Part 2…Internet solutions…Photos of our neighborhood…Monkeys came to call…

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This is a mother Colobus monkey and baby, a photo we borrowed from this link.  How we’d love to find a Colobus Monkey to photograph!
This is a young Colobus Monkey, the endangered species that ran through our yard this morning.  They ran so quickly that we were unable to get our own photo and borrowed this photo from this site.

OMG! OMG! Two monkeys just ran through our yard!!! With the camera several steps away, we missed the opportunity to get a shot! From now on, it will be at my side. 

Researching online, we both found the species of the monkeys as shown above, the endangered Colobus Monkey.  This site is quite interesting, if you have a moment to read it.

Now, on to the rest of our story…

Yesterday, as we exited the main gate to our area, we were on the main road, on a mission to locate the vegetable stand we’d heard was nearby.

Upon awakening this morning, the humidity hangs as a heavy drape over the horizon along with the smoke of fires burning around us. With no ban on burning in Kenya, the acrid smell of toxic smoke frequently wafts through the air.

Cloudy today, the mosquitoes seek refuse by nibbling on our flesh. I killed 3 of them this morning, buzzing around my head as I quickly lathered on the foamy insect repellent after taking a shower. I never feel clean. The bottoms of our feet become black again after a short time causing me to wonder, if perhaps, the black on the floors is actually the soot from the nearby fires.

Our new vegetable stand is a short walk from our home.  Notice the motorcycle.  The produce is delivered by motorcycle each day!

Any of our family and friends reading this may scratch their heads wondering how, Mr. & Mrs. Comfort Freaks, are possibly surviving the hardships of the last several months; the flies, the bees, the scary road, the remote existence in Boveglio, Italy and now…the challenges of Africa, living in the first of three countries on the continent.

Somehow, we are OK, more than OK. Tom particularly surprises me, less than myself. After all, it was my idea to come to Africa. I’d better not complain. In reality, I don’t feel a desire to complain. The annoyances only flutter through my mind momentarily from time to time. 

This is Gabriel, our new vegetable guy, who runs the vegetable stand, a mere two minute walk after exiting the main gate to our complex.  He said he will order produce for us at any time, arriving the next day, fresh from the fields.

Then again, living in extreme comforts in our old lives prompted me to be annoyed from time to time. It’s the human element. We always want better, different or more.

As I sit here in our outdoor living room at 9:00 am on a Sunday morning, when in the past we may have been watching CBS’s show Sunday Morning, with no TV here and little ability to stream videos any longer, we find ourselves somehow at peace.

At the moment, the hoot of morning doves, myriad birds, the occasional howl of a monkey, this mornings two monkeys running past us, the frequent baa of the goats in our yard and the crow of the nearby roosters brings us comfort. 

The anticipated rain has begun to fall creating a pleasing sound of the raindrops on the palms and fronds of the many trees and over sized plants in our yard as they welcome the much needed water. After all, its almost spring here. The full bloom of the flowers is yet to come.

A bee just swarmed my coffee mug. Tom laughed and said “Humm…in the US we worry about the African killer bees. Now we’re in Africa.” I laughed, moving my mug to another spot as the bee flew back out of our screen free outdoor living room.

Without pesticides and chemicals, the produce can wilt quickly and maybe infested with bugs.  These tomatoes had just arrived, actually looking quite good. Notice the molding cauliflower and the brown lettuce.  Gabriel told us his fresh deliveries arrive in each day around 11 am by the guy on the motorcycle in this photo.

As I replaced my coffee for hot tea, I decided to clean a few of the green beans  we’d purchased yesterday as shown in the photo below.  Wrapped around two separate beans were the most outrageous worms I’ve ever seen, black, hairy.  I didn’t scream.  I tossed those beans into the trash. Guess they don’t use pesticides on the veggies from the neighboring produce stand. That’s comforting.

Tom brought up the point to mention the raw cabbage and carrots we enjoy in our daily dose of coleslaw being exposed to the non-purified water when washing.  We’re using bottled water for all of our beverages and cooking.  As for cleaning the cabbage, I tear off the first several leaves leaving the interior leaves for slicing, unwashed.  If I see a bug, toss it out.  We’ve done this everywhere we’ve lived outside the US.

The carrots on the other hand, are more challenging. Without washing them, I peel the carrots after removing the stems. Then, I place the raw peeled carrots in a bowl of purified water to rinse them thoroughly. Then, I wipe them dry with a clean paper towel, promptly storing them in the refrigerator. 

This batch of vegetables was KES (Kenya Shillings) $150, US $1.72.  The more we travel, the more we are amazed by the lower cost of food in other countries as compared to the US.

So far, so good, no illness.  Of course, we brush our teeth using a fresh glass of purified water kept in the bathroom, rinsing our mouths and the toothbrush using our water. Washing dishes is another matter, with no dishwasher (no microwave, either), we used the hottest local water, leaving the dishes to completely dry overnight. No problem doing this either.

Hans, our landlord, explained that the water is safe to drink here in Diani Beach and that many past guests have not used bottled water, without incident. For us, we choose the conservative side, to do the very best we can to protect ourselves. 

The local restaurants use purified water, enabling me to have a salad last night when we dined out.  We’ll write and post photos from our amazing dining out experience on Saturday night in Monday’s post. Too much to tell all at once!

Still reveling in the excitement of seeing the monkeys this morning, the sights and the sounds, the wonderful local people we’ve met thus far further affirms why we don’t complain and…why, our friends, we are in Africa.

Less than 2 days and counting…A little fear…A lot of excitement…

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Everything I own, except six pairs of shoes in a smaller bag, to be sucked into the Space bags.
A pile of clothes I’m offering to Lisa, owner of the house.  If they don’t fit or she doesn’t want them, perhaps she’ll give them to someone else.  It no longer bothers me to get rid of my stuff.  Bye, stuff!

A flutter of excitement began to waft over me this morning, as I ran from room to room, gathering, sorting, and planning. We’re on the move. In less than two days we’ll be out the door on three travel days to Africa, in itself a daunting task.

