Love Is ....

When John passed I bought a locket to keep some of his ashes in. By the time we scattered the ashes I didn't need to wear them so I have just worn an empty locket ever since.

I opened the locket today (as I do every now and then) and I found this piece of paper - just a little piece of torn napkin.

Miss J-May and Miss J-Bear were playing with the locket in the airport but I didn't realize they had put something in it - although they did keep insisting that it shouldn't be empty.

So now I have a little piece of love inside my locket, and a little tear in my eye as I write.

Thank you my sunshines :-)

Oh Yeah!

Years wrinkle the skin but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

Samuel Ullman

It's Just Not Cricket

I know there is money involved in professional sport, and I know the players aren't necessarily in it for the enjoyment of the game and the money the are paid is significant (and a degree of ruthlessness becomes 'normal') but ...

The Harbhajan Singh case seriously makes me reassess my love of Test cricket. I haven't heard the judge's comments because there is nothing he can say that will convince me of the "rightness" of his decision.

Singh has accepted he said something offensive and don't try and tell me he didn't know that calling someone who is colored (I hate that term) a "m******" is an abomination (worse than the 'n' word).

But money and position and blackmail have cleared him.

I am way beyond disgust.

It just isn't cricket and I am not sure my love of the game will ever recover sufficiently that I can watch it again.

Bush Tucker

This stuff is expensive! Not that I begrudge anyone making a living, and a little goes a long way but this is locally produced (grower, processor, distributor, retail) as opposed to imported (grower, processor, distributor, export agent, import agent, distributor, retail). I hope the grower is getting a good price and the cost to the consumer isn't being swallowed up by the middle men and their profit margins!

Anyway, today was cooking day and, after much thought and a few days of sourcing information, I settled on my Australian menu:

• Pumpkin Soup with El Questro Station's Damper
• Nutty Kangaroo Rolls (with macadamias and bush seasonings)
• Braised Chicken with Bush Tomatoes, Native Basil and Native Pepperberry
• Steamed Broccoli with Macadamia and Burnt Butter Sauce
• Smashed Potato with Tasmanian Mountain Pepper
• Carrots with a Tasmania Leatherwood Honey Glaze
• Peas with Native River Mint

and for dessert

• Mini Pavlova's with whipped cream, banana, macadamias and toffee nests

I was making toffee nests so I didn't actually eat any of it (doh!), and for the same reason there are no photos but apparently it was a success. And yes I will actually post some recipes on Yummy Tucker tomorrow and Friday - including those Indian one's I still have outstanding :-)

Love

I don't feel much like posting a positive quote but I made a commitment to myself - and these are probably the days when I need to do them most of all so I give you one of mine. I am not sure where it came from (as in although I think it is my thought I probably absorbed it from another source). Anyway ...

Love is a "doing" word

Painting from ArsGeek

&*$%@@@ Tradespeople

Okay I probably don't mean that but I am very frustrated ... no I am tired and grumpy and thoroughly pissed off.

My shower broke on Sunday. Being that it was a long weekend, I didn't want to call an emergency plumber so I waited until yesterday morning to report it (my choice - no complaints there). I called yesterday and then I waited and waited and waited ... for 5 hours. To be exact the lady said she would "send him around" and I figured he wouldn't be there immediately but the real estate agent does have a policy where tradespeople call and give you an approximate time. This was after doing a night-shift so obviously I had to sit up and missed out on sleep. I eventually rang back to find out that he was on a roof and would be by today. I let them know when I would be back from work.

I got back at 1, ready for my plumber - hot and sweaty and tired from doing a big lunch - me not him. No message on the machine or the mobile. I rang and I rang and I rang. He will now be here within the hour (apparently).

Now I am not complaining that he wasn't here immediately - it wasn't an emergency, not to mention that I am sure he had other work scheduled in. I also know I work shifts so tiredness in "regular hours" comes with the territory but I am mighty pissed off that he didn't have the courtesy to call and give me a time - service doesn't take too much energy but is worth its absolute weight in gold, and it certainly wouldn't have taken much on his part to make a quick call.

I also know I have the power to choose my reactions and I need to take responsibility for those but I am tired and sweaty and this man's inconsiderateness has ruined my favorite day of the week - my cooking Wednesdays.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Big thanks to Tex's Missus for this one :-) I had to do it twice cos I had two answers for most of the questions ... you don't think that means something do you?

