Buying a car, getting a work permit

What a pain it is to buy a car. My coworker LK is trying to buy a car from another coworker, everyone agrees to the transaction, but the actual change of ownership involves getting a bijillion documents  (certified passport, letter with witnesses and lawyer stamps, etc), going places, getting in line at each, being told you don't have the right documents, getting in line again, and getting redirected...and maybe repeat another 5 times. 

We were told our driver would know where to go, so he dropped LK off at the transport office, but after a long wait in line, the person wrote down the following places she needed to go before she could come to this office:

1) Lra  (government complex + form)
2) Interpol  (police headquarters )    certify letter with 2 witness
3) Roadworthy  (foso testing station)   car inspection
4) CID (pitso ground)
5) Traffic office (maseru)

Well, if it looks like gibberish to you, it's gibberish to me too. 

When I asked what we needed to get our workers permit, JB (seasoned doctor here) said we needed to get our documents sent in by the driver, and then after 3 weeks do the following:

1) Pick up file in one room of a building,
2) Pay in another room
3) Back to first room
4) Then lady with type writer will type something
5) Go to the police to pay for card
6) Cross street to white trailer to take photo and print card.

It's like the amazing race!.. but not so amazing. Anyhow, no more complaining about getting orientation stuff done at Baylor!

Ladybird and the stamp fiasco

First trip to South Africa! - to Ladybird for their farmer's market and for CY's haircut!  Oh...what an unexpected adventure!

Today we followed another car of expats to Ladybird, South Africa because CY was getting a haircut from special asian-hair-cutting people in Ladybird that are non-existent in Lesotho - well, in addition to checking out their farmer's market, meet with other expat friends to eat at Living Water, and check out a Chinese store. 

However, when we got to Ladybird, which might have been 30 min from the Lesotho-South Africa border, CY realized we only got one stamp, not the two stamps required.  And these immigration/border stamps were so important, that we called someone at the COE to tell us what to do, and they said not to try to cross back to Lesotho or we'll get arrested.  So apparently, when you reach the border and exit Lesotho to the no-man's land, you have to get an exit stamp. Then when you cross from no-man's-land to South Africa, you have to get an entrance stamp.  But we totally missed the entrance stamp because for both, you have to park your car, physically come out, line up, and get a stamp. So one of the influential/head bosses at the clinic had to drive to the clinic, meet us, and explain to the police men what was going on, so we could get our SA-entrance stamp.  Although we had made it in time for CY's haircut appointment, by the end of this stamp fiasco, the haircut salon had closed, so we just had time to go to Living Water.

The Living Water farmer's market, really was more like a one-room selling fair.  It had some cool stuff, but I wouldn't really call it a farmer's market. But the restaurant itself was really cool.  When you go in, it feels just like someone's home. And the food was delicious!  I had their long-cooked chicken pot pie (yup! worth the wait!).  

Quiche, milk tarts, and apple tarts at the Living Water "farmer's market"

Living Water restaurant - love the ambiance!

Chicken pot pie, onion marmalade, and salade

Afterwards, not sure if it's because it was because it was a Friday night, but crossing the border required another hour-long wait in line, and then maybe another hour to get all those stamps.  What a pain!  Man, probably gonna be a while before we try to cross the border again. 

Arrived in lesotho!

After 36 hrs of 4 planes, 3 countries, finally arrived in Lesotho! (Houston-->dc-->accra, ghana-->Johannesburg overnight--> maseru, lesotho). By a stroke of luck, i got placed in business class from dc to Johannesburg bc plane was overbooked. Yay! Miles of leg room, flat bed, 4 course meals...my chair even had a massage option! Probably first and last. Haha.

Annoying thing happened in jo-burg tho- I was told I could only have 1 bag and not the two they had checked in Houston....what?! Why?! I had taken my bags all this way already! Ah well....should be used to this unexpected shelling out of money by now.

View of Lesotho from the plane

Airport. The minivan is a "Combie" - Lesotho version of a very compact bus and crazy drivers

View from outside the Lesotho Mashoeshoe Airport

Thank God I arrived safely in Lesotho though and had no issues finding the person picking me up. Funny when I asked how he recognized me, he said he just knows the BIPAI ppl now.  Haha.

So he took me to the bipai clinic (center of excellence or coe) and met some of the clinic bosses and ppl of influence. Also got 1 minute to get on a computer to quickly send a message to family that I was alive! Woot!

BIPAI COE (center of excellence clinic)

Then we went to get some groceries for the day...but since the place I was staying wasn't really on the way to the grocery store,we got stuff before going to see the place...which was kind of a mistake bc it was definitely lacking a few things. ..like garbage cans, pots, soap, adapters....but whatever. Also cuz it was so new didn't even have the stove connected or dead bolts -which was quickly remedied. Despite all this complaining, all in all it was great :D. New, clean, has clean and hot water, gated community, guard, my own place with 2 bedrooms (come visit!!!! ;P). I was just happy to find some milk. Mmmmmm...milk!  