As a young girl I dreamed of Africa and now as a grown woman in my “golden years” I finally have the opportunity to fulfill that dream. Yes, it is wrought with some degree of fear. It’s all a part of the excitement.

Without a doubt, the flies will be chasing me longing for a morsel of my flesh, the mosquitos will be dining on our blood and, a wide array of dangerous and not-so-dangerous insects at times will run past our feet or across the bed at night. I read somewhere to pull down the sheets at night to inspect the bottom sheet for crawling things before climbing into bed. I’ve done that every night here in Tuscany.

The heat will be unbearable (we’ll be in Africa during their spring and summer), especially with no air conditioning, the dripping humidity, and rampant storms at times unpredictable.

We have no delusions. We go with our eyes wide open. In reality, living in the bug-infested, hot, humid mountains of Tuscany without air conditioning, without screens, and without overhead fans in the midst of summer was good practice. Adapting with modifications. Coins hanging in plastic bags over doorways. A floor fan. Keeping doors closed when a flying thing is buzzing inside. We figured it out.

For now, our thoughts center around safely arriving at our new home in Diani Beach, Kenya, where the hardships may or may not be considerably less than when three months later we head to Marloth Park, Kruger Park, South Africa, far from civilization, among the wildlife we so much anticipate.

We’re no worse for the wear. In our old lives, we turned on the AC in late May, never turning it off until September.  We rationalized it as hay fever prevention, mosquito reduction, and better for health, to be comfortable, to be cool.   

Little did we realize how willing, we both were for a change! Sure, we whined, mostly here to our readers, but less to one another, determined to maintain an air of acceptance and contentment between us. It’s worked.

In only a few days, we’ll have a four-hour layover between flights in Istanbul, Turkey, next door to Syria. Watching the news by the hour, we’re hopeful, if there is US involvement, it will wait until we safely reach our new home in Kenya. 

A few days ago, when Tom mentioned that our flight path from Istanbul will be in the flight path of military planes and missiles, making their way to intervene, I immediately brought up Google Maps to see the proximity to Istanbul, cringing at the result.

It was only three months ago that we were concerned about going out and about in Istanbul, ending up safely taking an excursion to Ephesus to see the ruins.  And now, once again we feel a bit of angst heading onto a four-hour layover and subsequent six-hour flight that passes through Turkey, so close to the war zone.

Trying to put such thoughts out of our minds is not possible. It helps to keep us on our toes, staying observant for possible risks, holding close our belongings, hanging close together, checking most of our bags. Once we’re settled, we’ll be at ease.

The packing continues, bit by bit.  My piles of clothing are neatly arranged, the vitamins packed out of sight, and nothing that would raise inquiry is in our carry on bags. Tom will pack today. Learning lessons from past experiences, we travel lighter, with no items drawing any attention to us in any way.  How we’ve learned! 

Thanks to Lisa and Luca, a very special couple, who’ve worked so hard to ensure our stay in their 300-year-old stone house a memorable experience who both focused on making our comfort and convenience their utmost concern.

Sunday morning, September 1st,  we’ll leave early for the half-day drive to Venice.  Once we arrive, we’ll post our arrival and any photos we’ve managed to take along the way. 

Monday morning, September 2nd, we’ll board the plane for the first of three flights to Kenya, arriving at 3:00 am on Tuesday. You won’t hear from us again, other than Sunday from Venice, until after we’re settled at our new home, late in the day on Tuesday. Most likely we’ll try to sleep for a few hours upon arrival. 

The time difference from Kenya to Minnesota, USA is eight hours, to Los Angeles, ten hours, to Boston, seven hours. 

Thus, we’ll be back on Sunday, in your inbox, or available by our link before midday.  See you then!

P.S.  Tom watched the Viking game this morning at 7:00 am. Now, the commercials are back in with the black screen during the time slot. The last box of the prescriptions did not arrive and we’ll notify the online pharmacy later today. We were able to keep the rental car for the duration. Santina is here as I write this, for the last time. It will be sad to say goodbye to this lovely woman. We agreed upon a generous, well-deserved tip.  Grazie, Santina!

Getting our ducks in a row…

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Each day its cooler than the prior day.  More of these puffy clouds surrounded us yesterday morning. With the cool weather, we kept the windows closed all day.  The laundry on the drying rack required the entire day to dry.  It appears Tuscany’s days of hot weather are over.

The packing has begun. I’ve decided to use one of the unused guest rooms to lay out all of my clothing in neat piles, setting aside clothing for the one-day road trip to Venice and another set for the 17-hour flight.

Comfort is key in both cases including the half-day car ride to Venice. Dark clothing is vital for the many hours in the air and waiting in three airports in the event we spill something on ourselves. We’ll wear comfortable shoes and the compression socks intended for long flights and cramped spaces.

More low lying clouds with blue skies peeking through.

Ah, the preparations, so many. Attempting to communicate with a person at Turkish airlines who didn’t speak English on Skype was challenging to say the least. I believe we were able to arrange our seat assignments for the three flights in order to be able to sit together. I couldn’t understand the seat numbers and the aisle numbers. I don’t know any Turkish. We weren’t charged.

I had wanted to discuss my food restrictions with the airline for the meals that will be provided. If what they serve proves to be a problem we can eat at one of our two layovers. I plan to bring nuts just in case.

The thoughtful owner of the house in Kenya has arranged a driver to pick us up at the airport in a newer air-conditioned vehicle who’s already aware of our flight number and time of arrival. The driver will be carrying a sign with our name upon our arrival in the middle of the night. He’ll know where to take us.

The security guard at the house, Jeremia, has been instructed to let us in the gate and the house. The houseboy, Hesborn, is aware that he shouldn’t arrive at the house until after 12:00 pm the day we arrive. We’ll attempt to sleep for a few hours upon arrival. 

Upon awakening, we’ll need to arrange transportation to a grocery store, our first task in our new home. They’ll be no food awaiting us at the house, although the owner kindly offered to leave fruit and crackers, neither of which we can eat. I declined his considerate offer which he usually, provides for his guests, graciously explaining that I have a peculiar diet. 

