andrea summer

The African Dawa.

In South Africa, we stayed a few nights at a fancy pants hotel called “the Westcliff.” There, they made the BEST cocktail I have EVER had. (I am not exaggerating).  We tried to order it elsewhere, but none even came CLOSE to the Westcliff’s African Dawa.  So…I got the bartender to give me a detailed “how-to” & am sharing it with the world. Sipping this cocktail will forever take me back to the peaceful poolside of that luxurious SA hotel. My senses will recall the cinnamon stick-stuffed wash cloths, the rose petal-covered bath mats, the heavenly down comforter within the peach stucco hillside villas of the WestCliff Hotel. The “African Dawa” cocktail is love in a glass, people. Enjoy it, share it & spread the Dawa love….from yours truly.

Inspiration.

Ever since my culinary-guru friend, Sarah came to visit us in South Africa, I have been inspired about cooking. Sarah would come up with all these creative food ideas on the fly. She turned leftover veggie casserole into deliciou stir-fry. She made a delicious blueberry champagne vinaigrette salad dressing with random stuff from our fridge. Being inspired, I’ve been having WAY more fun with cooking lately. For example, I decided to try a salad inspired by Boca & Sarah.  It’s a grilled caesar salad. I know what you’re thinking….hot lettuce?…gross!  But it’s awesome! I made up my own recipe based on the Boca salad & sarah’s great advice. Now I’m sharing it with you.  

Grilled Caesar Salad

First. buy a bag of romaine hearts. (iceburg lettuce doesn’t grill well). Take off any real wilty outer pieces, wash & trim off a LITTLE bit the leafy tip so its flat & open at the end. Turn it upright & pour in a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle in (okay, shove in) about a teaspoon of minced garlic. Then squeeze a little lemon juice in it.  Lay the hearts down & top them off with some salt & pepper.  

Throw those bad boys on a firey grill for just a couple minutes, then turn them to grill the other side. The outer leaves will char up a bit, but the inside will still be cold. 

Once on the plate, drizzle them with olive oil, a touch of balsamic if you want, another squeeze of lemon & dash of salt/pepper.  Then finish it off with shredded parmesan.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can add finely chopped anchovies to the olive oil/garlic mix at the beginning. But if you do, go real light on the salt.  So that’s it. Delish. Today I fixed it with spaghetti squash & fried bananas for desert. Yum.

Happy 5 Years!

It’s a big day. Today, Tye & I celebrate 5 years of marriage—our first big marital milestone! So for fun, I browsed through 6+ years of “us” photos to recall our journey. When we met, it seems we were just babes. Tye proposed to me (reenactment photo) at sunrise on a boston harbor rock. We got married at an old church in price hill & celebrated at the beautiful cincinnati music hall. We got hitched, started a band & wondered what was next. Now at 5 years—we’ve played together, traveled together, worked together, music’d together, mission’d together & adventured together. We’ve had 5 years worth celebrating, worth being thankful for. Happy Anniversary us!

Familiar faces.

We stepped off the plane to find some familiar faces. Rob & Tim (our SA assignment bosses) showed up to surprise us. Arian & Jude came to pick us up. In baggage claim, I gave Jude 3 months worth of kisses in about 30 seconds. He loved it…kinda. Then—wasting no time— we jetted off the the Reds opening day game. Crazy?…yes. Our friend Ryan got us tickets & I couldn’t deprive Tye of his Reds on opening day.  So, we enjoyed the game jet-lagged & freezing. If you watched the game on TV, you may have seen us. Tye was in a striped hoodie, and I was the girl next to him wrapped in 15 colorful blankets to cope with the FREEZING TEMPERATURES. It really warmed up, though, when they won the game with a walk off homerun.  It was awesome. Tye & Ryan hugged in their excitement. Then some other guy tried to hug Ryan. Awkward. But it was all a great “welcome home” present.  To thaw out, we stopped by Crossroads to sit in on band practice, went to Larosa’s (a fav), got Dexter (he’s still cute) & successfully stayed awake until 11pm. …my bed has never felt so comfy & so warm. 

1 day.

Last day.  Since we had an evening flight, we spent most of the day soaking up a few more SA sun rays. We relaxed, rested & had one more “african dawa” (the best african cocktail—i’ll show ya how to make it soon). We weren’t very excited about leaving, but we were looking forward to home. And after those crazy few months, 16 hours of sleeping & watching movies on a plane sounded pretty great. Last day. We headed to the airport, watched one more SA sunset & hopped on the plane to go home. 

Three(ish) months in SA was one of the richest experiences & greatest adventures of my life. And like I said many a blog posts back..it was not either fun or painful—it was both. It was not either awful or awesome—it was both. It was not either joyous or tearful—it was both. We had no idea when we agreed to this journey that it would be such a tall glass of bittersweet. But like any adventure, it was greater & harder than we ever would have guessed. Because of it we are stronger, richer, purer…(wait, is this a Kanye song?) We are grateful beyond words. I’m sure I’ll blog more about it as I have more pics, videos & processing to share. But for now, this SA adventure has come to an end. Last day & we’re coming home.

2 days.

