to come with me in a month for her last shot. This will be a fun visit as I don't think Abby will be able to break her record for loudest scream without a lot of practice between now and then.

by Chad

Lately I have been having many odd dreams, however I rarely remember them in the morning. I am sure that my mind is moving at light speed while my body is "out". Sleep has not come easily for the past month or so, much to do and the uncertainty of the coming year do weigh heavily on my mind. I am, however extremely optimistic about our coming adventure and I know that we will make a happy home and have a great time. But the dreams still wake me in the night I do not wake with a start, as if I had a nightmare, it is more like waking from a nap on the couch somewhat refreshed with a feeling of, "where am I" was I asleep. It is rare that I wake in the morning with a full recognition of the nights inner movie.

This morning was an exception. I woke up unusually refreshed and instantly thought of the odd dreams I had just had. As I haven't had this same level of recollection for some time I put some weight on it and looked up dream symbolism on the Internet. The funny thing about dream analysis is that I cannot find two sources that put the same meaning to my dream.

Let me tell you about one of my dreams. I was at a gas station in a smallish car pulling a smallish trailer. The car was fairly new and the trailer was full of stuff, not junk and not necessarily new items either. It wasn't anything that I really treasured but I had to take it from one place to another. I had someone with me in the car, not a family member and not a friend though I think it may have been a friend from high school. We pulled out of the gas station onto a moderately busy street that curved to the left, as I approached the curve I tapped the brakes only to find that they were not working properly, I assumed it was just the added weight of the trailer hindering the stopping power and proceeded through the curve with no trouble. Then we came upon some slow moving traffic and it became clear that the brakes were not working at all. My passenger began to panic but I remained calm and went through the cars like an expert race car driver. With screaming idiot beside me and more and more traffic on the road I focused on the task at hand and maneuvered the car and trailer through slower moving cars and trucks until I could see a red light ahead at a busy intersection. Cars were passing quickly from left to right as we approached the light and I moved to the right lane easing close to the curb. I was moving at about 80-90 clicks when I jammed the car into a lower gear to try to slow down and barely missed a speeding car as I crossed the two lanes and squealed around the corner heading up a small hill. I thought the hill would be enough to stop the car as I had shifted down a couple of gears, but we crested the hill at about 40-50 and quickly gained more speed on the down slope again weaving through traffic and gaining speed due to what now seemed like a busted transmission. I was going pretty fast as I approached the bottom of the hill and crossed a narrow bridge
that led to a steep up slope. This is where the car finally began to slow down enough that I could jam it into first gear which seemed to work and slow the car so that I could
hit the curb and finally came to a halt. The passenger was ecstatic and ran screaming from the car. I calmly got out and kicked the tire looked at the trailer walked around car and trailer to make sure it wouldn't roll back down the hill. It was secure and I woke up.

So there it is, a vivid dream, rich with symbols I am sure mean something greater than the fact that I am a great driver. I have proven this time and again, from the time I fell asleep at the wheel and dreamt of riding a bicycle only to wake up moments later still driving straight down the road, or the time a truck ahead of us dropped a 45 gallon drum that careened toward us and I drove mere inches from the guard-rail so the drum only contacted the rear bumper with little damage and no loss of life. I know I can drive so that can't be it. If I listen to the wise words of the President of ASD, the Association for the Study of Dreams, (who knew) Patricia Garfield, PhD. I would have to interpret this particular dream in one of two ways; first, the fact that the vehicle had lost its brakes and I went through a red light denotes some sort of lack of control my skills for coping with difficult life situations. On the other hand the skill of my driving under the circumstances has significant meaning and means, according to Doctor Patricia that I have easy "access to skills for coping with difficult life situations." So I will take the latter and say that all is well and believe that someone actually has a PhD in the study of dreams.