My house!

Also found out my rent will go towards supporting the Beautiful Gates Orphanage. Yeah! Here's their website: Beautiful Gardens

But no internet yet...and not for a few days so the first few nights I felt really lonely and homesick :'(. Made worse by the fact that I was living several miles from my coworker...so no one to hang out with. Maybe ill make some local friends, but there's a slight fear of venturing out since I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere.

Saying Bye to Friends

Still haven't totally settled in that I'll be going to Lesotho for a full year.  Maybe it's cuz we've been to so many weddings these past couple of weeks (DU, AS, TK, VE).  I've always wondered how I'll be living abroad for longer term (1 yr in global health speak really is quite short). First went to Africa (Sierra Leone) for one month, the next time two months, then the last trip was three months.  Now it's a year. Well, I'll see how I tolerate it. The last couple of days have been a lot of good byes. It's a nice reminder of all the wonderful people I was fortunate enough to meet in the last two years:

HUGS small group and remix!

Gonna miss my family:

People keep on asking me am I excited?...I don't know...it's a mixture. I used to be super excited, but now I'm mostly sad. :( So ambivalent...

New Orleans and Cozumel, Mexico

Fun times traveling with AB!

New Orleans:
It was fun getting to see old friends (DJ), and walk around the French Quarter. Walked around Royal Street with its art galleries, visited St. Louis Cathedral with its beautiful painted ceiling and reminisced about our times in St. Louis, and ate some delicious beignets at Cafe du Monde with Cafe au Lait to wash it down. Ended the day with some delicious chargrilled oysters and crawfish etouffee at Acme Oysters!

Cafe du Monde, post beignet and cafe au lait

St. Louis Cathedral

Acme chargrilled oysters...mmmmm

The next day we walked around the beautiful Garden District with its enormous houses on St. Charles and surrounding streets.  Saw famous author Ann Rice's home, where the first and last Confederate President lived, where Benjamin Button was filmed, learned about Victorian vs. Italian vs. Gothic architecture.   Then before getting on our cruise, ate some NOLA famous Muffaletta sandwiches at the Cochon Butcher.  Mmmm..nothing like fresh meat!

Where Benjamin Button was filmed; One of the many fancy St. Charles/Garden District houses

Cochon Butcher - watching pig decapitation and
eating delicious Muffuletta sandwiches (fresh pork, olive)!

Home of the one and only confederate president

Cruise was more fun than I expected!  A lot of entertainment, relaxation, and more food than I can imagine.  First night we thought we could only order one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert, and the next morning, was when we realized we could order unlimited amounts of food, so we went crazy with the appetizers.  One time, we accidentally ordered 4 entrees thinking half of them were appetizers.  Thankfully the waiter gave us an astonished look and asked us, "you do realize you ordered 4 entrees?"  That was kind of embarrassing.  Another night, I had asked to replaced the ice cream in one of my desserts with sugar-free ice cream, but the server mistakenly thought I asked for an additional order of ice cream - oh boy....

The dancing shows were really good too - it was so much at such a fast pace.  Really had new appreciation for these dancers after trying to learn the Thriller dance on the cruise. :D  Meanwhile, the adult comedy shows really were crass.  It was still pretty entertaining, but I think overall I liked the family friendly ones more.  One of the more entertaining game shows was probably the adult oriented scavenger hunt.  It was amusing to watch AB skip around holding another guy's hand...hahahaha....  I also really hope the bald guy I dragged into the show isn't too upset he got a whole bunch of kisses on his forehead by male and female strangers (long story).

We also went to an art auction, and half the time, we were guessing among ourselves what the the estimated price of the paintings were.  Learned a little about lithographs and gisees (spelling?), so we weren't too off for most of the paintings, but some we were off by 10x. O_o

Enjoying the view on the ship

Participating in a magic show!

Here's our ship! Arrived in Cozumel!

Here's our ship with pool, water slide, stage, and various other activities.
Favorites: mini golf and table tennis - although I still can't believe I lost to AB.  Sighs.

 Although we only had one day in Cozumel, it was jam packed with a lot of fun.  They had so many promotions of "excursions" we can go on, but thankfully we just went on our own to Chankanaab Park.  It was this beautiful beach with many water activities.  Although we didn't really take the time to relax - I'm bad at relaxing - we got to pet/kiss/hug dolphins and watch a sea lion show.  Even the massive downpour in the afternoon didn't bother us, we just went swimming and explored the underwater reefs and fish.

Chankanaab Park in Cozumel, Mexico

It's real!

Dancing with the dolphin

Beso!

Last day in New Orleans, we just spent the whole day in the National WWII Museum.  Didn't realize how big it was, and we ran out of time - didn't get to see the Pacific part of the museum.  But it was amazing, especially the new part where we heard individual stories about the war heroes. 

