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Looking Back on Botswana

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

JANE

So, I’m back from Africa and settled back into my life (after considerable jet lag). It’s hard now even to believe that just a week ago, I was driving around the wilds of Botswana in a safari vehicle, looking at rhinos and giraffes and elephants. It all seems like a movie that I went to see, and now I’m out of the theater, dazed by the bright outside light and realizing that I ate a little too much popcorn (or, in this case, one too many ‘fat cakes,’ a Botswana staple consisting of a big ball of friend dough dripping with grease).

This trip to Africa made me feel both younger than usual and older. I felt younger to realize that I still had the nerve to go exploring and camping in remote places, with my 2 girls and some camping equipment. It also made me feel younger to try new foods, meet new people, and to see new things. However, the trip also made me feel older, in that I had more anxiety about things than I had ever had in the past. Part of this is probably due to the fact that it was Africa I was visiting and not Wales (where I ventured when I was 19 and traveling by myself for the first time).

Part of my anxiety was also due, I’m sure, to the fact that I didn’t have my husband with me—for the first time in about 28 years! After all, Tom is always so on guard against every possible hazard to our kids that it makes it easy for me to relax and be laid back.

But the biggest part was probably just due to the fact that I’m 58 years old and a little too aware of the bad things that can happen to good people. While Becky was excited to see the very interesting lizard on the roof of our camping tent, I couldn’t help but imagine that lizard dropping down on us in the night to give us a fatal, poisonous bite. While Becky and Josie both enjoyed steering the rental car through the sandy roads into Khama Rhino Sanctuary, I kept imagining us stuck in the sand on a backwoods trail, with no one to come and rescue us or bring us water. It made me feel old to be conscious of every mosquito bite, fearing dengue fever or malaria.

JANE ON SAFARI

I have to admit it: when our plane touched down in Philadelphia, and I knew, for the first time, that I had gotten at least one of my girls safely back on this side of the ocean, part of me breathed a huge sigh of relief.

But then, I have to remember that there was also another part of me that was ready to pack up and go again.

I guess there’s still some life in the old girl.

Tags: africa, Botswana, camping, dengue fever, elder women, malaria, oops50, travel, women over 50, womenbabyboomerwriters
Posted in Aging, Beautiful Women >50, Family, Journey, Main, Travel, World | 4 Comments »

My African Adventure: Part III

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

I’m back home, safe and sound, so I thought I would just give the highlights of the trip. I’m still a little jet lagged, so bear with me if I repeat myself. The pictures, by the way, come courtesy of my photographer daughter, Josie!

1) Seeing a mother warthog with her 3 babies:

2) Seeing a herd of elephants rolling in the mud under a hot, hot sun at Madikwe Game Reserve:

3) Watching the sun set at Tuli Game Reserve while elephant shrews and lizards ran around the rocks at our feet:

4) Visiting the little town of Serowe, with its fabulous museum that features a room dedicated to the life of novelist Bessie Head, as well as great exhibits about the Khama family (rulers of Botswana over the years):

5) Seeing a leopard—a very rare sighting—out for an evening stroll and watching lions drinking at a watering hole:

6) Catching a mother and baby rhino in our spotlight on our night drive through Khama Rhino Sanctuary

7) Playing “Categories” with my girls while waiting for our afternoon safari drive at Tuli, while a monkey stole our opened can of tuna fish!

Realizing that we probably weren’t going to die out in the wilderness, even though our 2-wheel drive rented car was having considerable difficulty navigating the sandy roads at Khama and the rocky, potholed roads at Tuli

(more…)

Tags: africa, Botswana, elderwomenbloggers, elephants, family, Gaborone, giraffes, hornbill, travel, warthogs, women over 50, women over fifty, womenover50blogs, zebras
Posted in Journey, Main, Travel, World | 7 Comments »

Dad’s Hungarian Goulash

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Annice

I was inspired to cook a hardy meal for a friend who spent six weeks in the hospital after suffering from a perforated colon. She left the hospital weighing 90 lbs having lost 20, and when I asked her what she’d like to eat, she said, “meat – red meat.”

I immediately thought of one of my Dad’s favorite dishes, Hungarian Goulash. Being Hungarian, it was a dish he often made in the winter and one that that I love but rarely make. Of course goulash doesn’t have the same mystique of Proust’s madelaines, but it still conjures up childhood memories. And while I wasn’t able to deliver my goulash with fresh crusty rye bread, it was every bit as delicious and authentic as my Dad’s.

As you might have guessed, my Dad never used a recipe, so neither do I. I’ve tried my best to construct one for you. The key, I might add, is to use good quality paprika. After all, you want to be sure to get the vitamin C found in paprika. And, did you know, it was Hungarian Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Györgyi who is credited with discovering vitamin C in paprika?

Serves 6-8 people

DAD's GOULASH

Ingredients

Oil
3 ½ – 4 lbs beef chuck cut into cubes (my Dad liked beef shank or shoulder)
3 large yellow onions, chopped (my dad always picked the largest onions)
4 large potatoes, cubed
4-6 carrots, cut in circles
Garlic, crushed (not too much)
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper
Water

1. Sauté the chopped onions in oil until they are a nice golden brown.

2. Sprinkle the onions with the paprika, stirring to prevent the paprika from burning.

3. Add the beef and sauté until they are a bit brownish in color

4. Let the beef simmer in its juice and add the crushed garlic, some salt and pepper, pour water enough to cover the content of the pan and let it simmer on low heat for a while, stirring occasionally.

