Playing Catch Up

How we wind down after a hard day's work... wish you were here to enjoy it with us, but since you're not, we'll try to get you caught up!

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A while back Alan got signed up to play in the annual Pembaldon Tennis Tournament by one of his co-workers. Alan had only "played" tennis two times prior to this tournament, but after bragging that his dad used to be a tennis coach everyone assumed Alan knew how to play the game...

After playing his first singles match, he qualified to play in the "loser's tournament" two days later. Unfortunately after this match, he didn't move on to play any more singles tennis.

I was really sick at the time so Preya volunteered to be Alan's double's partner and they ended up playing really well together, however they didn't win their match but had a ton of fun.

Pembaldon is a tournament held mostly for the expats. It was amazing to see people coming out of the woodwork--we saw and met people we'd never seen around town before. Alan decided at the end of the tournament to get more serious about the game and start preparing for next year's tournament. Hopefully we can start playing doubles together as well!

Preya and Alan after their Pembaldon Doubles match

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Weekend before last we caravanned to a special place called "Nickle's spot". Waves big enough to surf, body surf, or boogie board on, a beach perfect for skim boarding, and a lazy lagoon with a small current perfect for tubing in, all in one spot! We got some sun, braaied up a storm and had a blast! The best thing about this spot was that there was nobody around. There were fantastic shells and sand dollars (aka pansy shell in South African English) all over the beach too.

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We got one more trip to Taratibu in this year before the rains started coming, at which time the trip becomes impossible.

Here's how our swing got assembled this time:

(This was NOT a ladder, it was a tree branch!)

YIKES!

Go BIG or Go Home! We love BIG swings!




Alan building our tent for the night.


We had a great time sitting around the campfire. Jacques cooked us up a mean pot of Potjie. This is a South African tradition: One three legged campfire pot filled with veggies and meat that simmers for hours. The food is often eaten with rice and reheated for each next meal until the pot is empty.

Oh....for PROPER s'mores! You'd think that a marshmellow is a marshmellow, is a marshmellow...but that just isn't the case. Preya bought some "marshmellows" from Exito, one of the only convenience stores in Pemba (1 small bag cost about $10), but they tasted nothing like marshmellows.
When Alan and I went home in August, we did buy and bring back two bags of Kraft JET PUFFED Marshmellows with us, so next time we'll be taking Kraft!




Floating mountains in the mist at sunrise.


One of the reasons we love Taratibu so much: Reminds us of west Texas!
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Other random things we've been up to:

Bekki and Kathryn confiscated four baby African genets that a local guy was selling (in a plastic bag) on the side of the street in town. We are hoping they can be released in a conservation sanctuary in a few months.

Alan made corn dogs for dinner one night

We've hung our hammocks on our balcony

Bekki tail docked some Rottweiler pups (they don't teach this in vet school anymore these days)

Our living room furniture FINALLY arrived (4 months after we bought it)

We've successfully skyped family members with video

We found out we are going to be aunts and uncles again!! (on BOTH sides of the family...Katie is pregnant and so is Mandi) YEA!!!!!

We FINALLY found homes for all the puppies (as of this past Friday)


Alan bought 21 lobsters today in preparation for Rachel and Larry's visit to Pemba on the 9th

We've had a couple "Chuck" marathons now that we have a t.v. and all our dvds (thanks mom and dad, we are addicted!)

Bekki hired someone to start her business "Pemba Vet" and is about half-way through the process
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Sadie FINALLY made it to Pemba! It took a team of caring people to get her here mainly Alan, my mom, Chris' wife, Stephanie, and a pet travel company. She's one lucky dog, thats all we have to say!! We are so excited to have her with us, six months have already flown by since we were all together.
Sadie is loving life in Pemba...we took her to a less traveled beach one Saturday and she swam all morning, ran up and down the beach, and played with every stick and rock she could find. We went back on Sunday and she did the same thing all over again...and then she slept for about a week and a half! She's the dog we never thought would age....she's been so fast and quick, so full of energy and strength, but she's showing early signs of getting older, for sure.

She has been great with our guards, they all love playing ball with her, they think it is the coolest thing that she knows how to sit and stay and fetch and retreive!