New Orleans Walking Tour

For one day on a budget:

http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/itineraries/budgetitinerary.html

Mansions of St. Charles:

http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/streets/saintcharles.html

Just one day Frommer's:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/new-orleans/717276#sthash.HwLMbrAq.dpbs

New orleans day trip

http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/itineraries/budgetitinerary.html

Ultimate chocolate chip cookie

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/09/04/345530660/the-science-behind-baking-your-ideal-chocolate-chip-cookie?sc=tw

Exerpt from website:

Ooey-gooey: Add 2 cups more flour.

A nice tan: Set the oven higher than 350 degrees Fahrenheit (maybe 360). Caramelization, which gives cookies their nice brown tops, occurs above 356 degrees, says the TEDEd video.

Crispy with a soft center: Use 1/4 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.

Chewy: Substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour.

Just like store-bought: Trade the butter for shortening. Arias notes that this ups the texture but reduces some flavor; her suggestion is to use half butter and half shortening.

Thick (and less crispy): Freeze the batter for 30 to 60 minutes before baking. This solidifies the butter, which will spread less while baking.

Cakey: Use more baking soda because, according to Nyberg, it "releases carbon dioxide when heated, which makes cookies puff up."

Butterscotch flavored: Use 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (instead of the same amount of combined granulated sugar and light brown sugar).

Uniformity: If looks count, add one ounce corn syrup and one ounce granulated sugar.

More flavor: Chilling the dough for at least 24 hours before baking deepens all the flavors, Arias found.

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself. #10 Is An Absolute Must.

Good reminder.  Including not to worry about everything "will it matter in one year?"
http://www.lifebuzz.com/just-stop/

Myers Briggs: INTJ

INTJ

Introvert(22%)  iNtuitive(25%)  Thinking(12%)  Judging(33%)
http://www.humanmetrics.com/hr/JTypesResult.aspx?EI=-22&SN=-25&TF=12&JP=33

Wikipedia:

"Hallmarks of the INTJ include independence of thought and a desire for efficiency. They work best when given autonomy and creative freedom. They harbor an innate desire to express themselves by conceptualizing their own intellectual designs. They have a talent for analyzing and formulating complex theories. INTJs are generally well-suited for occupations within academia, research, consulting, management, science, engineering, and law. They are often acutely aware of their own knowledge and abilities—as well as their limitations and what they don't know (a quality that tends to distinguish them from INTPs). INTJs thus develop a strong confidence in their ability and talents, making them natural leaders."


But then, when I took another test the next day, I got ENFJ....what??? I guess my percentages for I and T are pretty low, so I could probably waver either way.

Extroverted 3%, Intuitive 35%, Feeling 8 %, Judging 11%

Apparently I'm assertive 28%, which I totally don't agree with, because I don't feel assertive at all. Hm, maybe I passively aggressively am assertive?

"ENFJs are natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma. Forming around two percent of the population, they are oftentimes our politicians, our coaches and our teachers, reaching out and inspiring others to achieve and to do good in the world. With a natural confidence that begets influence, ENFJs take a great deal of pride and joy in guiding others to work together to improve themselves and their community."

Overall, I agree with INTJ more, except for maybe the altruism, tolerant, reliable, belief that everyone is good-natured, being indecisive, and secretly vulnerable to criticism (the strengths and weaknesses of ENFJ).  I dont' feel like I'm a natural leader, but it does say they ENFJ doesn't seek to dominate or direct people but attract by charisma.  I don't think I'm particularly charismatic, but maybe I do get along with people easily - although not to the extent of the description of an ENFJ.  The "skilled imitator" strength of an ENFJ is very interesting, but I'm not sure if I fit that description.

http://www.16personalities.com/enfj-personality 

How I Met Your Mother

It's funny this is what I get: Robin Scherbatsky (I can't even spell her name)

34 Clever Things Parents Can Do

http://distractify.com/fun/parenting-hacks-to-make-life-with-kids-easier/

Clever indeed, thanks ML

Romans challenge

"If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality" (Romans 12:6-13, MSG).

Science of cookies

How awesome is this? Science and cookies combined! Shows how tweaking different ingredients changes the common chocolate chip cookie:
http://www.handletheheat.com/2013/07/the-ultimate-guide-to-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

PATB #5

Parents are the Best #5:

Dad's first email:
Guess what is 795 for your brother?

Me:

How many push ups he can do!

His SAT score! 

How many pizzas he ate in one day!

How many inches he jumped!

His credit score!

how many books he read in his life time!

Dad's reply:

Sounds like Jeopardy.  Actually #795 is Alex’s locker number in his middle school.  Today is his first day in middle school officially!  He needs to get up early, cook and take bus by himself.  Mom and I thought he will eat microwaveable food, surprisingly he made fried eggs this morning!

He had a tennis try-out today also.  He told us about his first day in the school and was very proud of himself for out-playing his teammate-to-be (you know his confidence face) and 120% sure that he will be no 1 in his team.

Love

Dad