Whew. It was a whirlwind morning to get all the final details finished-but we did it. Finish packing, clean, return the appliances, turn in house keys, get truck cleaned, transfer photos, lockdown the Singh’s house…by noon. In SA…that’s a freakin miracle. Then it was time for the teary drive out. I watched Mamelodi go by, took pictures, blew kisses, cried a little & thanked God for being so good to me. 

I don’t think I said a single word on the drive from Mamelodi to Joburg (another miracle).  

But we didn’t stay sad long—because we headed to the Westcliff Hotel. Sadness is not permitted here…only sunbathing, fancy baths & cocktails. We decided to splurge on our last night in SA because thursday is our 5 year wedding anniversary. And no offense Delta, but “beef on a tray” is not my idea of a romantic anniversary dinner.  So we’re enjoying a little luxury before we head home tomorrow. They do it right, here at the Westcliff. Fancy food, bell boys in hats, embroidered slippers, world’s fluffiest comforter, rose pedals in the bathtub, our own terrace…and…I made Tye nauseous with all the smell-good spa samples from the bathroom. I think i have about 6 different fragrances goin here. 

Anyways- we sat by the pool today & quizzed each other about this trip. (1) List 3 pleasant surprises. (2) What about our lifestyle here do you want to take home with you? (3) How have you grown? Blah blah blah, other deep questions & so on. ;)  More relaxing is on the schedule for tomorrow…then it’s time. to. come. home.

3 days.

Today was our last full day in Mamelodi, so we went to the Hospice to say goodbye. When we got there, they were in the middle of a pretty intensive prayer meeting—you could tell they were pretty down. So our arrival was well timed, because we came bearing encouraging gifts. As Patricia said, “Every time I’m feeling down, God sends someone to pick me up.”  (smile)

We brought the banner that we presented on sunday to hang in the Hospice entrance. I told the nurses, “Every time you see these faces, you MUST remember that there are people in Cincinnati who love you.” They liked it VERY much. 

We also hung up the posters that we made & presented to them a few weeks ago. Making these posters was actually our FIRST assignment here. We were to collect testimonies of the Hospice’s GREAT successes—their patients. So we interviewed patients in their homes, took photos & drew from a few folks back home. Though things changed before our assignment was completed—we printed a few anyway just to encourage the nurses. Once we got them all hung up, the Hospice staff stood back & smiled at the new flair in the Hospice hallway. One last hug & prayer with Patricia & we were off. 

Off to run errands, off to say goodbye to some other friends, off to pack. Lebo came over bearing gifts herself—a big BAG of chocolates (to comfort me on the teary flight home), coffee & parenting books. (don’t get excited..we’re not parents. Lebo just wants to be an SA aunt. In fact, she’s PRAYING we have twins this year. Once, she prayed for a new car…and got it. So…i’m a little nervous.)  One more morning to get it all done. Then it’s time to relax. 

3 days & our bags are packed. 

4 days.

Sunday. Today we enjoyed our last C&F church service. It was storming & at times, the sound of pouring rain on the tin roof was deafening. When it got really loud, Pastor Titus paused in teaching and we all just sat there…listening to the rain. As i sat there, i found the journal page I sketched on our FIRST sunday here in january. Perfect. Knowing it was our last weekend, Titus brought us up on stage. We presented a small gift: a banner of smiling Cincinnati faces that read “We Love Mamelodi.”  They liked it. (good work, Craig)  I explained it was a small representation of the many Cincy folks that love the people of Mamelodi. Then, per Titus’ request, I sang a little.  ”You sing like a black” is one of the greatest compliments of my life. See the picture that looks like a woman is throwing a book at me? ….she’s not. When someone at C&F feels the person on stage is really bringing the heat—they jump up & fan them with a Bible. So, she’s fanning me. Its hilarious.  

After church, we filmed a few faces for our little project, ran a couple errands & stumbled upon one of my piano students from our 2008 trip. We were actually dropping off a gift at a friend’s house, when my student stepped out of her bedroom. I had no idea she lived there. It was awesome- she just opened her bedroom door, saw me standing there & screamed my name in happy surprise. Can you imagine opening your bedroom door & seeing someone from another continent you hadn’t seen in 2+ years?!  Crazy when you think of it like that. Well, we enjoyed the little reunion. 

4 days & we’re rounding 3rd, heading for home. (that’s a baseball reference just for Tye). Tomorrow is filled with tying up loose ends. Tuesday is for relaxing. Wednesday is for flying. Our hearts are heavy, but grateful and our bodies are tired. Day 3 starts in 15 minutes. Day 4 was filled with a lot of Mamelodi love. 

5 days. (I can officially count our days left on one hand)

Well today was Sarah’s last day—so we packed it full of fun. We got up at the crack of dawn to hit up the Afrikaans market again. We did a bit of shopping while Tye helped our friend Shadrack at an audio workshop. For lunch we took her to “the Deli on Duncan” — a fav spot. We ran errands, picked up her favorite wines & packed up her bags. We relaxed for a moment by the Singh’s pool. Then whisked her off to the airport to wait in a very….long….line. On the quiet & solitary drive home from the airport, I spoke with God about our victories on this trip. Back at the house, I mourned our failures. This experience is packed full of emotional lessons. 5 days & tomorrow is sunday.