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors. You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful.People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you.And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it's paying off! Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors.You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find.On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody.However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Memories, Memories, Memories

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear Leg-go
Happy Birthday to You

50 years just isn't enough :-)

Aah, So That What What He Meant

Life wasn't meant to be easy, but with a little patience it can be beautiful.

Malcolm Fraser

Photo by Tressie Davis Photography

'Water Cube' Open

Yes the day I have been waiting for has finally come (well one of them anyway ha ha ha). One of the most exciting and innovative buildings in the world has just opened - yes China's new National Aquatic Centre (or the 'Water Cube') is now open!

The building is designed on the premise that if you imagine you are in a lovely bubbly spa, and then take out a neat cube of the water and bubbles you have the design of the Water Cube. When you are inside the building, it should appear as though you are looking through the walls of bubbles.

The technology for this building is both innovative and incredible. The BBC quotes that "The cushions in the outer layer of the building comprise over 100,000 square metres of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene), a plastic with a melting-point of 275C (and) no fewer than 6,700 tonnes of steel and 1,300 tonnes of welding rods were also used in the construction.

VOA adds "the Water Cube's thick, bubbled surface allows 90 percent of sunlight into the venue and acts as a greenhouse to save energy.

I can't find a photo but I have seen an artist's impression of it being lit up at night-time. Even more spectacular :-)

Now we just need to wait for the "Bird's Nest" (which you can see in the background of the last picture) which promises to be just as exciting.

It's the Attitude

For me, there is always a rainbow beyond the hill.

Daisy Bates

Photos of the Rainbow Rose from JTV

Tuna Scandal?

Tuna tossing is one of those weird sports Australia play. Each year, contestants in four categories hurl fish weighing up to 10 kilograms as far as they can, usually using a technique akin to an Olympic hammer thrower's. The winner in each category gets $1,000 Australian dollars

And okay so I may have questioned the ethics of tuna tossing and I am limited in what I can say here without appearing hypocritical but ...

Some reports from as far back as December claimed that this years Tunarama Festival would be replacing the actual tuna with polyurethane replicas.

The fake fish have been sculpted by a locally born artist to look just like the real thing.

Merriwyne Hore, the acting manager of the 2008 festival, said the switch was being made for several reasons, including to avoid wasting perfectly good fish.

Hore said some people had objected to the change, but it was judged necessary on ecological and monetary grounds.

"Some people don't like it because it's not original, but it's time we got green, got realistic about this," she said.

Is this true - is possible to be more farcical that the actual concept of 'tuna tossing'?

The Toss happened on the weekend and at this time, our reported have been unable to verify the use of real or fake tuna.

From IHT via Associated Press

Australian Food

The country providing the theme for this week's cooking group is Australia. What a hard thing it is to find Australain recipes that meets my group's criteria (cost, taste, timing). And what is harder to determine exactly what is "Australian" food.

There is the category of 'old-style' food being damper, roasts, mutton stew, pavlova, lamingtons, scones and the like - and most of these originated elsewhere.

There is the category of brands like Vegemite, Tim Tams and SAOs which could be included in meals (Vegemite specifically makes a great flavor base for stews and casseroles).

There is the meat pie and sausage roll ... and the Chicko for that matter.

There is bush tucker - but how many of us eat this regularly ... I mean really regularly and it isn't that easy to find a great range of products - or even a bit of 'roo.

When you think about it, our food is such an eclectic mix of food and food styles from around the planet. As protein, we mainly eat beef, lamb., pork, chicken and fish. But it is now served with rice or cous cous or pasta instead of the 'three veg' that many of us grew up with. We might have Australian salmon, but we serve it with Asian-style greens. Mince is more likely to be turned into tacos than rissoles. And Portuguese-style chicken is giving companies like Red Rooster a run for their money.

"Our" food reflects "our" people - we come from everywhere and we bring our food traditions with us. Then we mix it all together (it is called "fusion" in fancy restaurants) and it is Australian.

Made Me Smile

Man is the only animal that blushes.

Or needs to.

Mark Twain

Rebels Sign DR Congo Peace Accord

Fighters loyal to Laurent Nkunda, a renegade general, have signed a peace deal with the government of Democratic Republic of COngo (DRC) and an armed tribal group

Joseph Kabila, the DRC president, attended the signing in Goma, the capital of eastern North Kivu province, which suffered heavy fighting in recent months.

The accord on Wednesday followed two weeks of negotiations.