This photo was taken from the veranda yesterday morning.  We spend most mornings on the veranda it was too damp and cool to venture outside. Today, its warmer and we’re sitting outside now as we write this.

We’ll be fine if we don’t eat until we return from the grocer loaded with a week’s supply.  The grocery stores appear to be larger than we are used to and seemingly well stocked from what we read online.  It will be fun to shop, especially the first time.

The packing? I should have most of mine in order and ready for the “suck bags” (as we call them) by Wednesday. This week, we’ll wash and wear the same tee shirts and shorts over and over to avoid disturbing the packed items. My 25-pound pile of shoes and clothing is ready to be donated. It’s hard to believe I can exist with so little clothing.  

View over the church.

At this point, I’ve let go of my desire to have a “mix and match” wardrobe with many outfits from which to choose. Those days are over. Although I’m keeping two pairs of high heels, each shoe is neatly stuffed with vitamin bottles.

As a matter of fact, our Africa boots are also stuffed with vitamin pills, all of which will be in checked baggage. We’d originally planned to wear the boots on the plane, but I can’t imagine wearing knee-high boots for almost 24 hours. 

I tried on two pairs of jeans in order to decide which would be more comfortable for the flight. It turned out that the lighter colored denim feels more pliable, although they aren’t “stretchy” at all. I wish I’d kept a few pairs of stretchy well-worn jeans. 

Last night’s meatball yet uncooked dinner, which was topped with homemade marinara sauce and locally made combination of finely grated cheeses. Before cooking, we also topped Santina’s tomatoes with the grated cheeses. The black spots are the peppers and herbs from the patio.

One more of the two missing prescription boxes arrived yesterday. Hopefully, the one remaining box will miraculously appear this week, but we’re not optimistic. Plan B will go into effect, have the missing box replaced at no charge (to which the online pharmacy agreed) to be shipped to our mailing service in Nevada. As mentioned in a past post, at some time in the future we’ll figure out a way to have it mailed to us.

Still, we have time to relax on the veranda again this morning. The weather is warmer than yesterday, although very cool. With socks on my feet, I’m comfortable, looking forward to another great day of getting whipped at Gin, watching the last third of the original Iron Man with Parts 2 and 3 already downloaded for our future viewing.

We’ll have another great dinner of leftovers, a fresh pan of the above photo. With no microwave, I always divide the meal in two, cooking one batch fresh each of two nights. This avoids using the oven to reheat already cooked food.

Life is good. Not a complaint in the world.  Looking forward to soon being settled into our new home. 

Updates and tidbits…Fun photos!…

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A photo from guests staying at our upcoming rental house in South Africa.  Doing laundry takes on a whole new meaning!

As we write about the nuances of our days, on occasion we may leave a reader wondering what transpired with a particular situation that we may have mentioned in an earlier post.

The rental car: With no further email from Budget, we are assuming they decided to let us keep the car until we return it to Venice on September 1st.

When they agreed to extend the rental agreement (which we have in writing), they billed our credit card on file for the prorated balance through the return date.  Oddly, when they informed us that the car was sold, they reversed the charge of over $1300, yet to charge us for the balance.  There’s no doubt they’ll charge us for the balance once we return the car.

The bees and the fly’s issues: The coins in the Ziploc bags hanging in the doorways have reduced the influx of bees by 95% and the flies by 75%. Unfortunately, a few flies enter each day. For some peculiar reason, they don’t seem to land long enough to kill them. They are vicious, biting me with a frenzy. As a result, I have no less than 10 fly bites at any given time, that take no less than 5 days to stop itching. 

Can you imagine soaking in the tub with these visitors stopping by to say hello?

At 4:00 am this morning, I was awakened by the itching forcing me to take a Tylenol PM to get back to sleep.  Tylenol PM and other over the counter sleep aids, often contain diphenhydramine, an antihistamine that causes drowsiness and stops the itching. Luckily, I fell back to sleep.

It seems most of the bites occur around dinner time, the smell of food drawing them inside. Instead of feasting on the food, they feast on my arms and legs so fast I can’t shoo them away. Tonight, I am going to wear my Bugs Away long pants during and after dinner, hoping to keep the biting at bay.

The weather: For almost two weeks, we had over 90 degree days. Last week, it was 97 degrees, one day with humidity to match. It cools down nicely at night. On two nights we slept without covers, fortunately, not losing much sleep over the heat. 

Now that it’s beginning to cool down, it was so cool last night that I slept in warmer PJs. With the mosquito netting over one of the master bedroom windows, we can sleep without buzzing around our heads, enjoying the cool breeze. As we sit on the veranda while I write this, it’s no more than 68 degrees, wonderfully comfortable.  We’re hoping it continues to stay cool as we prepare to leave Tuscany soon.

Seat assignment for our upcoming flight: A few days ago, I called Turkish Air able to speak in English to a representative. She informed us that arranging seat assignment wasn’t possible until August 26th, a full week before the flight. I’ve never heard of this before. Most likely, we’ll be charged to sit together which we’ll disdainfully pay. 

Upcoming year’s prescription order.  In early July, we ordered all of our upcoming year’s prescriptions. They were to arrive in 6 boxes.  As of this date, only 4 boxes have arrived.  Now it may be too late for them to send them.  I’ve decided to wait until Monday. If they haven’t arrived, I’ll contact the company having them resend the missing boxes (hopefully, at their expense for expedited shipping). 

A box from our mailing service: The chargers for both of our computers will soon die, based on the difficulty we’ve begun to experience. Thus, it made sense before we leave for Africa, to order two new chargers, in the event either or both of them entirely fail. The replacement cost was US $9.95 each with free shipping in the US only. Also, I needed a few cosmetic items I’d be unable to find in Italy. 

We put together an order from Amazon, all with free shipping to be shipped to our mailing service in Nevada.  The chargers, along with my few cosmetic items were all shipped in one small box at a cost of US $50. Of course, they included the few pieces of mail we hadn’t received as yet, most of which we look at online at a cost of $2 per scan. The box arrived in 18 days from the shipping date via USPS international, coming directly to the door here.