God did have a plan when He kept Sadie in the states for months on end while we were here working on and waiting for her to get here. In the past six months, we've had a couple dozen animals here at the "clinic" and our guards have come to see that dogs are animals with feelings and personalities, that they get sick but that their lives mean something, and that they can get better with proper treatment. These are all things our guards were never exposed to before. Dogs here in Pemba are nothing more than something too throw rocks at or to kick at when they get too close. They are considered "unclean" animals in the sight of all the Muslims. Two of our guards are Muslim and they call to Sadie and kiss at her and play ball with her now.
All the months we were trying to get Sadie here, were months that our guards were able to prepare for a big, scary looking and sounding dog (Sadie is a really big dog compared to the local dogs here...and she has a really deep, big dog bark). Over the past few months, we've had a few Ridgebacks and German Shepards here at clinic that the guards were initially a little taken aback by their size, but eventually they warmed up to the dogs. Our guards have also finally learned to keep all the gates closed, come to our door to tell us someone is at the house before they let them enter, clean up the dog poo daily, and how to interact with dogs as pets.

While we were wondering if Sadie was ever going to make it to Pemba, scents of other animals and scents of all our workers and guards made their way through the yard and throughout the house. Sadie has always been pretty possessive about "her" house and "her" yard...but with all these scents around, she's acclimated really well and has been fantastic (besides herding our empregada (maid) around the house sometimes) with the new people she's met and her new home.

Sadie loves to run on the beach...

play with rocks...

sunbathe...


And, did we mention-- Run on the beach?!

Here's Bekki one week before race day trying out part of the 21K race route.
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SATURDAY OCTOBER 23, 2010: PICK UP THE PACE PEMBA RACE DAYAbout 1K before this picture I had all the kids from the Chuiba village running with me through the village and along part of the beach. There were about 20 of them, all different ages and all very fit! By this point I had already run about 15Ks...I hadn't trained very well prior to race day (too much work and not enough daylight hours) and had only slept 3 hours the night before the race (finalizing race day registration and details, etc. etc. etc.). I was exhausted, hot, and in need of some tunes! I had just put my shuffle on before running through the Chuiba village, at which point all the kids started appearing and running with me and shouting and cheering! Needless to say I didn't need my tunes after all...It was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced! ALL the kids were asking me to be their "amiga" and telling me their names! At the time I was so upset there wouldn't be a picture of this amazing event, but then I thought that a picture would hardly do it justice anyways, it was SO cool! My how the kilometers passed when those kids were running with me!
This was definately a precious gift from God!

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Bekki both organized and ran the Pick Up The Pace Pemba Half Marathon. She was the only female runner and finished third with a time of 2 hours 58 minutes. The race path was 99% sand (with 30-40% of the race being deep sand) that made its way through local villages, along a few main dirt roads, along the beach and past the lighthouse.

The race was a fundraising event to build up funds for charity veterinary work that is needed throughout Pemba. Sixty-six runners showed up on race day to compete in either a 3k, 5k, 10k, or 21k (half marathon) race. About $700.00 was raised and will be used in as-needed type situations for local dogs and cats.

Hoping to make it an annual race, next year the event will be in May when the weather is cooler.

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The International School of Pemba had a Halloween party on Saturday. We had VERY last minute Halloween costumes: Safari girl and typical tourist (minus the camera for obvious reasons).

Where else can you attend a kid's school function where there is a cash bar?

We even won a bottle of wine in a drawing!

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So now we await the arrival of Rachel and Larry!!! YEA our first visitors!!!

Alan and I fly out on Wednesday for Maputo, the capital, to get some paperwork in order for my business and residency. We'll get to go to a ShopRite grocery store--SO excited! (If I could only explain the places here in Pemba that you can buy groceries...but I can't--you'll have to see it for yourself one day, its pathetic really).

When Rachel and Larry get to Maputo we head to Kruger Park for a few days, then fly to Pemba!

I've gone on vacation from work (except emergencies) from November 3rd until they leave on the 18th. Alan and I are so excited to see them and have them stay with us, we're also excited about the contents of their baggage--hoping they bring us lots of suprises! Ha ha!