Chinese vegetable stir fry with egg fried rice. For the sauce:
For the rice:
Method Start cooking the rice. Fry the onion and pepper in oil until softened. Add the broccoli and fry until tender. Add garlic, ginger and chilli for a few minutes before adding soy sauce. Reduce until sticky and add seeds and nuts. Add more soy sauce until sauce is desired consistency. Once the rice is cooked, heat in large pan or wok with oil (stirring constantly) for a few minutes. Push rice to one side of the pan and add beaten egg to the other - fry like an omelette before chopping up and mixing into rice. Add cooked peas and serve with sauce.
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Firstly just to say we have both fully recovered from our illness and are pretty much back to full strength without the need for medical intervention! Secondly, just a quick note about our blogging. Over the past few weeks in Bolivia we've been finding it increasingly difficult to load our weebly site to add blog posts. This has mainly been due to the incredibly poor wifi connection in the volunteer house (which is an inevitable part of living and working out of the main city). What it has meant is we've been unable to upload the ramblings and pictures we've been producing and instead have been collecting them together for a time when the wifi is just strong enough to let us on. Basically we've backdated a bunch of posts from our time here which have been added below, so make sure you scroll down to catch everything, including some more information about the projects we have been working at.
I am writing this whilst sat in the administration office of the zoo, trying to recover from intense manual labour! Our time at the zoo is both rewarding and physically demanding in equal measure. No two shifts here are the same, but one thing is for sure - you will be sweating in your full length overalls by the end! The zoo is not exactly what Europeans would normally find. It is home mostly to native species of the Andes, with none of the 'big ticket' animals you would expect (although there is a rescued circus lion who is extremely vocal!). Instead the pens are filled with Bolivian natives, such as jaguars and pumas, llamas and alpacas, sheep, rabbits and pigs. The zoo works hard on its main project - raising awareness of and preventing animal trafficking. Most of the animals you see have been rescued from mistreatment in lives as mascots and family pets. The keepers work hard despite obvious funding issues to provide the best care for the animals. This includes a fully functioning on site industrial kitchen and abattoir, veterinary centre and dedicated keeper for animal enrichment, all providing fresh food, medical care and entertainment. As volunteers we've seen and done so much here, it's actually amazing. We've made honey milkshakes for bears, visited spider monkeys, petted a boa constrictor, watched physical therapy for baby flamingos, cleaned out the pens of turtles and for Joe, even helped battle a disgruntled ostrich (this was extremely funny as I tried to distract the VERY angry bird with single peanuts whilst Joe helped our teacher and chaperon Emmerson change and clean the water). The keepers are so keen to get us involved with as much as possible, it means we have been able to really get behind the scenes, even coming face to face with a slightly unwell but still incredibly beautiful jaguar who was receiving treatment at the animal hospital. Whilst certainly very tiring (raking, cleaning and sweeping in the burning sun dressed in a thick and heavy set of overalls definitely takes its tole), the experience has been incredibly unique. It's something we will be telling stories about for years to come!
This is one we thought we would be quite difficult given the basic kitchen we have, but actually, it turned out great and had the added benefit of being ultimately customisable. Ingredients Dough:
Method Dissolve the yeast and sugar in a large bowl with water. Leave for 5 minutes then add oil and salt. Gradually add the flour a cup at a time and combine. Kneed for 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Oil a clean large bowl, add dough and leave covered in a warm place until doubled in size (around 45 mins to an hour). Whilst this is proving, fry the onions until soft and set to one side. Knock back the air in the dough and stretch out on to oiled baking sheet. Spread tomato puree and add toppings. Bake at 200 degrees centigrade for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Tasty, cheap and fun to make. Who doesn't love pizza?!