Overpayment on credit card: When we saw the charge on the credit card for the prorated balance (as described above) on the rental car, I immediately paid the bill off in full.  Our goal is to keep all of our credit cards at a zero balance in the event of an emergency. When Budget reversed the charge (go figure) a few days later, we ended up with a credit on Master Card. Wouldn’t one assume, they’d just leave it there until additional purchases we made? Oh no! They mailed a check to our mailing service. How inconvenient!

Fortunately, we’d left dozens of envelope and deposit slips with our mailing service before we left Nevada, in the event we received any checks. Contacting our rep at the mailing service by email, I requested they deposit the check. Looking each day to confirm the deposit was made, it finally came through, taking a full week from the date it was mailed for the deposit to show in online banking.  Good to know. 

Staying on top of situations and tasks such as these, however small they may be, is thought-provoking and time-consuming. Luckily, Tom and I both prefer to avoid tasks hanging over our heads, so we strive to be diligent in getting tasks out of the way as quickly and painlessly as possible.

We’d rather save our time and energy over that which we have no control, the surprises, the unexpected. 

Now, I’ll go make a baking soda paste to see if that will help with the itching. I checked today to discover that both houses, in Kenya and in South Africa have screens. Yeah for screens!

Bats or just batty…

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Common pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, common house bat, a much better photo I took from Wikipedia.  I guess this is nothing compared to the bats awaiting us in Africa. 

One night years ago, after falling asleep with the TV on, I awoke to see a bat fly in front of the TV screen.

Terrified of bats I bolted out of bed waving my arms and screaming, scaring Tom to death. After turning on the bright overhead light and looking around the bedroom, not finding a bat, he assured me it was a bad dream and to go back to sleep. I swore I’d seen a bat.

Two days later I was cleaning one of the upstairs guest rooms to find a dead bat on the inside of the screen apparently dying after trying to escape. I jumped for joy! I could hardly wait to show it to Tom when he’d return from work.

It was less of an “I told you so” than a “see, I’m not crazy” when I rushed him when he walked in the door that evening.  Of course, I had picked up the dead bat (much to my surprise) wearing a thick rubber glove saving it in a paper towel to show him. He shrugged his shoulders, “Oh, it’s a bat.” 

Little gratification was found there. 

Why is it when women are proven “right” that we don’t jump for joy when we prove it?  And yet men will gloat for days?  Ha!

After that experience I became less afraid of bats, merely preferring they don’t fly around me, touch me, or live with me.  No more screaming while running around in circles when spotting a bat flying nearby in the night sky.

A few days ago, walking down the mile-long hallway in this house, I noticed this clump on the floor in a corner of one of the nooks and crannies, meaning to toss it many times as I walked past, never having a handy paper towel. 

My blurry photo, taken zooming in with a shaky hand when  I realized it was a bat.

In my old life, I would have picked it up as soon as I saw it.  Now, living in a more relaxed environment in someone else’s house, I thought, I’ll get to it, whatever it is.  It wasn’t moving so I wasn’t particularly concerned.  Besides, it was neatly tucked away into a corner.  I thought it was a small clump of leaves.

Finally, yesterday afternoon, realizing that Santina was coming to clean today and not wanting to leave it for her, I grabbed a couple of paper towels to remove the pesky intrusion, leaning in closer to get a better look. It was a dead bat. I didn’t scream. Instead, I took a photo.

I must admit that a bit of the old fear gripped me keeping me from holding my hand steady as I zoomed in to take the photo. Thus, the blurry photo.

Calling Tom to come to see, he made a mad dash to the hallway from the veranda. Looking closely as I had done, he said, “Oh, I thought it was potpourri!”

Need I say, I laughed so hard I cried, repeating over and again, “Potpourri?” I’m still laughing as I write this.

He ran to the kitchen to get the broom and dustpan, scooping it up, taking it down to the garbage to dispose of it. Surely, it flew in over the past several nights when we had the windows-without-screens opened when the temperature was in the high 90’s. Gee, I knew there was a reason I didn’t want those windows wide open at night.

Good thing we don’t have a TV in the bedroom.

Giving up favorite pastimes…For Tom, not the Minnesota Vikings…

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Several months ago, Tom canceled his subscription to the Minneapolis StarTribune newspaper due to its inability to be downloaded several days each week. 

The newspaper was available either from the StarTribune’s own website for almost $1 a day, after an initial $8 for eight weeks offer, or through Barnes and Noble for $10 a month. Of course, he chose the lower-cost subscription. Well, you get what you pay for. Downloading was a frustrating daily task, taking the fun out of reading the paper when it did arrive.

He’s been reading the StarTribune in the late 50s when only a kid when the sports section was a peach/pinkish colored paper. Do any Minnesotans out there remember that?

Thus, as an avid reader of the daily paper, this was a big change for him. I always joked that he read and memorized every word in the daily paper, even the page numbers, able to quote dates, times, and most minute details months, if not years, later.

Easily bored reading the newspaper, I’d ask Tom to tell me the news if a topic caught my attention, to which he did so verbatim, perhaps with a bit of “spin” of which I didn’t object.

Newspaper reading days are long over for him, although the upcoming Minnesota Vikings football season had frequently come to mind as he contemplated the options available for viewing the games quickly after airing on US TV.

Looking online, for apps that may be options was fruitless. Many sites offering “free” viewing of games were a hoax, many of them pirating the games through various means. 

Viewing live TV on a computer has yet to become readily available to the average viewer, although the technology will be available soon. There are various companies such as Slingbox, as recommended by son Greg, that for a fee allow a subscriber to watch live shows.  Unfortunately, such an option isn’t unavailable to viewers when outside the US. 

With our use of Graboid we’re able to download and watch primetime commercial-free shows the day after airing.  But this doesn’t include sporting events, concerts, and special events.

