Friday, November 16, 2007

Anticipating the Crunch

I'm glad it's Friday. I need to catch up on sleep and make a shitload of jewelry. Excitingly, I've been accepted in the holiday edition of Mozambique's National Crafts Fair, but I have next to no stock at the moment and the fair will be for 6 days! I am starting to freak out a bit, but if I can manage to do an average of at least 3 pieces per day I should be okay...

Also in the works is a planning session for Thanksgiving dinner. I am organizing a meal with 2 girlfriends of mine for what I'm guessing will be a guest list of around 30 people. So I will be cooking on Wednesday and Thursday next week, which means I need to shop this weekend, which entails feeling rested and doing some planning ahead.

While on the topic of Thanksgiving, do you know how much a stupid frozen turkey costs here? The equivalent of US$113 (2,900MT)!! And this is just for a small-to-medium sized bird.

I've been toying with the idea of buying a live turkey from this man who sells assorted fowl in a cage on the roadside on my way to work, but am increasingly realizing the impracticality of this idea. I'd totally have our maid purchase, kill and clean the bird for a fee, but she is preparing for a massive party at the end of the month to celebrate her graduation from Bible school, so her freezer space / availability for killing large birds has dramatically gone down.

Right now I've got the warehouse boys calling their supermarket contacts to see if anyone here can get a turkey, or whether the best option will be to have a friend buy 2 frozen birds in South Africa for a much cheaper price and bring them up on Monday.

Oh. And I need to go to the bank, to the tailor's, to DHL and to the art market at some point soon. Not that I have enough on my plate at the moment or anything.

That's one of the most frustrating things about being car-less and bored stiff at work on occasion (ahem, today!). I feel the pressure of this massive to-do list mounting, and I can do absolutely nothing about it...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! You DO have a busy week ahead of you! Good luck with the turkey, and I hope you get enough jewelry made...love your designs!

Have a great day!

~Paige~

Safiya Outlines said...

Is your maid still Dona Lisa or someone new? How is Dona Lisa?

$113 Dollars for a bird and it's dead?! For that price I would expect it to lay eggs, do the housework and read me a bedtime story.

Is this price tag a further indication of the Secret Overpiad Life of certain NGO employees?

P.S You have been tagged.

Ali Ambrosio said...

~Paige - Uffff, the weekend is gone and I still am behind on this list! I desperately need to get ahead with the jewelry production!!

I will send you an e.mail this week...

~Safiya - Yes, our maid is still Dona Lidia. She is doing well, like I said about to graduate from Bible school and quite happy and healthy from what I can tell.

The price of a turkey here is beyond ridiculous. I'm getting 2 from South Africa for the equivalent of $65!!!

I think the expensive price tag is definitely a result of people knowing there are sucker expats willing to pay this price - a category in which I'd certainly find myself were it now for my new connections at work.

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

Hey, I just want to say you should put more of your stuff up on Etsy.

Reason is that I have 2 friends graduating from their Ph.ds this year and I want to buy something an artisan made than the same old same old for their graduation presents.

abby - the geek girl said...

Holy wow!! That is a REALLY expensive turkey! Just do chicken and tell everyone it's turkey...

I want to see pics of your jewelry when you get it done!! :)

Ali Ambrosio said...

~Monkey - I will be restocking Etsy over the holidays, but unfortunately not in time for the end-of-year gift-giving rush. I am going to put up a lot of things using local materials (trade beads, wood, etc.). I'll let you know when it's done...

~Abzdragon - I've managed to get 2 turkeys from South Africa that a friend is driving up for me this evening! Otherwise, I would have totally done chicken. :)

Anonymous said...

you up for co-hosting a big party next year? I used to have one for 100-150 people on the Sat after thanksgiving in Japan...

Ali Ambrosio said...

~Brendan - LET'S DO IT!! When do you arrive, by the way?

Anonymous said...

not soon enough....I should be there first week of may, Iam currently having the brazilian sotaque being purged from my speech as i learn the "continental" style of speech...it's all good though and I am learning heaps

Ali Ambrosio said...

~Brendan - I'm going through that process naturally. Now when I go back to Brasil, my Portuguese is totally messed up. My accent is shot, I use words and constructions that are a mix-match of regional styles...epa!