bloggy breaky break.

so i guess i've already been on a break for nearly two months, ya? and i don't really know when i'll come back. except i probs will when i'm in BRASIL just so i feel connected to all i've left behind once more. so re-tune in setembro if you'd like. k?

and here's one picture from our absolutely MAGICAL trip through southern africa: toni and me at the top of table mountain in cape town. which i climbed in that dress, with keds. just fyi. (toni is so dang handsome. heavens.)

so much love to you all,

joojie.

what a wide wide world!!

dear all,

today marks the 12th day on toni and my's journey through southern africa, and let me say that HEAVENS it has been wondrous. we have been met by so many friends and glorious hospitality the whole way through, from the jesuits in lusaka who toni used to work with, to now friends in cape town with stunning white homes with views of the sea... sigh... it's hard to know where to begin, there have been so many impressions and experiences, but here's just to say that i love being in africa once more, so much is familiar - the same biscuits and mosquito netting and minibuses, and then so much is new and unique since it's my first time in so many of these countries. the point of it all is that the world is so huge with such varied experiences and lives and personalities et al, and it's so wonderful to simply fling yourself into it! let's all get out of our bubbles! :)

and in other news, we're off to the stadium tonight in cape town to see spain v. portugal - watch if you can! huzzzzzzzzaaaah!!!!!!

much love to you all, will post pictures and the like when i'm back home :)

jooj.

warming up our vuvuzelas...

did you watch the US-UK match last night?!

please tell me you saw this:





so exciting, no?! i tell you. we watched the match yesterday in the company of loads of friends for an all-day barbecue at toni's place... an insane number of wursts were roasted and a veritable MOUNTAIN of chocolate chip cookies i made were devoured. (a key german word i learned yesterday is lekker :) i'm converting germans to this perfect american food one by one!)

3 days and counting till toni and i leave for zambia. our very own match in cape town is in 16 days. HEAVENS! how quickly it all went!

WM 2010!!! HUZZAH!!!!!

(btw as i write this i'm watching the germany-australia match. 4 goals for germany and counting. OMG. the city is going CRAZY. LOVE.IT.)

news from the front.

mom and dad were here this past weekend!*

lots of yummy food consumed. g. buchenwald traditional german cakes, laugencroissants, excellent japanese, flammenkuchen, and even my very own ritter-sport creation! yes my favorite chocolate company of all time opened up a SCHOKOWELT in the centre of berlin where you can have desserts made from the chocolate bars, and then make your very own with your very own mix-ins. glorious i say. glorious.

jonsi was went to, and dude. whoa whoa dang. on par with when i saw all of sigur ros together years ago. my goodness there is something about those icelandics and the music they create and the way it overwhelms me (in a good way)! incredibly moving. oh! so beautiful. if you have any chance to see him - go i say! go!

and now i'm in the unenviable position of waiting on TENTERHOOKS for my passport to return to me in time for my departure for southern africa: as of this morning it is in the clutches of the indian embassy on wichmannstraße, wherein they are (hopefully) granting me a visa that apparently takes 5-7 days to process. i must have it in hand to leave for zambia in 9 days. 7 working days exactly. heavens!

right! yes! i'm going to india as well (i know, really!**): you see this ashoka fellowship deal-y also includes a trip to new delhi at the end of august for a global summit on maternal health. YES i know that puts me in a SUPER ENVIABLE position, and let it be known that i am STOKED. just not stoked that i have to wait anxiously while they decide to grant me a visa before i have to fly to lusaka. you see? stoked/not stoked simultaneously. LOVE IT.

*(forgive me for not taking pictures of the 'rents visit to post. my camera is heavy. it's my only defense.)
**(i am counting my blessings daily, hourly, minute-ly. life has not always been so lover-ly, but i am truly reveling in the lover-liness of these days!)

you'll never guess....

i'm moving to brazil.

yes, in all seriousness - i am moving to sao paulo, brazil as of september. to work here - a rehabilitation centre for young and impoverished chemically-dependent mothers. for reals. yes. or sim rather. no more ja, i'm now back to sim and my head is quite literally spinning at it all! curious how such an event came to pass? well you see, it all happened a little something like this:

my ole' friend martin sent me a link to a contest, run by the ashoka foundation: "healthy mothers, strong world." the contest called for submissions of individuals aged 18 - 35 on the next "knock-out idea" for improving the ghastly figures of maternal morbidity/mortality around the world. ashoka would then choose the best 16, dub them "young champions of maternal health" (i know) and give them a 9-month fellowship to work on their idea under a mentor somewhere on this-here-globe.

i ignored it at first. for weeks. and then, one lowly morning on the walk from grand central station to my UNICEF office (oh that feels like ages ago), i was struck with an idea based on my experiences with les fistuleuses at the national hospital in niger. i was crossing 2nd avenue at the time, and after sitting down at my desk, spent approximately 8.2 minutes writing up my entry.

once more, i forgot about it.

until, weeks later, i get a notice that i'm a finalist. and then 2 interviews happen. and then i get the news that i won. but that they want to send me to brazil. (not africa as i had assumed they would) i was completely thrown - toni was completely thrown. mom and dad were completely thrown. i cried a great deal. and then did a lot of research on the organization, and pondered, and prayed, and all those such things. then just today i had a [somewhat intimidating] conversation [in portuguese - eek!] with raquel de silva barros, the woman i would work for, about what i would be doing whilst there in sao paolo.