The UN and Western governments, which have exerted heavy diplomatic pressure for a peace deal to be signed, hope the accord can put an end to fighting in the east, which has raged on despite the official end of Congo's 1998-2003 war. Kabila's government, Nkunda's Tutsi rebels and the Mai Mai militia group had been due to sign the peace deal on Tuesday, but last minute disagreements from Nkunda's side over the draft delayed the signing.

Continuing violence has impoverished the country's east. Up to 1,500 Congolese die in the region every day, mostly from preventable diseases and malnutrition, aid workers say.

Story from Al Jazeera

Silly Question of the Day

In the Australia Day advertising it says something about "having a democratic right to give a dead-arm".

What is a "dead-arm" and why don't I know about this sacred right - or do you need to be a teenage boy to get it?

Life Is ....

Life is like a sandwich.
The more you add to it, the better it becomes.

Soupy Thoughts

Yesterday was wet and even a little cool so there was only one thing for it - make soup. I was hoping for a pea and ham but it isn't the season for bacon bones (no I didn't want to use a hock)
so I threw caution to the wind and made the soup on the pack (which I varied just a little).

Very quick, very yum....

Curried Pea Soup

500 g green split peas (cooked according to packet directions)
2 t curry powder
1 T butter
2 t chopped mint
2 chicken stock cubes
2 C water
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 C cream (optional)
Croutons (optional)

Puree peas in a blender. Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in curry powder and mint. Cook gently for 2 minutes. Add crumbled stock cubes. Pour in the peas and add water until you get the desired consistency. Stir through cream. Serve with croutons - I used Turkish bread croutons.

Wow

The wonderful Miss J sent me this tonight, I am just blown away :-) It was drawn with just one line - click on the pic to get the full effect.

Australian Local Hero

The Australian's of the Year were announced this evening.

I think Lee Kernaghan is well deserving for all of his work with farmers who are experiencing drought - as well as being a good all 'round ocker bloke :-)

With no disrespect to Lee I think the 'bigger' award this year was for the Local Hero Award which went to Jonathon Welch of "Choir of Hard Knocks" fame who says "that this award is in recognition of all those who help others".

What I admire most about Jonathon, apart from the music he has created with the choir, is that as a 'famous opera singer' with the proverbial world at his feet, he genuinely took time out for the people that so many members of the community judge, overlook or ignore.

And he didn't just pay them passing attention, he helped them to shine, to be "people" rather than just 'homeless' or 'people with mental health issues' or whatever other label the rest of society chose to place upon them.

He helped them to sing, to find accommodation, health, jobs, for many, a life. And perhaps more importantly, a sense of purpose, a boost for self-esteem, a community that cared, a family, a place where they were valued and important.

If that isn't what Australia is all about, then I have got something very wrong :-)

Well done Jonathon!

Latest Injury

I kicked my toe yesterday. Yes it hurt and yes there was blood (lots). And yes, after the initial pain diminished, it throbbed for the rest of the day and night.

So what did I do, well the obvious thing - I took a photo so I could blog it!

No I don't have a blog problem :-)

Anyway I decided that with all of the positive thoughts, bathing elephants and Maya that goes on around here, it wasn't the place for me to upload a photo of my bloody toe so I have just pinched one from elsewhere :-)

Candles

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Edith Wharton

A Secret... (shhhh Secret Squirrel)!

On Monday night I decided that I should have something to eat (refer to comments on room service) so I thought there had to be a fish and chips shop nearby (no comments about health food at this point thank you).

So having got through Sydney without a road map - gotta love Australia and the 'follow the big green sign' policy and never having been in the neighborhood before - actually not even knowing whether I am north, south, east or west of the city centre - I decided to go for a drive and find some food.

Shortly after leaving the hotel I decide a feed of Chinese (or Singapore or Malaysian or Thai) food would be a better choice, or a good curry. And I was on a highway-type road so I figured it wouldn't be hard.

I drove and I drove and I drove. No luck. So I turned off onto some of the side roads and I found my nirvana - there was Lebanese bakeries, supermarkets from India, Bangladesh, Korea and what seems like every other country on the planet. The only sort of meat available seemed like Hal'al. No matter where I seemed to turn I was surrounded by a food heaven in every possible shape form and size. Every culture had a nook or cranny - or so it seemed.

