More Photos - Eric (& Karen)

It's been over a month since the last post, and everything is going fine. We both have a number of topics that would be interesting to share, and we hope to get some of them written soon! I've been having too much fun with this post trying to hand-modify the HTML to create some more complex layouts...
We don't take very many photos, but these are some from two different locations: 1) our house in the upscale neighborhood of Golf (near the golf course) and 2) the animal park tour at the Ferme Futuka (more on that later).

Very large mushrooms are now for sale. We were told they appear on the termite mounds once it starts raining (Karen: we saw someone clamber up a termite mound to pick one when we were at Ferme Futuka). They are very large – portobello-sized or even much larger – but can be tough (Karen: spongy?) and don't have much flavor.

Local mushrooms

Leaf Celery

Here's a shot of our refrigerator: leaf celery, ice tea, "bitter lemon" soda, tomato, avocado, zucchini, cabbage, carrots, okra, etc.
(Karen: when we first arrived, we were mystified by the apparent absence of fresh produce, but we've since discovered  not only the little satellite produce market within walking distance of our house, but also the huge Mzee Kabila market, which is full of piles of produce and lots of meat (some of it still walking and squawking) and fish. We hope to discreetly take some pictures of our own at some point, but for now you can see one here.) 

Our Refrigerator

I bought this shelving unit the first week we were here – it is very handy for holding our sharp knives, and also all of our fruit and other non-refrigerated stuff: papaya, bananas, mangoes, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, ginger, garlic, onions

Our Pantry Shelves

We planted some herbs and some lettuce in the planters outside our apartment. The basil (both Thai and Italian) has been growing very well, and the cilantro is looking good, too. I think it's a little hot for the lettuce plants – they are growing, but not terribly well. Two of the three "sentinels" (guards) are interested – one is doing most of the watering and thinks some soil augmentation will help the lettuce grow better. The other guard saw us thinning the basil and asked if he could plant the ones we took out at home.

Thai Basil

Italian Basil

Madame’s cat

The owner of our apartment (and the 2 other apartments in this gated compound) lives in the "big house" on the property. She has a small dog, a thin cat, and a grey parrot that likes to whistle. The dog likes to sleep in front of our door, and both the cat and dog come over when Madame isn't home, looking to be fed, I think. The grasshopper below was outside the gate. All of the yellow in this picture is pollen from the flower.

Grasshopper Covered with Pollen

The Ferme Futuka

We found out about the governor's farm (Karen: about 20 km outside Lubumbashi, an "ecotourism pilot project" and part of the governor's efforts to promote local agriculture) on the internet and it sounded like a good excursion.  (Note: the governor of Katanga is Moïse Katumbi Chapwe who has been in London, we think.) We visited the Ferme Futuka with a French couple we've become friendly with and their 2 children. On the way in, we didn't see much growing except a small field of papaya trees. Later we did see some very large fields, but since the rainy season was just beginning, they were plowed, but empty of any crops. I'm sure it will look much greener in a few months!
Upon arrival, we almost immediately boarded the large open-sided Mercedes touring vehicle and went driving around the part of the property left "au naturel" – except for the addition of a number of animals not normally seen around here.

Karen on the Futuka Safari

Kudu

Sable Antelope

Some Antelope and an Eland, maybe

These over-crowded ostriches were not running around wild; they were being raised for meat, we think. Many of the birds had backsides that looked like frozen turkey, all of their feathers being pulled out – probably due to establishing the pecking order in such a confined area.

Ostriches

Zebras

My New Zebra Shirt (Karen: we bought this in Lubumbashi at a fair at a dance school; you can see through the window behind Eric proud parents watching their kids perform on the stage (hidden by the rack of shirts). Nice to see an array of food and crafts vendors; many don't have storefronts.)

Thanksgiving

After not having met any Americans at all in the nearly 2 months we've been here, we were introduced to some last week, just in time for Thanksgiving! On Monday, we had dinner with some representatives from the US Embassy who had come down from Kinshasa, and that dinner included an American couple who has lived in Lubumbashi since the 1970s. They hooked us into a large (50-person?) Thanksgiving gathering mostly consisting of Americans with ties to the Methodist church. There was a lot of traditional Thanksgiving food including stuffing, apple and pumpkin pies with whipped cream, and mashed potatoes. We brought butternut squash with orange rind, ginger, and honey (Karen: thanks to the internet for recipes at our fingertips). A pretty heavy rain storm hit around dessert-time, chasing us inside. (Karen: it was nice to meet this crowd and learn about their work and lives in Lubumbashi; we're short-timers, having been here only 2 months and planning to stay only 8 more ... on Tuesday last week, we also met an American woman who's lived here since 2008 and has put together a little city guide with lots of helpful resources.)

Thanksgiving Dessert Table

Thanksgiving Rain Shower -- looking out at our host's beautiful and bountiful backyard garden, with veggies and fruit trees (strawberry patch around front!).  

(Karen: As Eric said, lots more to tell ... !)