We received our sea shipment right before our first R&R!

The Saturday before we left on our first R&R vacation, we finally received our sea shipment, YAY! It had been almost 3 months since it shipped and was so worth the wait :) It was almost 50 boxes in total!

It is simply amazing how much our physical Bibles, a bottle of Sriracha, bikes, golf clubs and a cabinet of spices could mean to a young American couple living in beautiful Africa!

So to put this title simply . . . we get amazing produce here!!!!!!

I meant to post this before our trip but forgot :( Just like the cauliflower recipe that I posted earlier, I have a very similar roasted zucchini recipe. I have never bought zucchini back in the states and figured I would roast it similar to how we liked our cauliflower and broccoli. I took this out of the fridge and started to cut one into half inch slices.

After slicing one completely, I tasted it to make sure the marinade taseted okay and did not need anymore salt or pepper . . . and then . . .  I realized . . . the joke was on me!!!!!!!! It was a stinking CUCUMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tell me the last time you bought a CUCUMBER this BIG!!!!!!! I literally laughed out loud at myself as I looked at the CUCUMBER marinating in the zucchini recipe!! So what do you do when your "zucchini" plays Halloween and is a cucumber?!?!? Well I cooked it just the same . . . hehehehe! He was not getting out of that oven roast, bahahaha! It was actually really good! 

I figured the best way to show the McElroy family how big this thing was would be to compare it to a Cuisine Magazine :)

And this is a local Malabo grown avocado that I got today in the food drop.

AMAZING and so creamy!

And here is an avocado tree we found at the Sofitel Malabo Sipopo Le Golf, golf course we go to on the weekends.

We officially have been diagnosed with vacationitis!

Firstly, we want to thank everyone for their continued prayers for Eric. He is feeling so much better and  the infection is almost gone. We were completely prepared to be evacuated out of EG and head back to the states for surgery and miss our first R&R vacation. As of now, it looks like we will be headed to Europe! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! 

In 7 days, May 17th, we will board a plane, stop in Frankfurt, Germany and then land on Malta Island on May 18th. 

We will stay 6 nights at The Seabank Resort in Mellieha Bay, Malta. I think this place is going to be beautiful and can't wait for Eric to have a week relaxing. We hear there is some amazing diving and snorkeling too!

On May 24th we will fly from Malta to Barcelona and spend 2 nights there. I am so stinking excited to go to Barcelona! Everyone says it is one of their favorite cities. Must see . . . Church of the Sacred Family and a mall/store for all of the those things we can get our little hands on that we don't have in EG :)

On May 26th we will board a cruise and spend 7 nights at sea. Pray for this one! Never been on a cruise and they are in the news every couple of months for something, eeeek. We are pumped to visit Pompeii, the Almafi coast, Rome and the Leaning Tower of Pisa . . . already have our excursions booked!

Finally, we will spend one last night in Barcelona and be back in Malabo on June 3rd. 

We are so blessed to take a trip like this and add all of these amazing destinations to our passports! Please pray for the weather and our safety :)

Parker . . . a.k.a. Professional Crab Hunter

Parker was out playing with Matt and Krystal's two dogs, off the leash, and once they were done, we walked back to our apartment. Suddenly, he ran to the next apartment and chased something out from underneath the patio chair. I got a glimpse of what looked like a ball rolling under a table. It was a crab, an aggressive little crab. It charged Parker several times! Parker was so proud! We had to put the leash on him because that little bugger almost got his sweet little snout a few times. Morale of the story . . . Parker loves living in Africa!!!!

Our EG apartment, more than we could have ever wanted :)

Sorry it took so long to get these posted! I was holding out hoping that we would get our sea shipment by now. The shipment is on the island, but has been in customs for almost 2 weeks. Can't wait to have it here and to finish decorating and organizing.

Laundry Room

Taken from just outside the laundry room and with the front door at my back.

Guest bathroom with the cutest little sink but no mirror :(

Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Closet

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen (ignore my ingredients for stuffed bell peppers on the counter!)

Patio

A Glimpse of Bursting Joy #1

I find myself, more so than ever, cognitively aware of how blessed we are and how much joy the Lord has surrounded us with if only we observed, listened and served a little more. I experience these minuscule moments that make my heart jump and a creeping smile suddenly appear on my face. I was thinking this afternoon that I should add these to the blog. My hope is to encourage you to go to bed every night with a list of these moments on your mind and most importantly . . . to thank the Lord for His everlasting, omnipotent, merciful and gracious love and promise.

These moments I share with you may be very impactful or maybe just simple, brief examples of what brings my heart joy :)

1. Sunday when we went down the long, narrow and bumpy dirt road to the homestead where we met the two old men, I was instantly fearful of our surroundings. We had drove onto someones land, two men were walking up to us, one carrying a machete, and they did not speak my language. We also were battling getting stuck in the mud. Oh and I can't forget to mention that we are in  . . .Africa! As Matt began to speak what he knew in Spanish, I just observed a possibly dangerously tense situation turn into a friendly interaction with two elders. Like I described in a previous post, one of the men used the machete to try and help the truck turn into 4 wheel drive while the other was at our window talking. They were both so frail with tattered clothes and probably past 70 years old, yet still working the land. I could only imagine who they were, what stories they had to tell and how many young adults like us they had ever interacted with. Once we decided it was too dangerous to get to the beach, we watched as the other truck gave the man a sandwich. He came back to us and kindly asked if we had anything. We had a half eaten pringles can that we gave to him. He reached for them with his frail hand and gave us the sweetest missing tooth smile. As we shared our, "tenga un buen dias," I watched him look into his hands at the food several times, smile and wave at us. We passed there very small home where we noticed an old woman sitting in a chair on the porch with a can of flowers on her table. Although we all briefly talked about how we wished we were able to go to the beach and that the two men were very nice, I left that moment feeling fearless and very blessed to have experienced it. Although when we left I felt we probably could have given over more, I realized that I can not underestimate how even the smallest things can bring a smile to someone who has so little, and maybe that is all the Lord intended. 