Now I do need to let you know that this was after 7 so none of them were open (which was fortunate because I couldn't take out a mortgage on the spot and go shopping - which you just gotta know I desperately wanted to) so I considered whether I could pretend to be sick and go shopping in the morning but that is unethical so ... yes I left it all behind. Yes all of it - I didn't even get a smell ... And I confess I didn't even give a passing thought to food miles....

And I couldn't find anywhere that was selling food - lots of supermarkets no restaurants so I ended up with (oooh yuk) KFC .... oh the contrast just ripped at my soul but I spent 40 minutes driving and it was that, McDonald's or Dominos.

I think I should have gone for the other option ... starvation :-)

And although I have no idea where I was, I know how to get there again ... yes my name is Mountaingirl and I am a Foodie :-)

New Family Member

J-Bear decided that Speedy should come and live with me (something about lack of available space). She was initially concerned that he wasn't a bear but I reassured that that because he was given in love, he would be loved and would be as real as any bear. That's the way it works isn't it?

So Speedy has joined my fluffy little family. Admittedly the bears wander around at a wombly-sort-of pace and I am used to that but I wonder is Speedy is as his name suggests ... oh it doesn't matter, I'll just get more cheese and make sure he has a special place :-)

Thank you J-Bear :-)

They're Gone

Yes Miss Weasley and family have gone to the land of the red, white and blue. Sigh ... Happy and sad all in one. But to focus on the happy :-) ...

Cheryl did end up going on the plane which was probably much better than in a box but I won't think about her being squished into a carry-on.

D-J is now taller than me - which was always going to happen but still. Ever since he was little we used to measure our hands up against each other - I now barely make it to the fingertip joint. I guess that happens when young men grow up :-)

J-Bear is about an inch shorter than me now, and I am sure it will be the last time that I will see her and have the height advantage. Our hands are the same size.

Miss J-May is up to my armpits and her hand is smaller than mine - for that reason alone she is my new favorite ha ha ha!

I went for a walk with Miss J-May to the bookshop - she is a bookworm too and the others were having a little nap. I offered to buy her a book but she thought it would be better if she just sat down and read it there - which she did! Her ability to read has always amazed me and Tuesday was no exception. What I hadn't noticed before was her math skills - she reported that her lunch would cost $4.25 and worked out that if she got one for J-Bear too it would cost $8.50 instantaneously. Figuring out that she would get $1.50 change was just as simple. The girl is 7! I know I could have worked it out at that age but I am not sure I could have instantly done it in my head :-)

It is just amazing how much the kiddlies have grown (physically as well as in maturity) since I last saw them and we had lots of laughs and giggles around the table. And of course Miss Weasley was a part of it all. I think moving around has prepared me for the time when they left for so far away but I can't help notice how much I have missed out on. Anyway, we have MSN, and blogs, and email, and free internet phones and soon to be webcams and hopefully I will be over there next year so it will all be good.

Interesting things I have learned:

• Cheryl smells like me which apparently is neither a good nor bad smell, it just just my smell, which I couldn't smell.
• I have orange hair and apparently I have always had orange hair. I thought I had brown hair but I'm a carrot top - and yes that will be disappearing very quickly.
• The kiddlies were horrified that I was considering changing my name but after much discussion "Pearl" was my favorite option - although they shall continue to call me by my present name anyway.
• According to this part of the younger generation, I am still "cool" but do need to update my glasses frames.
• I take particularly lousy photos :-)

I am honored that this family is a part of my life - and will always be :-)

My Hotel

I stayed at the Airport Sydney International Inn near the airport.

It was very clean and tidy and the bed was comfortable (which is all you want really).

The room was really very small, and the bathroom was tiny but, when I thought about it, there was sufficient room to move around and, located where it was, I assume that most people would just stay for a night on their way to or from the airport - as opposed to actually vacationing there - so it was functional and quite adequate.

The staff were mostly friendly and efficient. There was no problem with parking. The shuttle bus was a few minutes late which was stressing out some of the other passengers who were nervously going overseas but it as literally a few minutes late and everyone had made sufficient time for their journey so it wasn't a particular issue.

There are only two negative things I can comment on.

The first is the room service menu. What made me read over twice, three times and then burst out laughing was a chicken breast, tomato sauce and chips for $24.50, and a roast beef roll for $18.50 (and it didn't indicate that it was freshly cooked so I automatically suspected it was one of those commercial jobs but that might just be my cynical mind). On top of that you can add $8 for a salad and $5 for room delivery! I assumed from those prices that no one would regularly get room service so the seafood basket ($18.50) was probably one of those frozen mixes you just deep fry for a couple of minutes and so on down the menu.