On Monday and Tuesday mornings, we help out at The Valley of the Moon Children's Centre in Mallasa. The nursery is run by a team of dedicated tias (or 'aunties') who between them look after five classes of children ranging from 6 months to 5 years old, sometimes totaling 50 Our main task is to help the centre's resident chef, Doña Maxima ('doña' being an honorific title of respect). Children need nutritious and filling meals to prepare them for learning, and therefore one of the key principles of the centre is to provide healthy, home cooked meals throughout the day, to give each child the nutrients they need to thrive. A typical day would look like the following: 8:30am - arrive, wash hands and begin chopping vegetables for the day's dishes 9:00am - count the children in each classroom and record this information for Doña Maxima 9:30am - serve breakfast (often a hot drink such as spiced hot chocolate or mild with cinnamon and a bread roll, or a quinoa dish served like porridge) 10:00am - clean and wash all breakfast cups (sometimes quite tricky as quinoa has a habit of setting like concrete!) 11:00am - serve cinnamon juice or a fruit smoothie 12:00pm - serve lunch. This changes everyday, based on the fresh produce available, but typical dishes include fried liver, yucca (also known as cassava) with onions and tomatoes, or lentil, carrot, potato and tomato salad with beef meatballs. Lunch also includes juice and fresh fruit (such a sliced and peeled apples, pears or pineapple). 12:30-1:30pm - collect all dishes, wash and dry app cups cutlery, bowls and plates with Doña Maxima's grease busting technique, which includes double washing to ensure maximum cleanliness. This routine also includes some time to take part in educational activities with the children. For example, practicing numbers with finger painting or making paper pizzas to teach shape and colour. The these activities are designed and lead by the volunteers, who bring the required materials to the centre. It is very important to us that we are giving our time in service to the community, reacting only to their needs without projecting any preconceived ideas that might not be what is actually best for the people involved. The centre is great place to truly see the difference volunteer support can make in aiding the smooth running of an operation that is so much at the heart of the Up Close Bolivia ethos and the community at large. Here we get a truly rewarding experience, whilst knowing the assistance we give is appropriate and appreciated in return. And not to mention how fun it is to get messy with crafts and have fun playing games!
Having spent some time trying out different ingredients from local shops and supermarkets, we thought we'd start a mini series of recipes that are fun to make and really enjoyable to eat. The first installment is for the creatively named Road Curry with homemade flat bread. Ingredients Paste:
Method Mash together the paste ingredients and add to a pan of fried onion, pepper and celery. Cook the paste for a few minutes, adding some chicken stock for additional moisture to stop it sticking. Add the remaining ingredients and boil down until tomatoes have softened and the carrot is tender. For the breads, combine the ingredients in a large bowl and kneed. Form into even balls and leave to rest for a few minutes. Hand stretch dough and fry in a hot pan with oil until brown spots appear on the bottom. Flip to cook the top side for a minute and set aside. We served our curry with potatoes instead of rice
In a follow up to the Peru Hop Debacle, we thought it only right to share how we actually made it to the dizzying heights of La Paz. Whilst relatively painless and stress free, the trip wasn't without some minor hiccups. For example, trying to secure an actual bus ticket in advance proved slightly more tricky than we first imagined. Like all good millennials, we headed straight for the wisdom of Google to tell us exactly how to cross the Bolivian border. Unfortunately most posts online dated from 2013/14 and the reviews of the tourist buses were slightly scary. In the end we went directly to the bus terminal with the idea of purchasing a Panamericano bus ticket. When we got to the terminal, their booth was empty, and after waiting half a day to see if they'd arrive we ended up buying a ticket to Copacabana (a half way point over the Bolivian border) with a company called Titicaca Bolivia for a 6am bus the following day. Fast forward to 5am, as we try to leave the hostel in Puno, wearing three layers of clothes with all our essentials strapped to us for security. We open the door to find ourselves behind padlocked gates. Much panicking ensued as we realised we were locked inside and that the reception didn't open until our bus was actually due to depart. Luckily for us, a few commuters passed along the street and using a mixture of pigeon Spanish and strange charades, we got them to ring the bell on the outside of the hostel so we could be set free. The bus itself from Puno to La Paz was most definitely dated. The double-decker coach had none of the promised seat belts and the windows were partially falling out of their frames. However, one of the benefits of being in such a dinosaur was that it was unable to gather the required speed to pull off the dangerous driving tricks we had previously witnessed. All in all the journey of about four hours was about as comfy as any other we'd had in Peru. The Peruvian/Bolivian border was a point of some apprehension, as we'd read stories of buses leaving passengers stranded. Our bus company kept our bags on board (which was definitely a little scary) as we carried our valuables over the crossing ourselves in day packs. Getting stamped in and out was painless and required little to no Spanish. Our bus had a guide who spoke a small amount of English to assist with the customs forms and the whole thing took around half an hour. We joined our bus on the Bolivian side and got back on for the journey into Copacabana. One thing to bear in mind is to change some money into Bolivianos, as this is required for some nominal taxes on entering Copacabana. Once we arrived in the town (which is situated on the shore of the worlds highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca) we were easily able to find a number of buses travelling directly to La Paz for around 20 Bolivianos each (around £2.50). The bus was relatively new and used by locals and tourists alike. The scenery was truly incredible and the journey involved an exciting lake crossing, whereby passengers were shipped across in a small boat and the coach was floated across on a barge. Again the crossing requires 2 Bolivianos per person but was a very welcome opportunity to stretch your legs and spend some time off the bus. All in all the journey cost around $7 per person and actually resulted in quite an adventure, which in hindsight was more enjoyable than an overpriced bus.
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Hi! We're Alice and Joseph, currently on a year long RTW trip :) Archives
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