Family and friends we miss you dearly!

Scrumptious & Simple Shrimp

Last night I made a really tasty baked shrimp and just have to share it with all of you! My inspiration for this started with seeing recipes on Pinterest for buttered lemon shrimp. I ended up just making up something of my own and it was delicious. 

Here is the recipe:

10 large shrimp

3/4 stick of butter

1 whole lemon, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 small shallot, finely chopped

T italian seasoning

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

I started with 10 large, frozen, deveined and peeled shrimp thawed in ice water. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl add shrimp, garlic, shallot, italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Drizzle appropriate amount of olive oil over shrimp so that when you toss the ingredients in the bowl, the shrimp are fully coated with all of the goodies :) Melt butter in large ceramic baking dish. Place thinly sliced lemon on melted butter. Top the lemon and butter with the shrimp. If we had an extra lemon, I would have sliced a second lemon and placed over the shrimp as the final layer and/or squeezed some lemon juice on them as well. Did it need it . . . no . . . but I LOVE lemon :) Then bake the shrimp for 11 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees and they are perfect! When plating, don't miss out on a spoonful ( or two!) of the lemon butter sauce :) YUMMY!

Prior to baking

 Finished product

Paired with baked potato, balsamic roasted cauliflower and some of the best cut filet = success!

A Sunday stroll to Moka

One of the super sweet couples here, Matt and Eda, had their family fly in for the week for a visit. We were invited to join them along with another great couple, Matt and Krystal, to make the trek to the Moka Wildlife Center (MWC).

To the left of the "B" marker in this picture you can see the lake, Lago Biao, at the top of Pico Biao. There is a 7 hour hike, 10 km up to this lake.

The nine of us, split into two trucks, drove a little under an hour and a half to reach the site. Although it was raining, it was a beautiful drive! Along the way, we went through three or four military stops and a toll booth without any issues. I was praying about this once we got into the car. We have to have our company badges, lamented passport copies and resident card, which we hope to have soon, any time we leave the compound. I think the rain helped us :)

We passed through dense, lush jungle . . .

. . . there were chickens everywhere . . .

. . .  and numerous villages.

There were countless, makeshift tables alongside the road with at least bananas, plantains and other fruit. Some also had huge sea snails, crabs, mammals and one had a 3 1/2 ft shark!

We also stopped at a very small outdoor market. There were numerous pigs, dogs and chickens running around. They had habaneros, other peppers, papaya, plantains, other fruit, porcupine, the smallest deer I have ever seen (full grown, less than the size of Parker), squirrel, large rats, a huge fluorescent blue bird, sea snails and crab among other items. All of the animals had passed and were hanging upside-down except for 2 live deer which were on the ground with their legs tied together. Although challenging to see, this is a sought after food source for the local culture.

 Once we made it to Moka we stopped at the MWC, the research headquarters for the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP). After reading more about this at http://bioko.org/ecotourism/mwc_visit/, it appears that there are several people living at the site including a few scientists, students, researchers, leadership and/or staff. There was a staff house and an education building full of books, articles and pictures to help educate visitors on their research and conservation efforts. They maintain three hiking trails of different levels including a 10 km, 6 km and 1 km distances. Although no one was there when we arrived, we took shelter from the rain in the education building for about an hour and a half visiting, reading and looking around the site. It was amazing to read about their mission to conserve Bioko's biodiversity, specifically the endangered 7 species of primates and sea turtles, and their desire to end bushmeat hunting. Due to the rain and mud, we had to abandon the hike but can not wait to return! I would highly recommend you taking a look at the link to the website above to learn more about Bioko Island and the BBPP :)

On the way back we stopped at 2 lookouts for a pictures . . .

. . . and passed an old cocoa drying site . . . 

. . . and took a very narrow, dirt road trying to get to another beach we hear is beautiful. 

After about 6 minutes through mud and copious amounts of fruit trees and jungle, we made it to what looked like someone's homestead. Two very kind, working, old men approached the truck speaking only Spanish. The dirt that we were on was densely saturated and the truck in front of us did not have automatic 4 wheel drive. One of the men took his machete and tried to switch the manual locking hub  to 4 wheel drive so we could make it down to the coast, so sweet! We decided it was too dangerous risking getting stuck and turned around after giving them a sandwich and chips in return for a big missing tooth smile :) It is moments like those that I continue to be blessed by having the opportunity to explore the world and meet precious people along the way.

All in all, it was great to get away from the compound, rain or shine, with good company but hope to hike from Moka soon!