Josh has been home for a week and it feels like my first post since his return should sum up all the amazing things we’ve said, done, and felt since his return, but I can’t remember anything noteworthy. Life’s been pretty . . . normal?
He has spent a bunch of time looking for a replacement car for the Montero that went to SUV heaven. It’s a bit sad since that car has been around the world with us, tackled dunes and curbs with the best of them and now it’s gone. The mechanic met with Josh to talk about the logistics of scrapping it after I let it run out of oil. He reassured him, “I’m sure she’s much better with things inside the home.” Ah, yes. A Proverbs 31 wife for sure.
As hard as the heat, sand, and rough roads are on cars here, they are expensive for what you get. I suppose that’s part of the cost of everything having to be imported to our island location. We were looking for a replacement Montero since in spite of lacking an idiot oil warning light, it’s a pretty awesome car to drive. The reason we chose it in the first place is because they are all over the Middle East and easy to repair and find parts for (unless you need to replace an American specs engine. Whoops). So Josh was looking at Pajeros (the name for Monteros in this region), same car, different name, with speedometers that measure in kms instead of miles. But the used ones we saw were running around $7000 dollars, which is CRAZY for a car that has bald tires, ripped seats, peanuts and food trash stuck in the seat cracks, and a dent in the door (that particular car the asking price was $7,700). So we expanded our search to other models of cars that would seat 7 and realized the reason we settled on the Montero/Pajero to begin with was because Mitsubishis are actually cheaper than Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, etc. Back to square one.
One of the problems is there is no enforced seat-belt law here so the number of cars that seat more than 5 people are in short supply. It’s not uncommon to see a family car with many more passengers than seat belts. Extra points if the kids are actually seated and not hanging out the window, climbing in between the front and the back, or even sitting in the driver’s lap.
We did find a car — well our mechanic found it for us. I think he feels sorry for Josh, being saddled with such an incompetent helpmeet. When Josh told me it’s called a Sangyong, first I was all, “Say what now?” and wondered what sort of knockoff car he was going to make me drive. But an instant later, I was YES I WANT IT so I can say I drive an Anyong! and be the envy of Arrested Development fans everywhere.
Here’s my Anyong — I haven’t driven it yet, but it seats 7 and it’s under $5000. It’s a little miracle on wheels. I’ll let you know how I really feel about it when I get to drive it next week.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch . . .
the dates are ripening
HUGE bunches of dates.
A guy came the other day and shinnied up the tree to cut them down.
These are the dates that are partially ripened/dried — people often eat fresh dates here that are half red/half brown. I think the unripe part tastes like a green banana — very starchy.
Our landlord instructed the date guys to leave one of the bunches for us.
We weren’t sure how to dry them, but thanks to the wonder of YouTube — there’s a video for that. Supposedly the best way is to strip them from the vines and lay them out in a single layer to dry in the sun for several days.
What better use for an old baby gate?
This is what they look like after 3 days of “cooking.”