and so! with toni's stalwart encouragement and promise to move to sao paolo in january (once his job contract is up in berlin) to be with me, i have said yes. OH MY GOODNESS i have said yes. so many feelings - let me rattle them all off in stream of consciousness fashion....

omg i really really have to get good at portuguese. FAST.... ah! so sad to leave berlin after what seems like such a short time... i really do love this city... I GET TO LIVE MY DREAM! work in maternal health! for an amazing, intelligent brazilian woman whose organization and cause and ideas i truly believe in - I GET TO DO A JOB THAT ACTUALLY FULFILLS ME on a daily basis... oh heavens i really really need to re-learn portuguese... i don't want to forget all this german i've just learned!... oh toni, 4 months long distance again, but then you heroically promise to come to brazil with me, despite not knowing a lick of portuguese, and leaving behind a wonderful, comfortable life in your home, lovely berlin, with friends and family all in arms reach... OH HEAVENS WE'RE MOVING TO BRAZIL.

and there you have it. i am moving to brazil. toni is coming with me. life is insane, and just when you think things settle, you are asked once again to move across the atlantic, to your third country in one year. OH MY GOODNESS.

oh my goodness!

oh my goodness!

i just made this and OH MY GOODNESS!

ice cream made solely from frozen bananas. without an ice cream maker. for reals! and it really does look just like that amazing picture on the left i stole from the kitchn blog!

you just peel bananas, chop them, put them on a plate in a freezer for a few hours, then put them in a food processor. and OH MY GOODNESS it tastes so incredibly yummy, just like banana ice cream.

i'm sure elliott already knew about this, but it's a complete food revelation to me. you have to try it. it's simply incredible.

methinks it will be the perfect accompaniment to the chocolate chip cookies i made for dessert for a petit dinner party tonight we're hosting on toni's balcony :) happy tuesday ya'all!

dearest pfaueninsel!

perhaps my favorite thing about berlin (aside from toni, naturlich) is the fact that it is SO SO verdant: the city is surrounded on all sides by gorgeous lakes and forest which you can get to in 30 minutes with the city's subway system. no extra train needed. truly amazing.

and so today, picnic in tow, toni and i ventured to peacock island, once the 18th - 19th century bucolic vacation spot for the prussian royal family, complete with marie-antoinette style dairy farm + a few fake ruined castles thrown in, now a glowing, glorious way to spend the day...

castles!

peacocks!

picnics! (please notice the jar of utah salt in the tomatoes. i'm quite certain i'm the first to introduce the salt of utah to pfaueninsel :)

GLOWING!

love.

welcome to breakfast divinity

1. get a kilo of uber-fresh, yummy, pink rhubarb. chop it in 1-inch pieces and let it soak in 3/4 cup of sugar. melt a generous nub of butter in a pan. add the rhubarb/sugar, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes until it's all in a thick, liquidy goo. eat some immediately from the pan to assess the amazingness, then refrigerate in an airtight container (to further thicken).

2. meanwhile, crumble butter into flour and brown sugar (i used buckwheat flour for extra 'nuttiness' as food bloggers would say) (i also have to go to an asian market fah-away to actually get american-style brown sugar in berlin, which is actually from thailand) (naturally). toast it on a cookie sheet in the oven (i like mine almost burnt).

3. obtain the thickest, yummiest, plain yogurt possible.

4. the next morning, layer yogurt + rhubarb compote + crumble.

5. OH MY GOODNESS. no, seriously: OH MY GOODNESS.

*this is a recent picture is of me, frolicking in a field/train tracks in the middle of berlin, collecting flowers and dreaming of this breakfast...

**for further good measure, get a big bundle of mint leaves (1 euro at the turkish market!) and steep them in a tea pot for frische Pfefferminztee. OH MY GOODNESS again.

oh if only this gray would stop!

since may sprung in berlin it's been non-stop GRAY GRAY GRAY. alas! even with the beauties of tulips and rhubarb and asparagus and all the SPRING-Y things we've been enjoying, the weather still seems to think it's february. cold and gray. LAME.

so - what do i do to quell my sadness over the non-existent spring? i think of summer of course! because heavens! what a summer it will be. let me share my excitement with ya'all...

as of june 15, toni and i will be in lusaka, zambia! yup! and from there, we spend 5 weeks making our way from friend to friend, country to country, in a full circular tour of southern africa, ending with a world cup match in south africa! ! ! ! could i be more thrilled? it's been two whole years since i've been in africa, and now i'm actually returning with toni! and just for fun - no work at all! how beautiful is that? UTTERLY BEAUTIFUL. please see photo below of cape town + new stadium if you needed further convincing:


and to cap it all off, we'll fly directly to zurich from johannesburg for 10 days with toni's cousins in the beauties of switzerland,

and to FURTHER cap it all off, i then head to the US for 2 weeks to meet mr. elliot and remind all the rest of my 15 beloved nieces and nephews that i still exist :) yay yay yay!

it sounds brilliant, no? and yes, i realize i'm spoiled rotten. (seriously.) (no, i mean seriously.) (can i count this as payoff from being thousands of miles away from everyone the other 10 months of year?)

ANYWAY - the big question remains: where will you be this summer? can we meet up somewhere along the way?

oh! the tulip fields in berlin's britzer garten...

how much i love this german of mine... he's so so dreamy (especially when he takes me on long walks through tulip fields :)