After considerable research, Tom discovered that the easiest, most cost-effective option available to football fans, outside the US, was to subscribe to the NFL’s online viewing program GamePass.

For US $169, he will be able to watch the Vikings all preseason and regular-season games. If by a miracle, the Vikings make it to the playoff, he will purchase an add-on to view those as well. 

Yesterday, he subscribed to the GamePass plan to begin watching the first preseason game which airs live tomorrow (Friday, the 9th).  However, this game will air online at 2:00 am here in Italy, which he won’t be interested in doing. However, he’ll be able to watch the recorded game on Saturday at his leisure. Son TJ made a good point: don’t look at Facebook or the news during the game, if he prefers the outcome to be a surprise.  Good point, TJ!

This particular subscription service is only available to viewers outside the US or US territories. Other options are available online for those who don’t have access to TV or prefer to watch the game on their computers at a later time.

Need I say this Vikings fan is rather pleased to know he won’t miss a game. Not a football fan myself, he’ll be watching on his own, which he prefers rather than be interrupted by my idle chatter. 

In any case, I’m thrilled for him and will provide a quiet, comment, and question free environment during his game viewing.

With modern technology, traveling the world doesn’t have to leave a traveler’s favorite pastime, totally beyond reach, as we see here with Tom’s Minnesota Viking viewing options. 

Go Vikings! I guess.

Pescia, referred to as “Little Italy,” with video and photos…Hot today in Pescia…Over 100 degrees F (C38 degrees)…

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The young helpful butcher as he was preparing our meat who easily understood when I asked him to cut the bacon thicker, stating “spesso, denso and grosso” all of which got the message across. Most deli meats and cheeses are cut paper thin in Italy with customers ordering small portions as compared to our 800 gram orders.

Stumbling across this well done video of Pescia. Italy prompted me to forgo my feeble efforts at video taking and “borrow” this video I discovered on YouTube this morning.

These peaches and nectarines were huge and all organic.

Feel free to fast forward through the gentleman who’s talking in Italian, unless of course, you’ll be able to understand him. I’ve noticed in our blog stats that we’ve had hundreds of visitors from Italy reading our posts, many of whom will listen all the way through. These scenes are better than any shots we could have taken.

Bagged vegetables are more expensive. The bulk, pick your own produce, require that the customer wear plastic disposable gloves, which are provided, prior to touching anything.  Also, once placing the items in a plastic bag, I had to weigh each bag, selecting a matching photo of the item on a display screen which prints a price tag to be attached to the plastic bag. I’d planned to take a photo of the screen, but the work area was lined up with shoppers waiting for their turns. The prices are excellent, for example, the bag of 8 large organic tomatoes I purchased today was Euro $.78 which is US $1.03.

This morning we took off for Pescia at 11:00 am, down the hairpin turns bouncing along in our “sold” Fiat rental car that they’ve (Budget Rental) yet to swap out with us for another car. At this point, we doubt that they’ll bother to swap it as the time nears for our returning it to Venice on September 1, 2013.

More pre-wrapped produce that although more costly than the “pick your own” still was very affordable, as you can see from the prices here.

A quiet weekend behind us, we were enthused to venture out enjoying the views along the way and to get groceries, change, and gas for the car. After today’s shopping trip, we’ll only need to grocery shop on one more occasion before leaving Boveglio. How the time has flown!

Grocery shopping in Pescia has been a pleasure for me with the freshest of ingredients, most of which are organic. There is less than a single aisle devoted to snacks, candy, cookies, and chips, basically junk foods. 

A bakery, deli, and specialty meat and seafood area offer the finest products.  It’s not easy to resist their made-on-site pastries and bread.  I breeze by the bakery trying not to look. 

Tom, on the other hand, could try some of the pastries without consequence (other than weight gain) but he too walks by without a glance. The only item I’ve seen him eyeball is the glazed doughnuts. 

Not a typical Italian item, they are pricey at US $12.00 a dozen.  “Mr. Frugal,” commented several weeks ago that there was “no way,” he’d spend $12.00 for a container of glazed doughnuts.  Good.  His pants will fit when we leave here. 

The plan, as always, is to use any food products we have on hand with the intent of not being wasteful.  Basic ingredients such as spices, oils, baking soda, etc will gladly be left behind for the next visitors, as has been the case when we’ve left with other properties we’d rented.

The cheeses we are expensive, but well worth their prices. The rounds in the center on the right are a soft cheese, along the line of a Brie that I’ve enjoyed every night for dessert.

It may seem odd to begin the process of ‘winding down” at this early date with almost four weeks to go.  But, as we’ve indicated on numerous posts, we’re the king and queen of “planning ahead” leaving us with little stress at the end of our stay, other than loading our bags and ourselves into the car on the day we depart.

Shopping today was a good reminder of how much cooler it is in Boveglio than Pescia, which is 30 minutes down the mountains.  With little interest in grocery shopping, Tom will read his book while waiting in the car. 

Here are some of the deli meats we’ve purchased. We’ve found the beef to be tough here, instead, eating mostly eating chicken, pork and fish. Notice the price on the rare roast beef on the right-center at Euro $34.90 which translates to US $46.31 per gram (less than a pound).  We skipped that item!

Not today.  With the temperature over 100 degrees in Pescia, he found a place to sit outdoors in a shaded area in the parking lot for the over hour-long wait while I shopped in air-conditioned comfort. When the hour ended, he came inside to find me as always while together we finished in the deli and meat department.

Luckily, the butcher in the deli understood my translation for cutting the bacon “thick” as opposed to the manner in which they cut most deli meats, ultra-thin. As soon as I uttered “denso, spesso and grosso” he knew exactly what I meant. Meat is old in grams, not pounds. One pound of bacon is 453 grams. As I order each item, I explain how many grams I want. Typically, I ask for anywhere from 400 grams (.88 pounds) to 800 (1.76 pounds) grams. 

Any one of these cheeses is fabulous, a little pricey but worth it!