The other was that I was staying in the non-smoking building and whilst my room was clear, the corridors, elevator and foyer absolutely reeked of cigarettes. The building is very clearly marked as non-smoking and lists potential fines. When I mentioned this at check-out the woman just shrugged her shoulders ambivalently and just said something like ' yeah people smoke in there'. So while they advertise it as non-smoking, there is obviously no enforcement or even care about the policy so if you are a genuine non-smoker, you might want to stay somewhere else.

Driving to Sydney

I love a good drive and could rabbit on for pages about my highlights, or weird things or just ways I amused myself but I have narrowed them all down.

• On my side of the road, I saw 11 L-plate drivers between home and about Mt White - and thought that that was quite a lot

• On the trip down and back I saw 6 Porsches and 1 Lamborghini

• I saw 4 flowers that I hadn't seen before - one was a smallish status-like plant that wasn't status; one was large cream bells on what big prickly looking things (please note I am using technical words to describe them); another was tall stands of cream puff-balls on top of a plant I never saw; and the last was a bright orange flower on a dark green tree. Yes I should have stopped an taken photos but I like driving past and trying to figure things out :-)

• When I was driving through the "canyons" just before Sydney the water was running down them in trails that looked like tears had been falling down their 'cheeks'.

• It rained from Newcastle south - but never consistently - I had to adjust my wipers virtually every minute (literally) to cater for rain that was so heavy I could barely see through to a light mist.

• Petrol prices at home are virtually the same as Sydney - and everywhere in the middle is more expensive.

• I never want to eat fast food again - blecch!

It was long and I was tired but I really enjoyed the trip :-)

What You Need

The grand essentials of happiness are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Chalmers

Dr Martin Luther King Day

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Maya Angelou

Dr Martin Luther King Day

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'”

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

"Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”

"Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"”

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.”

Happiness :-)

Happiness is inward, and not outward, and so it does not depend on what we have, but what we are.

Henry Van Dyke

Tortilla Stack

I have wanted to make one of these forever and being the latest Super Food Ideas has one on the cover, I have been prompted into action. It was easier than I anticipated.

I cooked up some burrito-style mince (diced onion, mince, burrito seasoning) then added some corn and kidney beans. I wanted the mixture to be 'dry' rather than sloppy so I didn't put in a can of tomatoes but if I had more time to wait for it to reduce, then I would have. Anyway, put a tortilla in the bottom of a spring-form pan, add a little meat and spread to form a layer, sprinkle over some shredded cheese and repeat until you reach the top or all of your meat is used up. Bake at 180 C until the cheese is golden (I think I left mine in for about 30 minutes). I then let it cool a bit and sliced it up - and served with funky lettuce and sliced tomato. If I hadn't put corn in the actual stack, I think I would have served a corn cob on the side with the salad.

It keeps it shape really well so I think it would be great for to take to work for lunch or even picnics, as well as a quick and very easy dinner. Eat hot or cold.

BTW - this is just what I 'created' as I went along - I am sure there are a million possible variations.

Coodabeens

Does anyone else listen to the Coodabeen Champions on Sunday night (Local ABC)?

I love their eclectic show, their weird senses of humor, their "Magic Moments' , their love of obscure Australian music, their combined personalities.

It is also a great spot to fully appreciate the skills and talents of Greg Champion - his ability to play 'most anything on the guitar with virtually no notice is just amazing.

As well as the Sunday night show, they do "The Idlers" on Saturday nights.

And why do I mention this now, well I will miss out tonight cos the tennis is on. Now this isn't quite as tragic as when Phillip Adams is unavailable but still, it is worth a post :-)

BTW: (L-R) Ian Cover, Billy Baxter, Jeff Richardson and Greg Champion

New Name

I really don't like my name - never have. Sigh....

I have considered it often enough but thought it was much harder that it actually is. And when I went to the beautician on Friday, she said in passing that I didn't look like my name. So with firm resolve I been searching again for a new name.

I may not like my name, but I can't find anouther name that fits me - except Mountaingirl. It is the problem I always come back to :-)

Mind you I have had my kid's names picked out for years (not that they ever came along) - but somehow it is harder to name yourself :-)

Makes You Think ....

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily. Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide. Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina. Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca. Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-JeziornaFood expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of CairoFood expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador: The Ayme family of TingoFood expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey VillageFood expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing CampFood expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

From King B