We have Pets!

Living in a foreign country brings many new things to live with as well as some familiar ones in new settings.  For instance, we had both seen cows in the states but to have people actually using oxen to pull carts is quite a different experience.  Also, the main mode of transportation on our road, actually after 'feet', is the burro.  This is a new thing to see and live with even though we had both seen burros before.

We are actually not purposing in moving into the animal market.  That is, we don't want to buy an ox or cow or burro or chicken... at least not yet.  But, here some animals seem to find a way into our home, or yard, whether we've asked them to or not.  So, we have a variety of animals that we affectionately call "Pets."  Even though we kind of like them, we're still not overboard with this pet thing and so we have not named any of them!

We have an inside friend that Ellen really likes.  He's a gekko, or maybe she's a gekko.

For a long time it seemed that we only had this one but now we have seen several little gekkos.  This raises two distinct possibilities; 1) it wasn't just one gekko (very likely), and 2) we're on the brink of a real invasion!

We also have a pretty good size lizard which probably measures about a meter to the tip of it's tail.

This guy sun bathes on the cinderblock base of the fence line straight out from our bedroom window!  I don't think he does anything else, which leads me to believe that he must be retired and probably moved here from the north for the warmer temperatures.

This poor guy is probably the only one of our 'pets' that is actually trapped in our yard.  Here he is getting a better view at what freedom looks like.

Here's a better close up.  As you can see he's pretty good size but we'll probably still have to wait a bit before making soup.

This big guy is sort of beautiful in a gross and ugly sort of way!!

He comes and sits outside our front door every night.  This is probably because to him our outside light reads like a buffet restaurant sign.  The light attracts bunches of bugs and the bugs attract him.  The most amazing thing about him is that for being such a fat blobby looking guy he easily jumps a good three feet!!

These are all the regular critters at our house.  In a way, we've grown kind of fond of them... well, not really but they are fun!

Heat Retention Cooking (or Making Applesauce in Honduras)

For most of us who read blogs like this we don't put a lot of thought into how we cook.  That's because we're using a gas or electric stove, but what if you didn't have one of these modern conveniences?

Well, that's the very real situation for about 3 billion people, or about half the world's population!

This stove has a chimney and yet still produces a lot of smoke in the room.

Burning with wood, or other woody materials, brings up several issues.  The first is obviously the time spent gathering and cutting the wood.  While this can represent upwards of three to five hours of work per day it still doesn't rank in the major problems.

This stove has no chimney has turned the walls and ceiling black.

One of the biggest problems cooking with wood is the smoke produced.  Indoor air pollution from cook fires poses a serious health problem with twice the incidence of Acute Respiratory Infection or ARI.  The World Health Organization reported in "Acute Respiratory Infections" Update September 2009, that "Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) continue to be the leading cause of acute illnesses worldwide and remain the most important cause of infant and young children mortality, accounting for about two million deaths each year..."  ARI is not the only health issue as the smoke also causes eye problems and the open fires are often the source of burns for children and adults alike.

There are many solutions to remediate this crisis in the kitchen and one of them may be "Heat Retention Cooking," or HRC!  HRC is a simple process of boiling foods without meat for about 10 minutes, or with meat for about 15 minutes, and then insulating the pot to let the cooking continue for three to five hours.  When the pot is taken out it's still piping hot and the food is ready to serve!

We have had success making chicken and rice, cooking beats, and in the clip below Ellen demonstrates how to make applesauce!

We have been able to demonstrate this cooking to three families so far and one of them is now experimenting at his own house to devise was to insulate the pot.  He actually filled a metal tub with wood ash and then set the hot pot in the ash so that the ash almost reached the lip.  The top was covered with a cloth.  His wife was cooking rice and they said it came out perfectly!

We're working on trials of making an insulated box out of layers of cardboard glued together.  While this should work there are some logistical considerations such as: how will the folks get all the cardboard needed to build the box?  Even so, we are moving forward and praying for the Lord to provide the needed guidance!