Today, I ordered 800 grams of the thick-sliced bacon which I divide into several packages, keeping it frozen, taking it out only as needed. With no nitrates in their meats, bacon spoils in as little as three days. This morning as I was making breakfast, I took out a small package of the remaining frozen bacon, which defrosted in a matter of 5 minutes. 

Learning to freeze and defrost foods quickly and safely has been a learning experience, something I always took for granted using a microwave since the 1970s. 

We’ve avoided these pre-made items, except for the delicious olive, many containing gluten, starch, sugar, and carbs, although many shoppers purchased a combination of these items to complete lunch or dinner.

Many mornings we add Italian sausage to our breakfast, which is trickier to defrost. The easiest solution would seem to be defrosting it overnight in the refrigerator. This leads to spoilage when some mornings we don’t want sausage. If we’d defrosted the sausage we’d feel compelled to eat it. As an alternative, I also keep smaller portions of sausage in plastic bags in the freezer. (There are no Ziploc bags here, only the old fashioned hard to open bags on a roll with those green wire ties).

Taking out the small bags, I place the sausage in a skillet with a bit of water with a tight-fitting lid. In 8 minutes, the sausage is defrosted and I pour off the water, proceeding to cook the sausage in the same pan which results in nicely browned properly cooked sausage. 

These extra steps take extra time and effort, but then again, what else do we have to do with our time other than to enjoy each meal as if it were our last?  Who would have thought that a lifetime of cooking would change so radically in a country with different standards, many of which are better for one’s health?

Arriving back in Boveglio around 2:30 pm, we rushed to get the groceries indoors out of the heat and put away.  When we returned the temperature in Boveglio was 95 degrees F (35 degrees C) with a little breeze. With no air conditioning, I would have been dreading spending the afternoon and evening in the heat. 

But now, as we’ve become more resilient, seldom complaining, we marvel at how much we’ve adapted.  In essence, it’s been life-changing going from an over-sized Subzero refrigerator with a separate ice machine to a tiny refrigerator, requiring frequent defrosting and the making of our own ice in tiny trays. This is one of a litany of the inconveniences to which we’ve adapted.

Surely, more such inconveniences will follow as we move from location to location, striving to learn, to accept, and to grow in the process.  Although, today I’m having trouble adapting to the flies biting me which… I doubt will be less bothersome in Africa.

Typical day in the life…

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The blue in this photo is a small kiddy pool on the shared patio next door.  We don’t use that area due to the plants surrounding it that seems to attract more wasps and bees than on either our private patio or veranda. By the way, we do not take photos of topless sunbathers, often seen lounging on this shared patio.

A number of our friends have asked, “What do you guys do all day?”

With no yard work, no major cleaning, no visitors, no dog to walk, no nearby store or health club, no family coming for breakfast or dinner, no cable TV, and no English speaking neighbors to chat within the yard, how in the world could we possibly keep from getting bored?

This is not exclusively our dilemma.  Many retirees eventually move to a low maintenance lifestyle in warm climates far from family and friends, facing a similar situation. 

While living in Scottsdale, Arizona from November 4 to January 1, 2013, we were entrenched in such a lifestyle.

Tom’s sisters and brothers-in-law were living only a half-hour away in Apache Junction Arizona as they did each year to escape Minnesota’s rough winters. Connecting with them each week or so was a respite from our daily flurry of activities as we prepared to leave the US.

Switching back and forth between two local restaurants for breakfast every few mornings, dining out for dinner each week, and occasionally attending a local comedy club created a pleasant break in our daily routine.

During that two month period in Arizona, we were busy preparing documents to enable us to leave the US for an extended period, learning to use our new digital devices, preparing our taxes, and spending a week in Henderson Nevada with family over Christmas.  Actually, we visited Henderson on another occasion, to babysit our grand dog Monty while son Richard traveled out of town.

Without a doubt, it was a busy two months, not unlike the busy times spent with many of our retired friends who have condos in warm climates, living a rewarding and fulfilling life.

As for us living in Boveglio, it was a culture shock to realize no one and I mean no one speaks English. Not at the grocery store, not in the street, not a neighbor, not our landlords, not our cleaning lady, no one. Adapting to this reality has been challenging.

Much to my surprise, now when a person speaks to me in Italian I am able to decipher the gist of the conversation, although not able to translate word for word nor respond in other than a few Italian words I’ve managed to learn. 

Today, I researched the word for “thick” in Google Translate.  The butcher at the deli slices the bacon (US type) too thin, resulting in in cooking too quickly and well done. There are several options for “thick” in Italian: “spesso,” “denso,” “grosso.” We’ll see how it goes when we shop for groceries in the next few days when I attempt to explain the preferred thicker slicing of the bacon.

Two to three times per week someone rings our doorbell immediately speaking to me in Italian. (Tom refuses to answer the door, understanding less than my feeble attempt). They are either selling mops, brooms, and dustpans, frozen foods, looking for an address, looking for a person, or our kindly Santina, dropping off yet another bag filled with vegetables from her garden which we cook daily, never seeming to run out.

A few days ago, Tom and I chuckled over the fact that we’ve had more surprise visitors at the door in the past seven weeks since we’ve arrived in Boveglio, than we had in the prior seven years in our old lives, with each exchange challenging my language skills.

The point well-made: Not speaking Italian has had an enormous effect on the activities if our daily lives. So, how do we stay busy each day?

Here’s the rundown of our activities today.  Tom’s day is similar spending more time online than I do. (I’d be curious to hear from others as to their daily activities.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re similar.  Please do share).

7:30 am
Bolt out of bed.  Turn on the coffee. Shower and dress for the day.  Make the bed together.

8:00 am
Start a load of laundry.  Then, drink coffee and fire up the laptop, checking in.  Put away dried dishes from last night’s dinner.  (In my old life, I never left a plate to dry in the sink overnight).

8:30 am
Make breakfast: sausages, bacon, and eggs. Eat breakfast.

9:00 am
Do dishes. Decide on dinner. Hand cut the cabbage and carrots for the coleslaw, a daily task. There’s no pre-cut coleslaw mix here. Cutting it fresh each day seems to add to its crunchy texture. Slice and dice any other veggies for dinner.

