Monday dinner

I continue to be fascinated with everything I eat here. I finally got Gogo to tell me a firm amount I should contribute to groceries in order to be included in these dinners, and so now it's just a given that I can show up and eat whenever they are eating. It's divine. Standard fare seems to be boiled chicken which is then baked a bit, plus rice, peeled potatoes, and some other vegetables - tonight it was green beans cooked in broth with carrots. We also had salad with lettuce, tomatoes, big chunks of raw garlic (whoa), and thinly sliced onions.

So now I give Gogo 150 rand (about $20) every week, and I get this dinner, plus porridge (oatmeal) in the morning (if today is any indication), and a sandwich and tea at lunchtime. I wasn't expecting the lunch, but when I came back to the office this afternoon, it was waiting for me there on the desk, complete with a sugar bowl and little spoon (pictured below). I'm hoping this whole full-service treatment will eventually subside, but for now I think Gogo gets a huge kick out of the huge thank-yous it induces. And speaking of thank-yous, tonight was Hennig's last night in South Africa (he's headed back to Germany after a three-week vacation here visiting his friend Benny), and he presented Gogo with a bouquet of flowers, delighting her to no end. Also pictured below: Benny attempts to make German pancakes with Pearl's enthusiastic help. He ended up having to make French crêpes instead.