5. When the meat is half-cooked (approx. 1.5 hrs) add the carrots and potatoes, and more salt if necessary. You might have to add some more (2-3 cups) water too. ENJOY.

Tags: easyrecipes, hungarian goulash recipe, Oops50recipes, Women Cooks, women over 50, womenwriters
Posted in Family, Home, Main, Recipes/Food | 2 Comments »

Nice People Behaving Badly?

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

Annice

One of the newspapers delivered daily to my home is the WSJ. Oddly enough, I don’t read it for the Money and Investing section but the front page news. I also enjoy the marketing and technology trends, recipes, and the wonderful week-end section. And, I usually let the papers pile up and read a few at a time, making the news outdated. I don’t care, it’s always interesting in the present moment when I’m reading it. One article, last week, that raised an eyebrow had to do with baby boomers.

Securities regulators and prosecutors are battling what they say is a nationwide surge

in investment fraud against baby boomers. In many cases, the victims pursued risky bets to

overcome losses suffered during the

financial crisis—a trend that regulators say is worsening.

Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2011

I'm not home!

Now that’s scary. I always thought it was “old people” who got suckered into scams.

Is my generation that gullible?

Well, it seems some of us cared about our future and that makes us vulnerable. It also forces some otherwise good people to behave badly.

I got somewhat scammed myself recently. I hired someone I knew for a small remodeling job in my kitchen (cabinets and a concrete countertop). I paid her a deposit after I paid her in full for the finished cabinets. I’d like to mention she asked to be paid in full when the job wasn’t even complete, and I did. Then, she made samples for the countertop and after 8 – I could not approve one of them. Nothing popped out at me, and I got tired of not having a countertop for weeks on end and honestly didn’t think after 8 tries, she could produce a good one. So, I decided to go with granite – something she did not do.

I apologized for not liking the samples and asked for my deposit back. Well, this friendly remodeler basically told me to f—off. She claimed the samples cost money and she bought the materials (concrete) already and I had to pay for that. I went back to the contract which did not say I had to pay for samples or material in advance, or that the deposit was non-refundable. To end the dilemma, I offered to split the deposit with her – for her troubles – and she basically said to to f–off.

Judge Judy

I’m guessing if the remodeling business was booming, this contractor would give my deposit back, but in this economy she’s behaving badly. I informed her I was going to file a complaint in small claims court because I can’t afford to lose that deposit, but she doesn’t seem to care. Now I will let a judge decide our fate.

What would Judge Judy say? Is this a case of nice people behaving badly?

Tags: baby boomers, judgejudy, wallstreetjournal, women over 50, womenover50, womenwritersover50
Posted in Businesses, Financial Planning, Getting Older, Home, Home Repairs, Investments, Main, Money, Retirement | 4 Comments »

Jane and Josie Are Going to Africa!!!!!!

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

I didn’t think it would be possible. I could not imagine how I could ever get there. I had resigned myself (sorrowfully) to the idea that my daughter would be in Botswana for a year, and I would not get to see her—or to get any glimpse of her amazing new world. We knew we couldn’t afford to bring her home for Christmas; and we didn’t see any way that we could get over there. I was just going to have to stop worrying about her and accept the fact that I would not see her for nearly 10 months.

Then, the miraculous happened. First of all, I had a visit with my wonderful sisters at the beach, who all encouraged me to think creatively about getting there to see Becky. My sister, Katie, told me about how people can donate frequent flyer miles to other people. My other sisters talked about ways to raise money for the trip. My youngest daughter, Josie, said she was determined to go, and, since she suspected I would not let her go by herself, she offered to pay for herself and for part of my trip out of her hard-earned babysitting money.

Africa, here we come!

After I got back from the beach, my sister, Sheppie, sent me a donation in the mail, “for your trip.” That was just the beginning of a string of incredibly wonderful, generous acts by friends and family. Here’s a summary: my wonderful roommate from college, Cindy, donated her frequent flyer miles to me; my incredible mother-in-law, Henny, gave hers to Josie.

So, we knew we could get to Africa—and that we could even stop in Holland on the way to visit with family! But we still had no idea how we could afford to do anything once we got there. And then, the miraculous happened: a friend of a friend of my husband’s, a wonderfully generous man who will remain nameless (in case he doesn’t want the publicity), offered us the use of his house and his car, for an extremely moderate fee, during our visit. And, he told us how to see all the things we wanted to see—the elephants, the lions, the rhinos, etc.—without breaking the bank. He told us about the out-of-the-way nature parks that tourists don’t usually visit. He gave us tips about how to camp and cook your own food, instead of staying in luxury safari lodges. As things turned out, he even designed a 9-page itinerary for us, with tips on all the little things we should know, such as which line to stand in for Customs, how much a taxi ride from the airport should cost, what to bring with us from the States, etc. I consider him our Fairy Godfather for this trip—and this is a man that we will not even get the chance to meet in person, since he and his wife will be away on a cruise when we are in Botswana!!!! (more…)

Tags: africa, blogging, generosity, travel, women over 50
Posted in Family, Parenting, Relationships, Travel | 9 Comments »