9:30 am
Removed all the food in the freezer stacking it in the kitchen sink to begin the process of defrosting the freezer for the third time since we’ve arrived. The freezer is tiny. We need every inch of space for our next shopping trip. 

10:00 am
Tom poured the hot tea water into a pan, placing it in the freezer to aid in the defrosting process, repeating three times. Within a half-hour, the freezer was defrosted. I replaced the food, noting what we have on hand for the upcoming shopping trip.

10:30 am
Took the laundry out of the washer, starting another load of whites, hanging it outside on the patio (where the bees congregate). Quickly hung the laundry, in another successful attempt to avoid being stung.

11:00 pm
Made hot tea, taking it out to the veranda with my laptop in hand, to begin writing this post, while responding to email, etc. Continued to check the laundry. When the sweat started dripping off of me, I switched to iced tea, capping off the liter container. Used the remaining hot water in the coffee machine to make a new batch of iced tea.

11:30 am
Observed topless woman arranging her chaise lounge on the patio next door. Mentioned this to Tom. Using his monitor as a mirror, he checked it out to no avail. Turning around would have been tacky and obvious. I had a better vantage point.

11:56 pm
Heard twelve clangs of the clock tower next door, always four to five minutes early, repeating at 11:58.  Removed the second load of laundry from the washer heading out to our patio to hang today’s final load. Finished making the pitcher of iced tea, chilling it in the fridge. Back to the veranda to work on my laptop.

1:00 pm
Laptop batteries were almost dead. Returned laptops to the kitchen table to recharge and began downloading TV shows and movies from Graboid for tonight’s viewing. Sat in the living room, playing Gin with Tom while English speaking international news program played in the background.  He won.

2:30 pm
Laptop batteries recharged, Tom headed back to the veranda while I read my latest mystery novel on my smartphone while lounging on the lumpy 100-year-old sofa in the living room. It was 95 degrees and steamy yesterday. Today it was only 90 but steamy as a gentle breeze wafted from the living room window, the opening now covered with mosquito netting, keeping the bees and flies at bay.

4:30 pm
Tea time, a daily ritual, hot or not. Tom had already showered and returned to the veranda with his charged laptop.  I brought in the now dry laundry from the patio while once again batted off the bees, folded everything, and put it all away.

5:45 pm
Begin final prep for our dinner, planned as usual for 7:00 pm. Yesterday, I prepared, but didn’t cook our dinner for tonight, a common practice with no microwave, making two night’s meals, cooking one each night for optimum freshness and enjoyment. Chopped more zucchini, to soon be cooked in olive oil with fresh garlic and herbs from the garden.

6:00 pm
Arranged the clean and dry tablecloth onto the kitchen table, setting our places for dinner: linen napkins, forks, and sharp knives.

6:15 pm
Mixed up the coleslaw dividing it into two batches and placed them back into the refrigerator to stay cold.  Preheated the oven to bake the cheesy chicken/bacon roll-ups, a recipe I got off Facebook, which I modified with local ingredients. Chopped the sausage and onion for the stir fry side dish. Prepared the fresh green beans. It’s a good thing that Tom does the dishes with so many pots to wash. Good thing there are enough pots in which to cook.

6:30 pm
Put the chicken in the oven. Started the stir fry sausage and onions.

This is the pan of yet to be cooked bacon and pancetta-wrapped chicken scallopini (thin slices of chicken breasts pounded by the butcher) that I stuffed with seasoned ricotta cheese and chopped herbs from our private garden, wrapping them in in the two versions of “bacon,” Tom prefers regular US-style bacon and me, loving the thin-sliced pancetta.  These cooked for 30 minutes at 375 degrees (180 centigrade). I topped this with an Italian pesto sauce I’d made using ingredients from the garden.

6:45 pm
Started the green beans. Reheated the zucchini. Tended to the stir fry as it cooked.

7:00 pm
Served dinner with each of us easily moving through the kitchen to fill our various plates with a wide array of food. Sat at the kitchen table eating our meal while watching a show, a favorite ritual when its just the two of us. Again tonight, we watched another episode of the current season of  “America’s Got Talent.” More light entertainment we find to be rather humorous and entertaining.

7:45 pm
Having enjoyed our dinner with the show over, Tom washed the mountain of dishes while I cleaned off the table the stove, and the countertops.

8:15 pm
Set up my laptop in the living room in order for us to watch two shows tonight, the final first season’s episode of The Killing (AMC) as well as episode 5 of House of Cards (Netflix production). Positioned ourselves as comfortably as possible on the lumpy 100-year-old sofa. 

9:45 pm
Finished watching the two shows.  Downloaded from Graboid, there are no commercials reducing the actual viewing time. It’s at this time, I usually take my smartphone to bed to read until Tom comes to bed.  (I read my downloaded ebooks on the same smartphone I’d dropped on the cement in March in Belize. Never having had the screen repaired due to the inconvenience of shipping it back and forth, I quickly read the first sentence at the top of the screen which was the most damaged area. Once past that first sentence, the remainder of the reading is a breeze.

11:30 pm
Tom came to bed, his smartphone in hand to read his book while I attempt to go to sleep. By midnight, he turns off his phone, lightly snoring a few minutes later.

12:00 am
Tossing and turning I struggled to find a comfortable spot for my still painful but improved right shoulder.  Within a half-hour, blissful slumber overtakes me only to be interrupted by dreams of having to get up to go to “work,” driving in the snow, office politics, deadlines, trying to achieve the impossible, a true “frustration dream” often similarly repeated several times a week. 

Does this mean I feel guilty about our simple life, our never boring routine? I don’t feel guilty, but I do still pinch myself every few days as many retirees may do, asking themselves, “Am I really free? Is it true that I don’t have to go back to work on Monday morning? May I now enjoy Sunday afternoons, angst-free, knowing that Mondays are just another “typical day in the life?

On high alert…Traveler’s warnings…What’s our plan?…In 30 days, off to Kenya…

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A kindly reader of our blog posted a comment that we received overnight, inquiring as to our concern over traveling to Kenya with the recent embassy and consulate closings in countries all over the weekend. For the full article, please click here.

Yes, we’re concerned. How could we not be? It’s this level of concern that prompts us to do all we can to ensure our safety to the best of our ability. There are always unknowns.

Looking up stats on various countries worldwide, we see that Belize had a higher homicide rate per capita than Kenya. After spending almost three months living in Belize, aware of the risks, we never let our guard down, never taking our safety for granted.

Such will be the case when living in Kenya for a few days short of three months from September 3, 2013, to November 30, 2013, when we depart for South Africa. We’ll be exercising extreme caution, none of which is a guaranty of our safety but reduces the risks.

Having registered for the Smart Traveler Program at the US Department of State we’ll be receiving any warnings via email that may require us to leave Kenya or later South Africa if the tension in our area escalates.

A few portions of our travel plans to Kenya give rise to added concern; our arrival at the Mombasa Airport in the middle of the night and, the subsequent over one hour ride to our vacation rental in the middle of the night.  Most crime occurs in the dark in these high-risk areas.  Yes, we’ll be nervous until firmly ensconced in our new location. 

Have we considered changing our plans?  Yes, we have. But we’ll continue to carefully watch the world news, reports from the State Department, online posts and comments. Should these next few weeks bring rise to added concerns in the areas we plan to travel with warnings from the State Department to cancel travel plans, we’ll do so. 

We realize that doing so will cost us around $6000 from loss of paid-in-advance rent and non-refundable airfare. This is a big loss to incur but our safety supersedes money, doesn’t it?

What plans do we have in place to ensure our safety, the reader inquired?  Here are what we have thus far:

1.  Destination contact:  We’ve established a plan with my sister that we will notify her by email when we depart any area and immediately when we arrive, having provided her with the address, contact person’s name, phone, and email plus travel arrangement information for our destination. If she doesn’t hear from us within 12 hours of our estimated arrival time, she is to begin the process of finding out what’s happened to us, contacting the embassy, state department, etc.  (if we have airport delays we will contact her as they occur).
2.  No rental car. We’ve been made well aware that driving in Kenya can be risky, even in the tourist area we’ll be living. Once arriving, we’ll make arrangements with a driver for weekly trips for shopping, daytime dining out and any touring.
3.  Deciding on safari trips based on safety in a specific area, airports, etc.  The property owner suggested we wait until we arrive to decide on safaris as he will assist us in making arrangements with people he knows and trusts.
4.  News updates: With no TV at the property (as we have here in Italy with a few English speaking news stations:  BBC, France 24, and CNBC, we’ll be watching news updates on our computers on a daily basis.
5.  No venturing out after dark. Period. 
6.  No wearing of jewelry, watches, any items that may attract attention. 
7.  Dressing “down” when out during the day, jeans, shorts, tee shirts, no clothing that attracts attention.
8.  Keeping money and documents secure at all times. We carry very little cash, mostly using credit cards.
9.  Staying together at all times when out and about.
10. Never, ever, loosening our guidelines for what appears to be “special circumstances.” Neither of us is naïve.  It is unlikely that we’d fall prey to some “scammer” attempting to divert our attention. Keep walking, don’t make eye contact, be guarded with confidence and astuteness.

There is nothing anyone can do to be exempt from danger. Where we lived in Minnesota it was only a 30-minute drive to an area where one wouldn’t dare get out of their car at night, let alone during the day.  Tom’s mother’s home in a less desirable area in North Minneapolis had bullet holes in it when it was finally taken by the city by eminent domain. 

Over the years, while she still lived in the house, he and the family worried that she could fall prey to drive-by shootings occurring all over the neighborhood. Luckily, she got out in time, living to be a healthy 98 years old. 

There are risks wherever one may be at any given moment; a movie theatre in Colorado, a train in France, or running a marathon in Boston, MA.  We can only hope and pray for safety, exercising caution to the best of our ability while allowing ourselves the privilege of reveling in every moment of our world travels

Musings of life on the road…

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The loud clanging of the clock tower next door to us engaged my brain as the first chime prompting me to count. Seven clangs. It was time to get up. 

My brain was inspired to bolt out of bed. My body not so much, the aches and pains of endless humid days gripping my aging joints into stiff denial of their intended purpose.

The light from the bathroom window filtered through the mosquito netting Lisa had stapled to the frame, now fluttering on the edges in the gentle breeze inviting the smallest of the rambunctious biters to enter at will.

Tom slept quietly beside me as I lay on my back looking at another ceiling I had yet to notice until now almost seven weeks later. At least once, wherever we’ve lived, I’ve spent a morning, an evening, observing the ceiling almost in an effort to get my bearings. 

Where am I?  Is this really me? Is this the person of ritual, of routine always striving to make a concerted effort to be reliable, dependable, a person “you-can-bank-on”, one could always count on?

Where are the people I spent a lifetime trying to please? Not here. The one with me expects so little and gets so much, give so much, effortlessly. “They” never asked or expected anything of me. It was my own doing. I had to leave to stop. It was my own doing.

In part, it’s a “woman/mother” thing, giving without being asked, doing when doing didn’t need to be done, reaching out when the only hand extended was my own.

I miss them. But I don’t miss who I was when I was with “them,” the perpetual hunger to please, to be available when I wasn’t and near the end when I couldn’t eke out another moment of trying. None of “their” doing. All my own. Needing to be free.

Selfish? No. Self saving? Yes.  As one would go off on a quiet retreat to renew, rediscovery, refresh to someday return to a more accessible environment with a perspective of commonality, not sacrifice; of unity, not autonomy. To be free, in their midst. That’s the dream. It will come, by my own design. In time, it will come.

In the meanwhile, like the well-built and creatively designed ceiling looms in my range of vision, my weary joints coming to life, I roll off the too-close-to-the-floor bed, rise to my feet with a smile on my face, ready for another clear day; clear in spirit, clear in heart and now, clear in mind.

Until then, I am home.